08 August 2007

The Music of the Future

My friends! Greetings unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Christ Jesus.

Today we are going to discuss longing of the heart. My own heart is often full of longing, and I quite simply am not certain what I ought to do with it. It has been in this state for some time now, long enough for me to have responded to it on Sunday 27 July 2007. At some point, the aforementioned day became night, which is excellent for me, as I find that I am somewhat more functional and productive at night. That aside, as this night approached, I was pondering musical ideas, as I often do (typically to no avail), when an agreeable idea came to me. I thought that the sound of a series of G# diminished chords with the D in the bass played in 6/8 time would work very nicely to express great longing of the heart. As it turned out, I was right, and I worked for several hours until approximately 12:16 AM, at which point I decided that it would be better to sleep than to print myself more music paper (I ran out, you see).

I continued to work each day, constantly believing myself to be nearing completion, which was entirely untrue. When one abandons formal structure, though, these delusions tend to develop. They are friendly delusions, though, delusions that keep one constantly pushing for a nearby resolution, even when no resolution is near (but one does not know this. One cannot know this. One ought not know this.) The notes were completed in the midst of Thursday night. I added the expressions on Friday afternoon. It was then that I took my sacred right to affix my signature and the date to the final page. These features do not appear below. I did not feel that the internet was a good place to store my signature and the date of a dead day. At any rate, on that day, "Hurrah!" I could say. "Now I have expressed my longing in an esoteric form!"

Clicking on the photographs makes them extraordinarily large.












































How lucky you are, my readers! I am going to share secrets with you regarding the meanings of the music. The first thing you might notice is the absence of a title. You might say, "Lo, hast thou truly written a work without a title? Come now, what callest thou it?" I assure you, it is endowed with title, but the title has words in it. I do not want you, O listener, to know what these words are for two reasons, the second of which is that the verbal association detracts from pure musical expression. The title is mine. You cannot have it, unless of course you already do. After all, you might.

The next thing you might notice, if you are clever, is that I have chosen to utilize the key signature of E minor. If you are especially clever, you might also notice that there is not much of a musical reason to do this. Indeed, my wise friend, I have chosen the key of E minor for altogether unmusical reasons. If you are so wise as to piece together what purpose I have in mind with E minor, then I cannot doubt that you are none other than myself, in which case I must ask myself to stop revealing my esoteric secrets.

What else do you spot, O perceptive reader? Do you perhaps notice that the final measure is nothing but a whole rest? Do you not wonder why it is there? I tell you it is there so that there are the right number of measures in the music. There absolutely must be ninety-one measures. There are other acceptable numbers, of course, such as 147. If a number of this type, the acceptable type, that is, (understand, there are multiple numbers of this type) is not used, the work will simply fall apart. The blank measure is perhaps the single most important measure in the whole piece. Without it, all is lost. It would be unworthy.

The rest of the secrets are not abnormalities. They reside in the music itself. For example, the final notes make an A major chord. This is of vast importance, but it is a purely musical matter. Diminished chords are extensively used, but again, this is a purely musical matter. These are not matters to be left unobserved or not understood. These are to be heard and felt, to be understood consciously or otherwise. One cannot forget the music itself.

The final thing that might concern my readers is illegibility. That is, the average human could not discern many of the notes in my handwritten copy of the music. This is why I have produced a legible computer copy. For interested parties, I can provide such a thing. For disinterested parties, enjoy the handwritten copy. I find it more pleasing to the eye.

Oh, by the way, I have subtitled the work (as I intend to do with future works) "The Music of the Future." I like to tell people (such as yourselves) that their children will be listening to it. I find this amusing because it is not true.

Well wishes to you all, and Godspeed.

3 comments:

maria said...

I would be interested in a legible computer copy. My deciphering ability has it's limits. I don't want to push them.

Greg Holder said...

I have a feeling that this is going to be one of the more interesting blogs I read. You have the perfect personality for regular blogging. :)

Thorvald Erikson said...

You people put a smile on my face and a warming sensation in my bosom. I thought you should know.

I imagine I will update once or twice a week. Experience tells me it be so.