Music 1

For most people, the translation of music evokes the translation of the lyrics of songs. But music translation is much broader in scope. Both music and translation can be treacherous to delineate and their definitions change with time and context. Translation studies scholars have spilled much ink on the notion of translation, but have only agreed that it be can defined diversely. It is most frequently defined in relation to its mode (written or oral), state of being (process or product), category (interlinguistic, intralinguistic and intersemiotic, as expressed canonically by Jakobson ([1959] 2012), subject field (literary, audiovisual, technical …), or according to the paradigm it refers to (linguistic, cultural, social …). Music is even more challenging to define universally. Some human societies do not have a word corresponding accurately to the Western concept of music and even within Western confines, the notion of music varies depending on whether it refers to acts of composition, performance, listeners’ experience, genre (pop song, symphony …) or style (classical, baroque, jazz …). However, a working definition is needed and music is understood here as a combination of sounds in movement – primarily non semantic – meant to be listened to.