gestalt

Let's REDEFINE this one, shall we? The accepted English defintion is: "A structure, configuration, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute a functional unit with properties not derivable by summation of its parts". This is adequate, however, let's also define the word historically as well. It is really a German word, literally meaning "form", defined as an organized whole in experience. The Gestalt psychologists, in about 1912, advanced the theory which explains psychological phenomena by their relationships to total forms rather than their parts. Also, this word has become useful for discussing musical terms (or a critique on music, rather) in the post-modern sense. It is the "essence", or "foreground" of any given band (or genre) in discussion.