The Musical Human

How human musical experience emerges from the audition of organized tones is a riddle of long standing. In The Musical Representation, Charles Nussbaum offers a philosophical naturalist's solution. Nussbaum founds his naturalistic theory of musical representation on the collusion between the physics of sound and the organization of the human mind-brain. He argues that important varieties of experience afforded by Western tonal art music since 1650 arise through the feeling of tone, the sense of movement in musical space, cognition, emotional arousal, and the engagement, by way of specific emotional responses, of deeply rooted human ideals.

Dividing the sum total of human musical achievement, from Beethoven to The Beatles, Busta Rhymes to Bach, into just six fundamental forms, Levitin illuminates, through songs of friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love, how music has been instrumental in the evolution of language, thought and culture. And how, far from being a bit of a song and dance, music is at the core of what it means to be human.

Heralded as 'a riveting adrenaline rush of a show!' by Peter Marks in The Washington Post, 'MJ the Musical' opened at the Neil Simon Theatre on February 1, 2022 to rave reviews from both critics and audiences. 'MJ delivers the thrills!' exclaimed Jesse Green at The New York Times. Recorded at Power Station at BerkleeNYC, the album was produced by David Holcenberg and Jason Michael Webb and co-produced by Derik Lee, Lia Vollack, John Branca, and John McClain served as executive producers. MJ is currently in the running for ten Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Myles Frost), Best Book of a Musical (Lynn Nottage), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini), Best Costume Design of a Musical (Paul Tazewell), Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Natasha Katz), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Gareth Owen), Best Direction of a Musical (Christopher Wheeldon), Best Choreography (Christopher Wheeldon) and Best Orchestrations (Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg).