(d)Evolution?
i feel i’ve reached a kind of post-literate stage musically. here’s the ‘form’ of my (d)evolution:
pre-literacy - up until ~18 - made music without understanding its theoretical underpinnings
transition - 18-22? - learned the theory (classical and avant garde)
literacy - 22-30? - celebrated/embodied the theory in the music i made
transition - 30-45? - un-learned the theory: pulled it apart, modified it, rejected it
post-literacy - 45-now - revelling in (quasi-naive) freedom from rules/stricture
a couple of notes on living the ‘post-literate’ musical life. first, it’s like having come full circle(ish) … i’m back to fumbling/groping my way to creating a piece, relying deeply on intuition, seeing only as far as my headlights illumine (in an often foggy night). second, the music i create these days can sound, to the uninitiated, like random noise making. there’s no (obvious) beat, melody, chordal structure, etc. so the work often falls on deaf(ish) ears … and, to the extent that i compose to communicate with other humans (a significant extent), this makes me sad. i think this sorrow is an inevitable (and quite beautiful) part of what happens when you truly begin to break free from the known.
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