“I wish here to express a mystic idea related to human nature. In the first weeks of the embryo in the mother’s womb, the audio-vocal apparatus forms a unity, voice and ears are one. It is only some weeks later that the hearing is distinguished from the voice. This reality leads me believe that the core of what we say, sing, or even play, has to be one with what is heard; in order to share our voice, it is important to integrate it in our inner ear with its full meaning. The problem of our contemporary world is that words are uttered or spoken superficially without perceiving their actual effects; similarly, and a lot of music is played or performed without reflecting on its consequences. Also, we write what I call “non-integrated music”, a music we do not listen to inwardly and therefore are ignorant of the extent it influences us. It is a great idea to use microtonality in our compositional systems, it would extend our tuning systems, our harmony, as well as our thoughts and imagination, but only externally. If the audio-vocal function is originaly one, then it is important to acknowledge and be inspired by this reality. It is therefore essential to query: are we integrating this new harmony so that it extends to our being? Are we making it a second nature? Can we sing or play it on a string instrument? If we are unable to hear it, then it is questionable whether it can be sung or played. A project involving heeding, paying attention to our nature seemed a crucial and intriguing one.”
By ©Elia El-Koussa 2020. All rights reserved
From “Upwards in Time”, to be published soon.
ELIA KOUSSA 