Greetings, Yasminers....
Thank you to Stephen Nowlin and Roger Malina for the opportunity to contribute to this discussion.
My name is Joseph Klein, and I am a composer, professor of music, and chair of the Division of Composition Studies at the University of North Texas in Denton, where I have taught since 1992. I'm coming at this discussion from the art side of the equation, though my own creative work borrows heavily from mathematics and the sciences---in fact, I was a microbiology major in college for two years before the lure of music finally won me over. In my own work, I am particularly interested in fractal geometry, cosmology, systems theory, and chaos/complexity, and how concepts from these areas can be applied to musical structures, ultimately searching for the inherent poetry in these phenomena.
While the concept of the "supernatural" is not anathema to music/art as it is to science, as an artist I am very interested in the idea of transcendence through art without the need of a spiritual crutch. I have had a fascination with religion and humankind's relationship with the supernatural for several decades now---mostly out of curiosity as to why, after centuries of scientific advances, such a large percentage of our society still holds onto such primitive and irrefutably discredited beliefs. As a music student, I realized early on that a significant portion of the music literature we analyzed and researched was sacred (particularly the body of works in Western art music composed before 1600); and while this was perhaps due as much (if not more) to the patronage of the Roman Catholic Church and fear of reprisal for noncompliance, it is often interpreted and presented by religious apologists as the result of some burning desire on the artists' part to express their devout faith in an almighty creator through their work.
While the church does not have the same hegemonic control over artists now as it did centuries ago, there are still many composers who find inspiration in Biblical scriptures, often resulting in trite, treacly, and largely unimaginative works. It's an interesting fact that the majority of composition students I have taught here at UNT over the years have composed works based on Biblical themes and texts---due in large part, I'm sure, to the region of the country where I teach---most of whom take these stories quite literally, and several of whom have produced almost exclusively religious-based works in their oeuvre. I would expect this from young undergraduates, particularly those who have been home-schooled for religious reasons (and there are many of those here); but I have been astounded by the number of doctoral students who have composed religious works for their dissertations, and then attempt to base their accompanying written documents on literal interpretations of the Bible in support of their compositions. On an interesting side-note: while I personally find that this subject matter (depending on how overt the references are) often detracts from the overall musical experience, I have observed that the faithful in the audience will accept even the most experimental artistic expression as a result of their connection to the work's religious source of inspiration. So in an ironic twist, this connection to the supernatural allows the spiritual listeners to approach these works with a more open mind, which would likely not have been the case with a similar work based on secular themes.
As a result of these experiences as both a teacher and composer, I have become increasingly impatient with magical sources of inspiration---which seem to me a by-product of an earlier era---and have found naturalistic models to be far more rewarding compositionally, and able to yield compelling and even transcendent works of art. In the same manner that the scientific method has gradually edged out superstition as a way to understand the natural world, I hope that such an approach will eventually gain traction in the arts as well.
I look forward to further comments on this topic, and thanks again for the invitation to participate.
Joe
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Joseph Klein, DMus
Distinguished Teaching Professor
Chair, Division of Composition Studies
University of North Texas College of Music
1155 Union Circle #311367
Denton, TX 76203-5017
(940)565-4926 (ph); (940)565-2002 (fax)
Joseph.Klein@unt.edu
http://www.music.unt.edu/comp/josephklein
________________________________________
From: yasmin_discussions-bounces@estia.media.uoa.gr <yasmin_discussions-bounces@estia.media.uoa.gr> on behalf of Stephen Nowlin <stephen.nowlin@artcenter.edu>
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2014 3:01 PM
To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS
Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] the supernatural
Hi, Glenn -- thanks for the link to Caldaria, it looks like a very good
forum (now bookmarked). I found intriguing your quote there by Jack
Burnham that "new spiritual insights into the normality of materialism are
needed." That is, in my view, very much what this discussion is about, and
it falls neatly into the domain of Art-Science. The territory, though, is
loose underfoot -- pitfalls including slippage into pseudoscience and new
ageism, among others.
That is why I think that a _populist_ discussion/deconstruction of the
commonplace concept "supernatural" needs to ensue, at least in those
cultures that permit such open discourse. In Art-Science, art has taken up
with a partner that specifically excludes the supernatural from its world
view, and so Art-Science needs to awaken to the fact that ownership of
this discourse comes with the territory. The process of developing the
so-called 'new spiritual insights' needs to carefully sidestep the hazards
of pseudoscience and maintain the integrity of a true scientific world
view -- the one with which art has ostensibly chosen to partner.
As you predicted, I agree with the nicely poetic first part of your quoted
passage below. But the sentence could have ended at "powers." From what
place in the imagination is the "Great Face" conjured? The unknown? Is it
the face of God-of-the-Gaps? The second part of the passage is precisely
the problem for Art-Science.
So I would ask the Yasmin list members -- is there a pseudo-science
element concealed within the Art-Science enterprise?
Good post, Glenn -- thanks again,
/stephen
On 10/15/14 7:42 PM, "Glenn Smith" <gsmith@space-machines.com> wrote:
>Dear Stephen,
>
>By way of understanding your position, I am wondering
>to what extent you would agree with this famous
>passage by Loren Eiseley which concludes his
>"Immense Journey", and the first part of which was
>cited by Carl Sagan in his synoptic article "Life"
>for the 15th edition of the Britannica:
>
>"I would say that if 'dead' matter has reared up this
>curious landscape of fiddling crickets, song sparrows,
>and wondering men, it must be plain even to the most
>dedicated materialist that the matter of which he speaks
>contains amazing, if not dreadful powers, and may not
>impossibly be, as Hardy has suggested, 'but one mask
>of many worn by the Great Face behind.'"
>
>My guess is that you might agree with the first part
>of this passage; but it is the second -- the reference to
>the "Great Face behind" -- with which you specifically
>and forcefully disagree.
>
>Some of my own thoughts on this subject have already
>been expressed in a new journal dedicated precisely to
>the "nexus of art, science, and the sublime":
>
>http://www.caldaria.org/2014/02/the-beat-goes-on-review-by-g-w-smith.html
>
>At any rate, this should be a fascinating conversation!
>
>Regards,
>G. W. (Glenn) Smith
>www.space-machines.com
>
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