K.H.Ehrenforth’s “Didactic Interpretation of Music”: The Significance of its Perspective on the Dialogic Bildung

 The “didactic interpretation of music” theory was proposed by Karl Heinrich Ehrenforth, a German music educational theorist. Ehrenforth’s theory facilitates an understanding (Verstehen) of musical works. This study seeks to clarify how Ehrenforth’s theory conquered the problem of subject-object dualism in music education in German schools in the early 1970s and to examine the significance of his theory, including its perspective on the dialogic Bildung.<br> This study reveals three points and their significance. The first point concerns the understanding of a musical work. Ehrenforth says that the structure of such understanding is a dialogic circle between the musical work and the person playing or listening to that work. The underlying theory behind this idea stems from Hans Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics. Through this ontological theory, Ehrenforth conquered the subject-object dualism in the understanding of music. He asserts three principles: (1) the truth of the understanding resides not only in the musical work but also in human life (Leben), (2) the “life-world” lays the foundation for the understanding of musical works, and (3) the understanding of musical works contributes to self-understanding. These assertions are significant because such an understanding can lead not to one-sided (subjective or objective) musical reception but to a deep “concurrence” with the musical work.<br> The second point concerns the didactic mediation between children and music that brings understanding of musical works. Ehrenforth uses the dialogic circle as a mediation model, saying that the dialogic circle should be founded on the “life-world”; in the dialogic circle, children revise their “prejudice” toward a musical work by sympathizing and criticizing in turn. Therefore, the dialogic circle represents a lifelong process of developing experiences and values. In music classes, the dialogic circle must be realized. The teacher must consider two dimensions: the objective aspect of instruction in musical works and the subjective aspect of the personal experience of children. Furthermore, Ehrenforth says that the model of the dialogic circle functions as a dialogic Bildung in music education. Dialogic Bildung refers to the process of self-formation through the dialogue between the world and oneself. To use German pedagogical concepts, intentional instruction about the musical work can be described as “Erziehung” and the process of self-formation founded on personal experience as “Bildung”. The significance of this theory is found in Ehrenforth’s location of Erziehung within the process of dialogic Bildung.<br> The third point concerns general education. Ehrenforth believes that all school education must take the perspective of dialogic Bildung. The present pedagogy asserts the importance of competencies or qualifications useful to society. In contrast, the concept of dialogic Bildung has an existential perspective, and placing Erziehung within the dialogic Bildung demonstrates that children create new truths in the process of acquiring various viewpoints on the world, sympathize with and criticize these viewpoints in turn, and not only learn about but also find concurrence with the world and come to a deeper self-understanding. Therefore, the concept of dialogic Bildung has significance beyond the field of music education.