Music of the Spheres: A Primer

To listen to Jazz or Modern Classical music is to experience something on the cutting edge of Man’s knowledge. It is to grasp something of the discoveries of the New Physics, a sense of joy and revelation brought about by a transcendental glimpse of extra dimensional space-time and the certainty that there is a mysterious and benevolent force behind the everyday reality we so easily take for granted. If such a description sounds overly ‘lofty,’ it was meant to. This is what good music is all about. It is why composers dedicate their lives to composing it. Our culture is so busily engaged in all manner of creating and preserving homogenization that people actually lose sight of any notions of individuality and the unique types of experience that should accompany it. This is especially true in the higher arts, which are created with a purity of purpose that seems to categorically exclude them from the canons of heavily promoted materials that inevitably come to the attention of the masses. And so we recognize a defective and dehumanizing system of reference through which the most significant music (and art in all its forms) is the least likely to be discovered by the world community at large. This is an especially disheartening thought when we observe the depth of hopelessness and dissent in our world today. On a planet inhabited overwhelmingly by alienated spirits, the fact that the experience of such revolutionary and evolutionary music will remain forever unknown to them is more than a sadness. It is a tragedy.


Olivier Messiaen

What this means is that we are charged with the responsibility of discovering the true treasures more or less on our own. Having been an Avante-Garde art junkie from a young age, however, I can definitely turn you on to you a few 'fer shurs' that'll help you start getting your heads into the right space. Understand that much of this music is difficult, and definitely makes demands on the listener. Much of it is atonal, polytonal, and/or polyrhythmic and if you're not hip to that experience, your first encounter with such sounds will be like stumbling inadvertantly into a maze. You don't know where you are and you can't see the way out. And here is exactly the point at which you get a chance to grow. What you do with the opportunity depends on what sort of growth you’re open to and interested in. Keep in mind, I’m not suggesting that the function of art is to produce any kind of ‘wave of enlightenment’ within the ranks of humanity. I’m merely pointing out that the real thing, produced by the true artists, has that potential. So far, humankind doesn’t show a hell of a lot of interest in being led in such directions. Their loss…Big Time.


Pierre Boulez

But let’s talk about these more difficult forms for a moment before I leave you with some listening suggestions. These modern forms of music as exemplified by Jazz and what I call Experimental Classical music follow very closely the developments of Science and Philosophy. Physics and Cosmology have made almost incomprehensible leaps in our understanding of the true nature of the universe during the past 100 years or so, and Philosophy has almost kept pace with its rapidly evolving methods of Critical Theory, which have brought us to the point of actually being prepared to use its tools of discovery to grasp something of the absolute truth with regard to the human experience. In much the same way as quantum mechanics allowed us to glimpse what the universe is really like at its foundational, subatomic levels, modern music translates the soul of these kinds of extraordinary discoveries into sound to which we respond at our own deepest foundational levels. And as Quantum Physics presents to us a world that can only be described as the ‘controlled chaos’ beneath the surface of things, modern music also presents us a world of controlled chaos; a world that is utterly unpredictable UP TO A POINT. This qualification is key both in science and in the world of new music. For what we hear is the appearance of wanton anarchy, but which, upon further inspection, is found to be ordered in certain quirky but definite ways.


Miles Davis

Many people feel a sense of discomfort when they are first exposed to music that strays so far from the comfortably familiar sounds and rhythms of our everyday media music. If this is your first reaction, it’s important to suspend judgement here and open yourself up to the newness of fresh experience. This music is cerebral in the coolest sense of the word. It is music that must be absorbed consciously, meditated upon, listened to with real ears and with heart. It doesn’t work as background music AT ALL. That being said, much sophisticated Jazz does swing, and swings hard. It will move you physically even as it shreds your brain with wonderment. Experimental Classical works, however, are for the most part aimed squarely at the spirit by way of the intellect. When listening to these types of works, the ticket is to just chill. Relax, burn one if you like, and just luxuriate in the experience, even if you find it uncomfortable at first. You will soon find these elaborate and immaculate structures of sound working a unique kind of magic on you at levels far deeper than that of ordinary waking consciousness. And far deeper than the stuff on Video Countdown this morning, too. Take it in your own time until you begin to fully appreciate the level and quality of craft that goes into the composition and performance of such incredible works of art. If you're turned on by the kind of accomplishments that only come with the total dedication of the human spirit to the cause of artistic expression, these forms of music will take you higher than perhaps you've ever been before. If you've never thought of art and music in those terms, there's a whole new world waiting for you. May you dive in and snag a glimpse of the real deal. After all, it was done for you in the first place.


John Coltrane performing: "Transition"

Pierre Boulez: "Structures For 2 Pianos-ChapterI"

Olivier Messiaen: "Mode de valeurs et d' intensites" Performed by Gloria Cheng.

Miles Davis: "Pharaoh's Dance"

On Aesthetic Originality

Originality is the Holy Grail of artistic endeavor. More precious than gold, it speaks to us at our point of aesthetic want; that place where art is supposed to speak to us, in that sacred part of our being which is built for the express purpose of apprehending the aesthetic experience. And when it's good, it's very, very good. Because it is also the most intangible element of the creative act, it is the most elusive in terms of translation and basic understanding. Very few artists achieve it. Very few ever will achieve it. And yet, it is instantly recognizable when we stumble into its presence. There it is, something utterly unique and inimitable. Something that changes us in ways that add profoundly to our depth, but that we understand only as Enchantment. In a world in which homogeneity is prized above all things, we experience originality as something almost incomprehensible, and if we are lucky enough to remain focused, without distraction for that brief moment in its presence, the philosophical question arises; ‘From whence comes this?’ And we are unable to say.

Can we learn to be original? Great artists are virtually unanimous in their belief that it is something that cannot be taught, and likely for just that reason, it is to be found as often among unschooled artists as those who have gone the academic route. So what is it? Hmmm. We scratch our heads. We have to think.

The biggest problem in delving into the nature and process of originality is that it seems utterly resistant to formal definition. It’s like trying to give the definition of a chair. (Go ahead and try that one!) Every time we try to put our fingers on it, we find it has shifted, moved just out of reach like some funky quantum particle. Of course, ostensive definitions are what we use. THIS is a work of great originality. THAT one over there is not. Just like you do for the chair. Of course, it's easy enough to simply say 'I've never heard/read/seen/felt anything like THIS before, therefore, it must possess significant originality. Well, it ain’t necessarily so. Could be your experience is quite limited. You have no way of knowing whether or not Stevie Ray Vaughn has achieved originality among blues players if the only other one you've ever heard is B.B. King. And it is here that we have stumbled onto what is probably the best possible guideline; experience. Those who have spent their lives, for example, deeply absorbed in the world of music, having listened in depth to many different forms, many different musicians, many different approaches to melody, rhythm, and harmonization, etc. know that the sheer number of experiences they’ve had will help them to discover ‘original’ artistry and to distinguish it from the derivative, particularly the highly derivative. (Which, sadly, constitutes by far the lion’s share of all music.) Of course, we don't all get to be musicologists. But if our culture, particularly in America, put more emphasis on the value of the artistic experience in the process of human development, we would find not only vast numbers of people joyously celebrating their own precious discoveries of originality in the arts, we would also find that same culture reaching unimaginably higher levels of potential in all its fields of endeavor. The whole thing is connected.

It is also important to note that there is no direct connection between artistic ‘talent’ or ‘ability’ and originality. It’s not about being good at what you do. The vast majority of craftsmen and craftswomen who achieve high levels of technical proficiency in their chosen artistic fields will forever remain outsiders to the sacred realm of originality. This doesn’t mean that we can’t be deeply moved by their efforts. There are so many great artists doing meaningful work; virtuoso musicians, extraordinary draftsmen, wizards with words, amazing actors, the list goes on. They live that they may communicate great things to us, and they succeed. But even in the presence of mercurial virtuosity we are seldom apt to find originality. It’s a different animal. The distinction here is between ‘the accomplished’ and ‘the unique.’ ‘The unique’ is the higher entity. It signals a place to which only this one gifted individual can take us. Such realms are lofty indeed.

This, then, is the salient point with regard to having any kind of advanced conception of originality in the arts and sciences. Simply put, it's like this; if you immerse yourself in the world of human creativity, your experience of living life at this time on this planet will have been profoundly maximized. If you squander all your time on your sales ledgers, it will have been just as profoundly minimized. And as far as we know, we only get to do this once. So it's all about how high we think humankind ought to be capable of soaring, and whether or not we choose to become living examples. One thing is certain. If we all learn to step back from the trivial and uninspired hours that the world always forces upon us on some level, and learn to be in the moment with a great work of art, we will have learned how to be magicians. We can stop time. We can snatch a fleeting glimpse into the eternal unity of the universe in which we live. Indeed, we may become as gods from just such moments.

Allan Holdsworth

A True Original