"The Devil in music" : the symbol of "Evil" in the history of Western music

Bibliogr. s. 82

The history of Western music, from its beginnings to the present day, has been marked by axiological prescriptions that have conditioned its evolution. Among these, the notion of right or wrong, Good and Evil, is particularly well-known, and it has taken on different meanings and forms over the ages. Since Catholicism has permeated the history of music probably more than any other institution, here too the concept of Good and Evil has been transfigured, for example, into the antithesis between God and the Devil. However, the "diabolus in musica" has not remained unchanged over time, and has come to take the form of dissonance, of Satan himself, which can become a subliminal message. By examining the history of the concept of Evil in Western music, we can see that the dualism between the rational and irrational has been transfigured over the centuries, while nevertheless remaining a generative and creative principle of human beings.