tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734055108732394351.post2983353448039785504..comments2023-08-14T16:50:43.514+01:00Comments on Heilabrim: Piano Phase - music and emotionKnúthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13750433247324358032noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734055108732394351.post-52710160666151122992011-08-23T12:44:34.977+01:002011-08-23T12:44:34.977+01:00Thanks for your comments, Nikolaj. To be honest m...Thanks for your comments, Nikolaj. To be honest my link between Górecki’s 3rd and American minimalism was not taken completely out of the blue, as I have previously stumbled upon descriptions of Górecki as one of the so called “holy minimalists”, the others being Arvo Pärt and Gavin Bryars. As you might be aware of, these composers are seen by some as European counterparts to the Americans mentioned above. In addition to certain minimalist musical traits they also deal somewhat with Christian/religious themes in their music, i.e. the “holy” in “holy minimalism” (now there’s a construction if there ever was one…) But anyway, when listening to Gorecki’s 3rd I definitely find it reasonable to talk about it within the context of (American) minimalism.<br />Regarding the emotional overflow etc. it is obviously a very subjective thing to be talking about and I might be projecting my own ideas about emotion (emotions about emotion) onto the Piano Phase piece. <br />Maybe this subjective experience stems from Reich’s play with tension/release; his music is often static and moving/dynamic at the same time. The structures can be quite rigid and processual but it is nevertheless an enveloping, organic and vibrant experience to hear his music. Music For 18 Musicians is definitely a good example but I think Piano Phase kind of pin-points this; it’s a small, well defined, kind of eccentric idea, that suddenly lets out all kinds of possibilities and points toward something beyond it’s own borders. Hence my very unscientific remark about “transcendence”. I have the feeling that in some sense this music points beyond it’s own realm. This can probably be said about all kinds of music and it’s probably more than difficult to measure such a thing as “transcendent possibility”, but some things just strike me as having a lot of it. Including some of Reich’s stuff.Knúthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13750433247324358032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734055108732394351.post-19884138364774842322011-08-20T13:38:36.091+01:002011-08-20T13:38:36.091+01:00I think it is a brilliant observation that the sym...I think it is a brilliant observation that the symphony is related to the american minimalism. When I have heard the symphony, the repetitive nature has definitely struck me, but I have not made the direct connection that you made due to the more obvious connection to the European tradition, maybe even to the Nordic "tone" or Nordic modernism (the first movement in particular)? <br />I am not sure I completely agree with you about the emotional overflow in the Piano Phase example, but I can definitely see a parallel to Music for 18 Musicians in the way this piece combines repetitive structures with the tonality of the chords cycle and the bass clarinet figures.<br />You might be interested in reading the article "Going Flat: Post-Hierarchical Music Theory and the Musical Surface" by Robert Fink in "Rethinking Music" (if you not already have?) where he analyses Piano Phase in a discussion of musical flatness and depth. <br />I am a little curious about what exactly you mean by "transcendence" with regard to this music. Could you elaborate?Nikolaj Strandshttp://nikolajstrands.dk/noreply@blogger.com