In Lieu of Conclusions

Meaningful expression emerges only when there is an intention—the focusing of the consciousness on the object of interpretation (the work). A work exists insofar as it exists in relation to the person who interprets it (A. Maceina). Music is an art deserving of pity: verses, if they are printed, already live; but a printed composition is still not music: it is necessary to reproduce it, to intone it (B. Asaf’ev). The book highlights the qualities required for the act of interpretation, which is the only path to meaningful expression. Intertextuality: the world is a text and everything has already been said. So, it is only possible to create something new by composing from previously known elements (I. Melnikova): the text is “a new tissue of old quotations” (R. Barthes). The experience stored by the interpreter is enriched by new experiences: interpretive activity is striving for an increasingly effective result. When we see something, we must think something in order to see anything (H. Gadamer): we reach the truth through thinking. It is important to have a soul which loves truth, and receives it wherever it finds it (J. W. von Goethe).