Fratres
(this post was actually written for the silver apples)
I'm suspicious of minimalism, but especially of minimalist composers. The deconstruction of music is completely illogical and cannot reasonably yield music; moreover it is a rejection of the metaphysical power that music has over the human mind. A sterilization of sorts, a separation of the emotion from the technical aspect of playing a single note. Except that it isn't.
Most forget that silence is music's negative space. The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) explains, "When I speak of silence, I mean the 'nothingness' out of which God created the world. That is why, ideally, musical silence is sacred. Silence is not simply given to us, but in order that we may draw sustenance from it." Like any composition, attention must be paid to both the positive and the negative space, or else the composition cannot be balanced. It will not make sense.
There are certain pieces of art that you relate to, instantly, completely. They mimic your consciousness. They frame your existence. After experiencing a piece of art like this, your sensory perception of the entire world becomes elevated and amplified. Everything becomes crystal clear. It affects you physically, and remains in your being until the day you die. And the most enjoyable part of art is that its meaning can be shared and debated over with others.
You might not agree, but I can tell you how important this piece of art is to my experience. When I hear it, I hear my soul hyperventilating. Close to respiratory arrest, I am gasping my final few breaths in front of God. He takes me into heaven, and I can finally see All Of It, and go on past my own death into eternal light and comfort. The silence that follows me forever after the conclusion of Fratres is still an extension of Pärt's composition, and it has no end.
I'm suspicious of minimalism, but especially of minimalist composers. The deconstruction of music is completely illogical and cannot reasonably yield music; moreover it is a rejection of the metaphysical power that music has over the human mind. A sterilization of sorts, a separation of the emotion from the technical aspect of playing a single note. Except that it isn't.
Most forget that silence is music's negative space. The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) explains, "When I speak of silence, I mean the 'nothingness' out of which God created the world. That is why, ideally, musical silence is sacred. Silence is not simply given to us, but in order that we may draw sustenance from it." Like any composition, attention must be paid to both the positive and the negative space, or else the composition cannot be balanced. It will not make sense.
There are certain pieces of art that you relate to, instantly, completely. They mimic your consciousness. They frame your existence. After experiencing a piece of art like this, your sensory perception of the entire world becomes elevated and amplified. Everything becomes crystal clear. It affects you physically, and remains in your being until the day you die. And the most enjoyable part of art is that its meaning can be shared and debated over with others.
You might not agree, but I can tell you how important this piece of art is to my experience. When I hear it, I hear my soul hyperventilating. Close to respiratory arrest, I am gasping my final few breaths in front of God. He takes me into heaven, and I can finally see All Of It, and go on past my own death into eternal light and comfort. The silence that follows me forever after the conclusion of Fratres is still an extension of Pärt's composition, and it has no end.