As per our discussions of the nature of music...the item below, some 90
pages speaks in part to music as language, even if it does so from the
perspective of the quanification of it.  The primary motivation for the
organization is Music Retrieval, a notion which usually requires language
descriptors (like composer name, title, etc.) to provide access.

   http://www.nowpublishers.com/ir/

Not sure where those folks are going with it, but it does seem like
interesting reading.

Karl