[Smt-talk] "the" Car name

[Thomas Noll]

Dear Bill, dear Colleagues,
the recent practice to use musical terms for cars looks like a legitimate claim for return: 
"Harmony" is an instance, where – conversely – a central music-theoretical term seems to have been borrowed from a "car".
The greek word for chariot is ἅρμα, hárma. I tend to remember a talk by Friedrich Kittler, where he draw a connection between the general meanings "union" and "fitting together" of the Ancient Greek ἁρμονία (harmonia) and the very unique dynamical unity of the vehicle of the chariot, the horses and the charioteer. I don't know, though, whether this is a commonly accepted etymological derivation of the meaning of "harmony".
Sincerely
Thomas Noll       

On 23.07.2012, at 18:27, William Caplin wrote:

> What do you all make of the latest trend of Asian car manufacturers naming their cars after musical terms?
> 
> We already have Hyundai's "Sonata" and "Accent" (two of my own major areas of research).  Then there's Kia's "Rondo."  And just today I read about a new electric car from China named "Coda."  (I suppose a "Cadence" can't be too far in the future.)  
> 
> Clearly there's a prestige factor associated with music in Asia that doesn't seem to resonate with North American or European makers.  
> 
> Have I missed others?  
> 
> Wishing you all a pleasant summer!
> 
> Bill
> 
> 
> ____________________________
> William E. Caplin
> James McGill Professor of Music Theory
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Thomas Noll
http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~noll
noll at cs.tu-berlin.de
Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya, Barcelona 
Departament de Teoria i Composició 

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