Unraveling Timelessness in Music
Experiencing Musical Time October 14, 2025 DOI: 10.1093/9780197668276.003.0007 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that musical timelessness can be understood in two ways: as a musicotemporal metaphor evoked by specific musical features and their shifts, and as an induced experience of temporal dilation through musical engagement, connecting altered-states research with trancing and temporal suspension in minimalism and electronic dance music. |
Abstract
Abstract Timelessness in music is a contentious topic, given the prevailing tendency to view music as the temporal art par excellence. Yet the term “timelessness” and its related metaphors appear frequently in both analytical discourse and listener accounts of musical experiences. Chapter 7 examines two distinct approaches to musical timelessness: the perception of timelessness, wherein timelessness is treated as a musicotemporal metaphor that music can evoke; and the induction of timelessness, which encompasses experiences of temporal dilation through musical engagement. The first approach traces how specific musical features, and significant shifts within some of these, contribute to the appearance of timelessness and related metaphors in analytical descriptions. The second investigates how music can induce experiences of altered temporality, connecting recent research on altered states of consciousness with discourse on trancing and temporal suspension, particularly in minimalism and electronic dance music (EDM).