Home 05 - When Sound Becomes Meaning

A Philosophy Of Musical Interpretation For Flutists

When Sound Becomes Meaning

By Yulia Berry

What Does It Mean for Sound to Become Meaning?

Music does not begin as meaning. It begins as vibration — physical, measurable, neutral. Meaning arises only when sound is shaped by structure, directed by intention, and guided by artistic responsibility.

For performers, this transformation is not automatic. It requires awareness of phrase architecture, harmonic direction, rhetorical gesture, breath shaping, release, articulation, and timbral intention. Technique alone does not produce coherence. Expression without structure risks dissolving into sentiment. True interpretation emerges when these dimensions align.

When Sound Becomes Meaning explores the conditions under which musical sound acquires direction, coherence, and intellectual integrity. It proposes that interpretation is not an emotional reaction, but a disciplined act of listening — an alignment between structure, intention, and responsibility.

This book is written for flutists who seek not merely to play beautifully, but to understand when sound carries meaning — and how to shape it responsibly.

THE POSITION

On Musical Meaning: Six Principles

This book does not propose a method

It articulates a position on musical interpretation.

Interpretation is not emotion

It is disciplined listening shaped by structure.

Structure is not restriction

It allows sound to speak coherently.

Intention is not impulse

It gives direction to sound.

Technique is not meaning

It is the condition that makes meaning possible.

Responsibility is musical

What you choose to shape, you choose to say.

Yulia Berry, DMA

“Sound alone is vibration. Meaning emerges when structure, intention, and responsibility align. My work explores this alignment — where sound carries meaning.”

Yulia Berry

Author

Architecture of the Book

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

Why Meaning Matters in Flute Playing

Establishes the central question: under what conditions does sound acquire meaning?

PART I — SOUND AS A LIVING PHENOMENON

1. Beyond the Instrument

The Inner Education of the Musician

Examines musical development as inward formation, not mechanical training.

2. Pulling the Sound
The Art of a Living Tone

Explores tone as directed energy rather than produced vibration.

3. The Artistic Voice of the Flute
Timbre, Emotion, and Expression

Investigates color as expressive identity rather than surface effect.

4. Technique as Musical Language
Why Scales Matter

Repositions technical work as structural literacy.

5. Intervals and Inner Hearing
How Musical Distance Shapes Meaning

Studies interval as tension, relationship, and expressive logic.

6. Tone in Motion
Vibrato and the Art of Release

Analyzes movement within sound as a principle of direction and dissolution.

PART II — STRUCTURE AND RHETORIC

7. Phrasing and Breathing
Music as Rhetoric and Speech

Frames phrasing as thought shaped through breath.

8. Articulation and Meaning
Musical Punctuation and Responsibility

Examines attack and separation as interpretive decisions.

9. From Affects to Expression
The Evolution of Musical Emotion

Traces historical and philosophical shifts in emotional articulation.

PART III — SPACE AND PERCEPTION

10. Sound and Silence
The Discipline of Leaving Space

Considers silence as structural presence rather than absence.

PART IV — THE INNER DIMENSION OF PERFORMANCE

11. The Aware Performer
Stage Presence, Focus, and Fear

Explores awareness as the foundation of stability in performance.

12. When the Self Outplays the Music
Ego, Identity, and Artistic Humility

Confronts the tension between personal identity and musical service.

PART V — ETHICS AND ARTISTIC RESPONSIBILITY

13. Reverence and Responsibility
The Ethics of Listening

Articulates interpretation as an ethical act grounded in attentiveness.

FINAL CHAPTER

14. When Sound Becomes Meaning

Synthesizes structure, intention, and responsibility into alignment.

CONCLUSION

When Sounds Begin to Speak

Reflects on the transformation of vibration into intelligible artistic voice.

AVAILABLE NOW ON APPS

Buy Book Now

With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club.

12.00 – $18.00