Absolute music

: This article is about Absolute music, the musical term. For the series of compilation albums, see Absolute (record compilation).

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Absolute music, less often abstract music, is a term used within the classical music field to describe music that is not explicitly "about" anything, non-representational or non-objective. Absolute music has no words and no references to stories or images or any other kind of extramusical idea. It is also known in classical contexts as abstract music and is in contrast to program music. The view of absolute music as music "for its own sake" derives from Kant's aesthetic disinterestedness from his Critique of Aesthetic Judgment (Ashby 2004, p.7).

Related Topics:
Classical music - Music - Non-representational - Abstract - Program music

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Carl Dahlhaus describes absolute music as music without a "concept, object, and purpose."

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See also: Abstract art

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