This is an entry for Round 22 of the Information Finding Championship run by @apolymask and the community account @ifc.
Apologies, seeing as this is a post about music, it really requires that you find some quiet time to listen to a couple of things!
Listen to this first
Try to think about what this short piece means to you, what sort of emotion/thoughts that come to mind. Just write them down for later reference!
Priming an audience
... or leading a horse to water!
As musicians, we seem to think that the messages that we atttempt to transmit via our performances should be self-evident and obvious. However, I have learnt over time that this just isn't true. Music evokes many emotions and thoughts that are complex and intertwined with personal experience and context. Things that are powerful for one person might be totally meaningless for another, what one person finds joyful another finds tinged with sadness.So, as musicians, the best we can do is provide an interpretation, a suggestion, of a particular message/emotion/thought.
However, it is possible to prime the audience to think along the same lines. This is a bit of a controversial topic amongst musicians, because of the previously mentioned idea that the audience "should just get it", with the subtext that if they don't they are dumb-arses.
Auditory Illusions
If you can, listen to this without watching the screen. It is pretty long, but interesting, but you only need to listen to one to start to get the idea.
This is the idea, that our auditory senses, with the right prodding can be motivated to find patterns and suggestions in otherwise completely random noise. In this case, it isn't totally random, but you can find examples of finding words in white noise. You don't hear the words unless you are told they are there, and then you can't unhear them! I just couldn't find any that didn't give the game away....
Context
Here is Pachelbel's Canon, the bane of cellists and the staple of every wedding.
What are the ideas and thought that run though your mind? Sombreness, Beauty, Seriousness?
Well, my particular field of specialisation in Classical Music is Historically Informed Practice. So, without going into a long rant, let me just say that in the 300 years since that Canon was written it has been completely butchered and bastardised from its original intention.
There is much evidence (musical and otherwise) to suggest that it was supposed to be a piece of unbridled joy and striving, new discovery, and wonder... Well, I guess a wedding ceremony is supposed to be the same...
Manipulation
Sorry, I have no idea about that image. Being restricted to Pixabay and free sites sometimes returns weird weird weird results... Sigh, I miss the good old days of just pulling images from Google....
Anyway, how do we incoporate these ideas into musical performances?
The most traditional way is via programme notes and pre-concert lectures. This informs the audience about the pieces and performance, which hopefully plants the seeds of the ideas that the performers want grow in the audience. This isn't so sucessful, as you don't tend to read the notes at the same time as the music, and the lectures are often given by people who are not the performers!
Another way, which is better, is to have the performers talk in between the pieces. To try and set the scene for the music that follows. This has the added benefit of breaking up the sombre quality that afflicts most classical music concerts...
Combination with other art forms. I have played in orchestras where they include other art forms, like dance/actors or video installations or lighting effects. This works to varying degrees and is perhaps the most controversial amongst traditionalists. Personally, when done tastefully (which is another subjective measure...), it is the most effective way of transmitting a message/thought/emotion. I have to say, historically, it was rare for music to be sat down and listened to anyway, so perhaps this would be the best way forward?
Second listen
So, a second listen to the original piece of music. This aria is a completion of Bach's uncompleted Markus Passion (by Jorn Boysen) performed on original instruments by @musicapoetica. @bengy is the violinist, I'm a performer and I have limited composing ability!
The Passion setting is the story of Christ told from the gospel of the disciple Mark. This particular excerpt from the Passion occurs immediately after the CRUCIFIXION of Christ.
Or if you aren't religious (like me), it is the moments after the most unimaginable disaster has struck. The news that you wish you would never hear...
Different thoughts?
Disclaimer
This was written from the point of view of Classical Music, specifically instrumental music but also vocal music where the language is not known). Popular music is slightly different as you can often listen to the lyrics!
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