Day Six

Today began with a lively discussion of the college music curriculum. Should we be teaching film music, popular music, rock, contemporary Christian? Several opinions later, we jumped into the experimental art music of the last 50 years. Any discussion of experimental music cannot be made without an understanding of two things: music of John Cage and a broad definition of music. A good video of John Cage helps articulate his view of music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y. Cage's experiments in sound including prepared piano led the way to the "happenings" movement of the 1960s. Happenings were musical and extra-musical experimental events that qualify as sound or aural events in time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happening). Happenings have led to performance art of today which seems to be reserved for nightclubs or college activities on certain campuses. But there is no denying the influence of the various musical experiments of the 60s.

If music is sound, regardless of its system or organization, and regardless of man's attempt to compartmentalize its role and purpose, then it stands to reason that music is only limited by man's creative spirit. With that in mind, we jumped into some sounds and music that are being performed today. The influence of John Cage cannot be overemphasized, but equal to Cage, although in a more traditional framework, is the music of Edgar Varese. We listened to Arcana and a little bit of Ameriques and discussed the sounds and approach of Varese. A bit strident at times, shocking, yet oddly sensitive, Varese's music opened the door to new sounds and textures for future composers.

The composers Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Babbit, Xenakis, and Stockhausen to name just a few have all been involved with experimentation and searching for new sounds and aural expression. A riveting recording of Kontakte by Stockhausen led us to a wide variety of opinions and discussion. Some students are uncomfortable with music that cannot be performed live. Others enjoyed the complexity of sound but tended to associate that with particular images. Kontakte then took us to a different kind of piece called Helicopter String Quartet by Stockhausen. Each member of the string quartet plays inside a flying helicopter where the sound is heard on the ground by the audience. We listened to approximately 6 minutes of the lengthy piece and all of us were pretty taken with the concept and the resulting sound. Perhaps this is due to the direct imagery of 4 helicopters, not sure though.

A quick shift of thought took us back to minimalism, landing on the music of Phillip Glass. We listened to a few examples and discussed his remarkable career in film music. Historically, minimalism grew out of the tension of the 1960s with a pulsating, process-oriented style exemplified by Terry Riley and Steve Reich. Eastern mysticism and subtle development in increments characterize minimalism. Beginning with early efforts including Einstein on the Beach, Philip Glass has had a tremendous influence on music. In an almost unprecedented rise, Philip Glass's career took a meteoric rise several years and he became one of the most sought after film composers of our time.

We concluded with comments about minimalism and other kind of music of today. It was not quite an earth-shattering day, but we did cover some modern material, leaving all us feeling both enriched and maybe a little confused. What is music? Is there a place for experimentalism in today's world? Do you like Minimalism in music?