Metamorphosis: a pedagogical phenomenology of music, ethics and philosophy.

Metamorphosis‖ draws a parallel between classical music and Western philosophy and attempts to analyze the transformative impact that this kind of music may have on education.The current thesis explores the possibility that all musics and art can mould character, for better or for worse, while acknowledging that absolute proof is not possible.This perspective is based on my thirty-five years experience as a composer, conductor and teacher of classical music.Most importantly, this thesis should be regarded as a proposal of qualitative research that has been applied to Western music and philosophy from a neo-Platonic perspective.-Metamorphosis‖ is a hypothesisit brings forth new ideas and generates questions.The first part -THE THEORYproposes the term philosophic music.This term is intended to encourage a debate about aesthetics and art categories from a new perspective encompassing genres, periods and cultures.I believe that philosophic music may be found everywhere: in Asia, Africa or Europe; in classical music, jazz or punk.However, for reasons of subjective experience, concision and clarity the current dissertation focuses on Western classical music vis-à-vis our educational system in British Columbia.This chapter could also be regarded as another theoretical argument aiming to change the contemporary perspective on music as mere entertainment or vehicle for political and social iv protest.I posit that philosophic music has an intimate relationship with philosophy in general and its association with the Good (in the Platonic sense).The second part -THE METHODfocuses on the importance of attentive listening as an active process and suggests a solution that may be applied in music classes to boost students' creativity.Finally, the third part -THE TOOL: The Alternative Listening Programpresents a syllabus organized by grades (1 -12), weeks and days.It offers more than six hundred musical titles ready to be used in the classroom by those interested to do so.All are accompanied by a compendium of audio sources.-Metamorphosis‖ hopes to open doors that will encourage future research applied to other music genres, and possibly, other cultural environments.