Listening Consciousness

The perceptions of the ancients differ little from those of the modern day, if the writers and historians are to be believed.

Yet the moment now is filled with sounds, even to the point of being burdened by them. Composer and listener must distinguish between listening with intent and purpose and absorbing- or ignoring- sounds that are thrust upon them.

Transcending the Verbal

The observer, giving due consideration to the limits of expression through language, will recognize that tone communicates in ways both subtle and profound.

The poetic extends toward the philosophical; the philosophical, toward the ineffable. Tone quality in sound, in its capacity to convey those things that cannot be articulated in words, may approach the imaginative and the sublime through combinations of aural imagery impossible to attain otherwise.

Advance

What appears spontaneous comes about as the result of innumerable forces and conditions.

As a composer, I am interested in gesture defined by environment, that is to say, by emerging and expanding elements of tone and setting.  This is designed as a transformational process marked by an equilibrium of sustained, evolving aural imagery.

Any choices in performance or production that may modify and augment the total effect of the work are subjective in that they reflect aesthetic sensibilities, yet their implementation is determined solely by the auditory elements of the work itself.  Interference with the unfolding expression is incompatible with its outcome.

Metamorphosis

Changes in culture and changes in individual perception lead to the emergence of unexpected forms.

At first these forms are perceived as strange and unprecedented; then their origins become apparent as their effects are felt and their connections to sometimes obscure traditions become clear.

The composer acts according to the historical impulses at play in the world of outward, objective experience as well as those intimate and dynamic forces found within the seemingly infinite world heard and conceived in the inner ear of imagination.

Distances Emerge

Listening can provide a change of consciousness in ways similar to that of a journey or dream.

One leaves nothing behind, in any event, but perspectives may alter, and changes in tone, focus and perceptivity may bring about greater understanding and deeper, broader appreciation for what is real.

This is not escape, but immersion in equanimity and balance of reason and feeling.

Selective Hearing

Some will say, stepping outside the everyday boundaries of work and play, "But I hear nothing".

The listener harassed by a subjection to immediacy hears little more that what is thrust directly into perceptual awareness.  Even the value of music that should brighten perspective degrades in such conditions.

There is much pleasure, and elevation of moral reason, to be found and engaged in the sounds of stillness, once consciousness expands to listen, and hear with the inner ear- and there is much to inspire the composer and creative artist in rendering these sounds and atmospheres.

Clairaudience

Sound is always present, always perceptible.

Shaped and manipulated according to specific ideas and techniques, sounds become music.

Now listen to the sounds of the day in the course of moving from one place to another.

Imagine specific ideas and techniques for shaping and manipulating those sounds, with their unique combinations, patterns, and tonal qualities, to produce representations of atmospheric environments.

While retaining much of a musical nature, such compositions are more akin to works of art, with their various properties, than those created utilizing the elements and techniques of music.