根據十九世紀德國哲學家叔本華的觀點，藝術與人類生活息息相關，尤其是音樂，其抽象性更能刻劃出人類精神的崇高性。叔本華的思想影響了無數藝術家，其音樂美學更在許多音樂家的作品上烙下痕跡，馬勒就是最佳例證。
當代作曲家鍾耀光的《一個城市與馬勒的對話》，是一首透過馬勒的視野來與臺灣的人文社會、歷史文化進行對話的音樂作品；該作以外來者的角度，近距離地體驗臺灣本地的精神與風情，以獨特的音樂語言領會出與眾不同的內涵與面貌。
本研究試圖以叔本華《意志與表象的世界》中，所謂「音樂就像世界」之觀點，來探索《一 個城市與馬勒的對話》之意涵，進而理解音樂藝術客體化展現音樂家意志的過程 。

According to the 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, art is closely related to human life, especially music, which abstraction outlines the sublime of human spirit. Schopenhauer’s thoughts affected numerous artists, his aesthetics of music had deeply influenced many compositions of music, Mahelr is one of the best examples.
Born in Hong Kong but based in Taiwan, the contemporary composer Yiu-Kwong Chung’s work for choir and double orchestra, A City’s Conversation with Mahler, is an expression of the cultivated society and historical culture of Taiwan through the aesthetics of Mahler. Through the vision of an outsider, the work reflects the local spirit and mentality; with its unique language, the work embodies the inner meanings and outer appearance of Taiwan.
This paper aims to explore the aesthetics of Yiu-Kwong Chung’s A City’s Conversation with Mahler through the vision of ‘music is the melody whose text is the world’ from Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation, as well as the embodying process of objectification of musician’s will by musical art.