“Once music is
detached from function, once it becomes a repertory art, it
explicitly strives to define itself, out of itself, to become "mathemat-
ical"—that is to say,
to begin from premises and proceed to
conclusions by interpreting its own universe, finding
its own
laws. Systems of harmony and counterpoint become tools for
elaborate musical explorations. A great deal of Western music
is as much a manifestation of idealism as is mathematics.”