Use and "aesthetic presentation" of musical instruments

name "aesthetic display" ( or "aesthetic presentation" : presentation esthetique) the fact that an artist displays perceptibly ( hence "aesthetic"), but not discursively, some conditions or means specific to his art in the very forms this art takes. In certain musical pieces, some instruments are so displayed by the musician : in that case, the instrument is not put at use for the sake of music only, but also for its own sake. Music thus becomes the instrument of its instrument. I propose here to analyse both the Six concerts a plusieurs instruments by J.-S. Bach and the Sequenze by Luciano Berio with this view in mind. However, the distinction between the simple "use" of an instrument and its "aesthetic display" is not easy to grasp with clarity : it is indeed difficult to use an instrument without displaying it, or at least without tending toward displaying it, and it is impossible to display an instrument without using it. Furthermore, the aesthetic attention of the listener plays a significant part in this process.