Review of Related Studies
and therefore it does not include in the literary verbal evocations of music. As can be seen above, verbal music is placed in the literary verbal evocation of music.
According to Scher, there are two basic types of verbal music, re- presentation and presentation verbal music:
When the poet draws on direct musical experience andor a knowledge of the score as his source we may speak of re-presentation of music in words:
he proceeds to describe either a piece of music which he himself identifies or which is identifiable through inference. . . . Poetic imagination alone,
inspired by music in general, serves as the source of the second type of verbal music; and it involves direct presentation of fictitious music in
words: the poet creates a verbal piece of music, to which no composition corresponds. Scher, 1970: 152-153
From that statement, there can be re-presentation and presentation verbal
music in a work of literature. The re-presentational verbal music occurred when the author uses a description of existing musical composition. While
presentational verbal music occurred when no existing musical composition is used, or in other words the author creates a „verbal piece of music‟.
What makes verbal music different with other elements of literature, Scher stated that there is something called „retarding effect.‟
A definite retarding effect on the narrative movement in a given work emerges as a characteristic feature of prose passages of verbal music. In
context the result of such retardation consists in the creation of a literally static moment which tends to arrest and suspend the narrative flow for the
duration of the verbal evocation. This moment effects a temporary rest in the progressing, horizontal sequence of the narrated events. In fact, within
the confines of the particular instance, the horizontal narrative sequence tends to slow down to a vertical standstill and assume spatial dimensions,
suggesting a semblance of literary and musical space combined. Scher, 1970: 155
The retarding effects are a result of the expression of music in the medium of literature that creates an impression of slow-motion as the progressive event of
the music is temporarily stopped for the narrative of the verbal evocation. Thus, the retarding effect makes the author able to insert various elements in the verbal
music including past and future events and also symbols. Scher also stated that the distinction of retarding effects of verbal music from the verbal description of other
arts is that there is a progressive movement in retardation. ...the chief distinguishing trait might be that the created feeling of spatiality
mingles simultaneously with a definite impression of progressive movement. Simultaneity, i.e., the momentary fusion of movement in
musical space horizontality and standstill in narrative time verticality, may be said to provide a linguistic framework which lends itself more
readily to symbolic representation than the other constituents of narration capable of retardation. Scher, 1970: 156
The statement implying that verbal music works horizontally and vertically will be the basis of the structural analysis of the verbal music. The horizontal
analysis features the progressive events of the verbal music and the vertical analysis features the verbal evocations of the verbal music.