From: David MOREY (us@divadeus.freeserve.co.uk)
Date: Tue Jan 27 2004 - 19:27:09 GMT
Hi Mark
A similar effect has been attributed to Wagner's Parsifal
I believe.
regards
David M
----- Original Message -----
From: <Valuemetaphysics@aol.com>
To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 12:18 AM
Subject: Re: MD SQ-SQ tension/coherence in the drone.
> Dear forum,
> as part of my project to search for examples of exceptional SQ-SQ
> tension/coherence, i have been thinking about the following for a couple
of
> years:
>
> From: http://www.library.duq.edu/newsletter/Summer2000/worldmusic.htm
>
> What was it about the music of India, and specifically the form called the
> raga, that captured the imagination of musicians from George Harrison to
> violinist Yehudi Menuhin? Everyone has heard the Beatles' incorporation of
the form
> with attendant Eastern mysticism. Lesser-known efforts at that time
included
> numerous hybrids a multitude of folk/rock/blues/jazz ragas. Does any
> one remember"East-West" by the Butterfield Blues Band? Or jazz trumpeter
Don Ellis'
> Hindustani Jazz Sextet? The music became inextricably tied to images of
lava lamps
> and love beads, which lends to it an anachronistic quality nowadays. That
is
> unfortunate, because this is Indian classical music, not a fad.
>
> At the same time, Ravi Shankar, the leading exponent of this music, became
a
> smash with jazz aficionados and later with rock fans at the Monterey Pop
> Festival in 1967. Shankar played the sitar, a north Indian stringed
instrument
> previously unknown in the West, but soon to become almost as recognizable
as the
> electric guitar. Hippies adopted the musical traditions of India as part
of
> their consciousness.
>
> Ragas, a new addition to the Gumberg Library's world music selections,
> featuring Shankar on sitar and Ali Akbar Khan on the more resonant sarod,
affords a
> glimpse into the why of it all. This is a recording from the mid-Sixties,
> around the time George Harrison introduced the sitar to his fans. The
mysticism
> inherent in the raga holds the Western listener before its structure and
> complexity of a different sort from our own musical evolution but no less
complex
> becomes clear.
>
> Musicologists may have an explanation for this spell. It is the concept of
> ethos, or personification of character in music. It was important to the
ancient
> Greeks and included morality or ethics. What we know in the West is that
each
> raga type (which can be a spin-off on a melody, a central note, scale,
mode,
> or a collection of these) has a special persona or character and this
> embodiment lends itself to metaphysical possibilities and the idea of
musicas a means
> of meditation or getting closer to the Divine.
>
> Perhaps this explains why the raga (which is Sanskrit for color or musical
> tone) became such a touchstone in pop culture during the Sixties,
drug-addled
> yet searching for transcendence. But whereas some of the synthesis in the
West
> was rather heavy-handed and used ostinato, or repeated figures, to
approximate
> the drone of the raga, the Indian musicians create subtle music that seems
to
> flow out of another dimension and sense of time. And this drone is the
> opposite of the harmonic movement which is our frame of reference in
music.
>
> Western ears attuned to harmony may at first find this an arid landscape
with
> no familiar landmarks. The backdrop of the music lies in the drone, which
is
> created by the stringed instrument called the tambura. The tambura does in
> fact generate some overtones (harmonics) that hover over the sitar and the
sarod.
>
> Each raga is a cycle that starts in free rhythm, based on certain scales,
> modes or melodic motifs. There may be short bursts of melody and numerous
"bent"
> notes or ornaments. These notes fall in the cracks between intervals known
in
> the West and are something like "blue notes" in jazz or rock, but actually
> more intricate in the possibilities of articulation. These bent notes also
held
> fascination for rock musicians, for whom blues guitar was important.
>
> Gradually, imperceptibly, rhythmic patterns emerge, spelled out by the
tabla,
> or hand drum, the pace quickens, and the structure builds to a climax.
>
> On Ragas, there are four offerings in this form, and underneath a
deceptive
> sameness, the personality of each raga emerges. And indeed one can listen
to
> them raptly enough to induce a reverie that could be likened to a
meditative
> state. This is in large part improvised music, so that while there is a
sketch or
> plan to the gradual unfolding of the raga, spontaneity is always there.
> Shankar and Khan are truly masters of the style, who play with elegance,
wit and
> nuance.
>
> Note the phrases and words i have highlighted.
>
> Over the last few years i have become a huge admirer of the Raga, and
would
> recommend any Shankar material or the Nimbus 4 CD survey of 74 basic raga
> patterns.
> It is the drone i wish to draw attention to - here we have a static centre
on
> which SQ-SQ tension is made coherent with the patterns of the human
> player/listener. Essentially, any conceptual distinction in this coherence
other than
> that explained by the MoQ does not make any aesthetic sense to me.
> The dharma of the raga, if this is an acceptable way of putting it, is DQ?
I
> wonder what the forum thinks about this?
>
> There appears to be a close connection between the drone in Indian raga,
the
> drone is celtic pipes, the clave in Latino music, the modes of Christian
> liturgical cannon, and many other examples of static centres around which
SQ-SQ
> tension between Inorganic, organic, social and intellectual patterns are
brought
> into exceptional coherence - DQ.
>
> These exceptional states seem to me to have a high moral status which is,
i
> venture to suggest, Universally explored in Human culture - and from an
MoQ
> perspective, culture means social and Intellectual patterns of value also.
>
> Mathematicians use musical analogues to express the Quality of their art,
> which urges me to consider were the drone/centre/clave in a
mathematician's
> creative experience is?
> Is there a drone/centre/clave in social patterns?
>
> One last word, listening to Holts' Beni Mori recently, i noted again, as
is
> always the case when i here the third movement of that piece, the rhythmic
> drone you may hang onto throughout the performance - he uses a similar
device in
> 'Mars' from The Planets. It kills you - it removes you - it transforms you
into
> nothingness. And one feels wonderful to be alive.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
>
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