Critical Theory and musical discussion in Adorno

Abstract

This text intends to compare the ideas from Adorno and Horkheimer's book “Dialectic of Enlightenment” with the musical thinking of Adorno presented in several other texts written in differents periods. It is possible to observe pertinent relationships between the texts “Negative Dialectc” and “Dialectic of Enlightenment”, in which Adorno points to the existence of two distinct, co-existing and antagonistic musical aesthetics at the beginning of the last century. At the same time, myth and reason also are co-existing and antagonistic, and can be seen in the transition from myth to reason. It is also possible to observe antagonisms in each of the musical genres analyzed by Adorno, as well as opositions between popular music and modern music (dodecaphonic music). These antagonisms represent the concept of the “Negative dialectic” which Adorno developed towards the end of his life.
Key-words: musical aesthetic, negative dialectic, Enlightenment, contradiction.