Tonal Flux

Sounds may be ordered according to a central tone, but need not be predictable.

One-dimensional predictability is contrary to the reality of sound and its perception.

To narrow the function of hearing to a single attitude of mind is to deny the sense itself.  The witless anarchy of chaotic noise is superior to bland, insipid sounds, but far more to be desired is the release of the mind from dull expectations- stultifying beats and rhythms- through immersion in unobstructed flow of aesthetic design.

Stoa

The artist, like the Stoic of old, manipulates perspective.

It should not be beyond comprehension that reality is not a function of the ego, nor that perceptions themselves exist to inform consciousness for more elevated purposes than self-absorbed expression.

These are points of essential knowledge, in firm opposition to inimical delusion. In terms of the arts, they lend themselves to the formulation of viewpoints established to highlight the differences between mere appearances and the real.  I say formulation in acknowledgement of the challenge that sensory impressions and their interpretations can and do present, objectivity being at times in short supply.

The composer experiences life, and is interested in sound as form and media in representing events, ideas, emotional connectivity, and frameworks for the apprehension of the world. This is one for whom the effects of music are not enough.  There must be insights.  There must be meanings.

Place and Process

Neither listener nor composer simply accepts things as they are, with no further possibilities.

If there is no room for the unconventional, there is no room for progress, or, for that matter, reality.

Aural Field

It is the listener, not the composer, who chooses the time and place to experience recorded works.

Therefore the burden is on the composer to produce the finest works possible, those made to enliven and elevate consciousness in any setting the listener may prefer.

The Receptive and the Cultivated

The reality of sound is vibration in motion.

The reality of listening is that of perceptions informing consciousness.

Because the mind is immersed in personal experience, influenced subjectively by emotion, and also directed by innumerable aspects of culture to value sounds arranged in recognized musical structures, the listener is challenged by expressions that immediately impress as peculiar and out of the ordinary.

Thus it is clear that the mysterious nature of the beautiful demands a sense of integrity and aesthetic purpose in both composer and listener.

Expansion, Contraction

The spontaneous gesture, if genuine, opens and releases expression, and communicates it in an effortless manner.

If, in fact, the spontaneity is false, and a mere expression of impulse, it denies, rather than asserts, vital urgency, and obscures the clarity it intends to convey.

In music, originating more often than not in self-styled avant-garde circles, the result is vacuous, a transparent artifice, and an inconsequential distraction that diminishes the work.

The impromptu gesture in sound will impress the listener as being free, and moreover, in accord with the consciously developed elements of a work, being equally, fundamentally, meaningful.

Stillness, Then Action

Change lingers in echoes.

To reflect is also to advance.