We have already received many submissions from around the world. Each of the works is a different take on the human experience, but they all have one thing in common: filling the silence.
As each new work has come in, we are struck with the audacity it takes to put one note after another on a page with a vision of filling silence. That may sound strange, but it is remarkable that so many composers continually labor and craft to develop the detailed instructions that will guide skilled players into the a concert of sound. Really, for all its antiquity and visual beauty, printed music is merely a set of detailed instructions from a creator of a work to the players who are essential collaborators in bringing the sounds to life. Music, perhaps similar to film, represents a significantly deferred realization of it’s essential form from the time of creation to the time of fulfillment. Think about the days and days of work it takes to prepare even the simplest orchestral score with the knowledge that it may not be brought to life for a long time. Although computer-generated sounds can provide an approximation, there is no digital analog to the rich wash of sound that overwhelms anyone in the presence of the sublime textures of the orchestra. And each note for each beat for each player with each articulation and dynamic must be carefully chosen, placed, balanced, and aligned so that the massed group of instruments can work in a finely-tuned interplay of sounds.
But the music is more than an interesting sonic automaton. It is the cry of human souls to transcend the boundaries of silence and noise that fill a day. Each note and beat is a shadow of the Supreme creative act in striking a blow against nothingness. Picture your favorite musical piece. Now consider for a moment that there was a time that it didn’t exist. Those musical patterns and textures that so enrich your life are by no means eternally pre-existent. In fact, there are many, many generations of humanity that have passed through this world who never were aware that such a thing would, or perhaps even could, exist. It is easy to look upon the musical masterpieces in so many genres, and forget that there was a world where they did not yet exist. And yet, the artists who brought them to life demonstrated the audacity to inscribe notes onto a blank page even at the risk of mediocrity or neglect. Most art comes and goes, but for those that linger on, they represent a outpost of ‘something’ in a vast universe of nothing.
We applaud all those composers who have staked a claim in the frontiers of human creations. It is always much easier to tear down the work of another, than it is to boldly build, compose, write, play.
HT to Steve!
The deadline is in a few days….stay tuned for more information!
