Beauty In the Beast: What is Beauty?

by Craig on July 6, 2010

Howard and I are selecting music for our next concert. We have wanted to do a concert featuring 20th Century music which is “beautiful” for some time now and we are finally getting down to it. When thinking of 20th century music (specifically music written for the Symphony or Recital hall where Classical music fans hang out) you might think of the cacophonous and discordant sounds of 20th century greats such as Bartok, Schoenberg and Stravinsky. Where, might you ask, is the “beauty” in that. Well Howard and I are quickly discovering that the interesting question and the interesting idea to explore in this concert is “What is beauty?”

the beauty of water Beauty In the Beast: What is Beauty?

What is beauty?

Howard and I have already identified four ways that determine how one might come to see something as beautiful.

Intrinsic Beauty

Scientific evidence reveals that our brains are hardwired to find particular combinations of sounds (harmonies) appealing. Did you know that when you were born, your brain was not developed enough to understand highly complex or dissonant harmonies and yet it was developed enough to understand and appreciate simpler consonant harmonies. To make matters even more intriguing, a different region of the human brain processes dissonance than consonance.

A closer look at the physics of sound also reveals that the harmonious major scale upon which most of today’s popular music and all Western music up until the late 1800’s is founded  is derived from the natural series of overtones that occurs in Nature’s sound garden. Our brains are already designed to understand and appreciated those sounds.

I’ll be posting more on Intrinsic Beauty as I research further.

Associative Beauty

When we are young and particularly when we are in our teens and taking a more active interest in music we start connecting life events with music that was popular at the time. Then whenever we hear that music in the future we are transported back to the associated event from earlier in our life. If the event was a positive one, our experience and evaluation of the music is likely to be positive as well.

Learned Beauty

We are all born into a unique environment and culture that promotes specific sounds, rhythms, timbres and harmonies. Inevitably we learn to appreciate certain combinations of sounds as we are exposed to them over and over.

Intellectual Beauty

This is also a form of “learned beauty” except that this type of beauty is appreciated and learned very consciously. Listening to a Bach Fugue is a prime example of this. Sometimes when I listen to Bach’s fugues, it is not a beautiful melody or harmony that brings me to tears but the sheer brilliance of how he has constructed the music. My personal knowledge and musical training plays a big part in how it occurs as beautiful to me. Intellectual Beauty is the domain of hardcore music enthusiasts, students, educators, performers and composers. It is also the type of learning that enables one to hear beauty in less readily accessible music and it is also probably the source of unpleasant conversations about elitism and what’s good and what’s not good.

Putting it all together

I think we each apply our own unique mixture of listening experience when we  evaluate music and decide if it is beautiful or not. Do you see where you fall amongst these categories? I have discovered I have a very heavy preference for Intrinsic Beauty with a good dose of Intellectual Beauty thrown in. My preference for Intrinsic Beauty got me into some good difficulties when studying music at the University of British Columbia. When I applied to major in composition the vote was split and I was not granted the pleasure of being a composition major – the critique I got was that my music was too easy to listen to – too pretty. I’ve just kept composing anyhow and still revel in the beauty of  harmonies based upon natures overtone series. When my piano has just been tuned, I can be inspired and moved by a simple major chord as I listen to all the magical overtones floating in the air.

The Beauty In the Beast Concert

Howard and I both have a strong commitment to intrinsic beauty and we think you will be pleasantly surprised at how beautiful most of the music we select is. We will of course be throwing in some more dissonant sounds as well. Too much consonance becomes down right boring. The difference we plan to make is that you leave the evening having discovered some measure of beauty in what you previously might have thought was a beast.

I’ll be sending out details on the Amicus Music Duo’s “Beauty In the Beast” concert soon. It will be either mid September or October.

We’ll be sharing music by Arvo Pärt, Debussy, Ravel, Prokofieff, Britten, Bartok, Addy, Meadows & Satoh (that list might change a little as we discover more about beauty)

What music do you find beautiful?

I’d like to know.

Sources:

This is Your Brain On Music by Daniel J. Levitin

The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross

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Afterthoughts on Crossing Over

by Craig on July 5, 2010

Howard and I had a great time mixing musical genres during our Crossing Over performance on June 17th. We mentioned a couple of resources and musical figures during the concert. This post will allow you to experience or explore those further if you desire. When we named this concert Crossing Over, we belatedly realised that the words “Crossing Over” can be interpreted as dying and passing on to the afterlife. We of course, were alluding to the term Crossover, which in music refers to an artist or composer who delves into a musical genre different than the one with which they are normally associated.

There was one point in the evening when the words “Crossing Over”, as in passing on, were entirely appropriate. It was when we performed Chopin’s Prelude No. 4, Op 28. Before performing it, we mentioned that we were playing it in memory of the great Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester – she had died just the day before on June 16. We also mentioned Benjamin Zander as an inspirational speaker about music and life and that he has a passionate, engaging, funny talk that can be seen on TED.com. The link between Maureen Forrester and Benjamin Zander is the Chopin Prelude we played. It is this prelude that Zander uses to illustrate his ideas and passion about music and life. Before he performs the piece, he invites each audience member to think of someone they love or treasure who has passed on. This is why I thought of Maureen Forrester before playing the Prelude.

I highly recommend taking 20 minutes to watch Benjamin Zander’s TED.com talk before listening to the two examples of Maureen Forrester that I have included here. It will alter your listening and experience of the music.

Benjamin Zander on music and passion

Benjamin Zander has two infectious passions: classical music, and helping us all realize our untapped love for it — and by extension, our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences, new connections. A leading interpreter of Mahler and Beethoven, Benjamin Zander is known for his charisma and unyielding energy — and for his brilliant pre-concert talks.

If you have never heard Maureen Forrester’s voice before here is your opportunity. I first discovered this great Canadian musical treasure in the 80s while attending music school at UBC. I was in the Music Library’s listening room playing through a listening list for my music history course. I put on this recording of Maureen Forrester singing Ombra mai fu from Handel’s Serse. I was stopped in my tracks by this ravishing voice. How fortunate that this very recording has been posted on YouTube so I can share it with you.

Maureen Forrester sings Handel’s Ombra mai fu

Her performance of Gustav Mahler’s Urlicht with another great Canadian legend conducting – Glenn Gould – is heartbreakingly beautiful.

Maureen Forrester & Glenn Gould performing Mahler’s Urlicht

To listen to some actual recordings of music from the Crossing Over concert visit my blog post Some Musical Moments from Crossing Over

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Some Musical Moments from Crossing Over

July 5, 2010

Howard and I got our act together and actually recorded our Crossing Over performance at St Andrew’s-Wesley Church. Here are 3 pieces from the evening.
1) Piano Improvisation by Craig Addy
Improvisation from Crossing Over – Craig Addy, Piano

2) An improvised Waltz by the Amicus Music Duo
Performed by the Amicus Music Duo
Howard Meadows, Clarinet and Craig Addy, [...]

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George Gershwin: An Extraordinary Crossover Musician

June 14, 2010

Did you know that George Gershwin distinguished himself in being a composer and musician who created music that belongs both in the realm of serious classical music and popular music? In the face of daunting disapproval from composition teachers, he persisted in creating “popular” music with the same level of care and commitment that classical [...]

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Crossover

June 8, 2010

On Thursday, June 17th, the Amicus Music Duo – that’s Howard Meadows and myself – is performing its new “Crossing Over” show. While we are classical musicians at heart, we both love playing a little in the realm of jazz and broadway showtune arrangements. And of course, we both love to improvise. So, it only [...]

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Christmas Improvisations

December 14, 2009

Here I am with Christmas just around the corner releasing a new CD, this time a “Christmas CD”, with less than 2 weeks to go. Not a brilliant marketing and sales strategy. My explanation is simply a very full and exciting fall with more projects on the go than I can handle effectively. What makes [...]

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Baby Nate Loved Being Under the Piano too

November 12, 2009

Back in February, just as I was starting the business of Under the Piano, I commandeered help to move my grand piano to a new location in my living room. Rajan, Sarah, and Eric arrived to save the day. Accompanying Sarah and Eric was a recent addition to their family – their 2 month old [...]

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A Nutcracker Christmas with a Twist

November 12, 2009

I remember many Christmas eves with my family. It is late and the lights are dimmed. The house is decorated, polished brass and silver gleams, and many candles are lit. Everything glitters and glows and the aromas of pine and cedar fill the room. Then my parents play beautiful and peaceful Christmas carols on the [...]

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Piano Improvisation meets Creative Yoga Dance

November 11, 2009

Last Spring I had the good fortune to meet Rachel Goodman of Diversi Fitness. I soon discovered that Rachel’s journey to fitness was quite unlike anything I could have imagined. Rachel has a background in dance. When she shared that she loves to do dance improvisation the synapses in my brain started getting mighty active.
Dance [...]

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Featured Client: Alfred DePew

November 11, 2009

Back in July 2009, Alfred DePew came for a session Under the Piano. He was inspired to write about Under the Piano in his weekly Vancouver Observer column (See Under the Piano Featured in the Vancouver Observer). Since then, when I have done follow-up calls with clients who came with partners, some of them have commented [...]

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