Symbols, Mathematics and Notation

As already quoted in Chapter 10 , ‘we all know that “the map is not the territory.” A map is simply an explanation of certain aspects of the territory” (Covey, S. 2013). So the score is not the music itself, but only a description of the music. The same applies to recordings (or devices on which they are encoded) and their files which are also not the music itself. ‘Consider for example a piece of music. What is it? It is certainly not the paper and ink used to write out a copy of the score, neither is it the compact disc on which a particular performance is recorded. It isn’t even the pattern on the disc or the vibrations in the air when the music is played’ (Rae 2018, p. 64). The notation is not the music, it is only a symbolic language invented to ‘encode’ and ‘capture’ the musical ideas.