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 | Introducing Solo Music: Posted by Joe Maurone on 10/14, 12:41am | |
| Welcome to SOLO Music! Inspired by the recent revival of the SOLO food forum, headed by the unflappable Ciro D'Agostino, SOLO Music is going to be a little different than the standard forum. In "Why SOLO?" Lindsay Perigo asks: "Well, now that we're here, what the hell are we here for?" SOLO music is here for nothing less than a musical revolution. Ayn Rand left us hanging in the Romantic Manifesto with the "great, unanswered question: Why does music make us experience emotions?" She claims that "No one has yet discovered the answers and, I hasten to add, neither have I." I hasten to add that I have not as well! BUT, she left us with a map to the treasure: "The formulation of a common vocabulary of music would require these answers. It would require: a translation of the musical experience, the inner experience, into conceptual terms; an explanation of why certain sounds strike us a certain way; a definition of the axioms of musical perception, from which the appropriate esthetic principles could be derived, which would serve as a base for the objective validation of esthetic judgements." That map leads to SOLO. For the first time in Objectivist history, there is a place where we have an opportunity to employ the integral players Rand suggested were needed to find the answers: "the physiologist, a psychologist and a philosopher (an esthetician.)" Until recently, this was not possible as a large scale project, but now, with a forum like SOLO, which holds to the principles of Objectivism while allowing for the freedom to dissent, it can begin. The advent of the internet and the introduction of SOLO has provided the grounds to gather this diverse meeting of the minds to tackle one of the most daunting of Objectivist goals. What is the point in the challenge? In "WHY SOLO", Perigo addresses the appeal of subjectivism in music based on Rand's own words: "At present our understanding of music is confined to the gathering of material, i.e., to the level of descriptive observations. Until it is brought to the stage of conceptualization, we have to treat musical tastes or preferences as a subjective matter -- not in the metaphysical but in the epistemological sense; i.e., not in the sense that these preferences are in fact, causeless & arbitrary, but in the sense that we do not know their cause. No one, therefore, can claim the objective superiority of his choices over the choices of others. Where no objective proof is available, it's every man for himself - & only for himself"? Perigo answers: "Did she not say that? Well, yes she did. She also said that she was talking physiologically. She went on to say that there was, nonetheless, a great deal one could observe on the psychological & existential levels." What this means is that Rand was not offering a blank check on musical morality, contrary to the portrait of a Mullah Rand, she was saying that she did not have the criteria needed to pronounce the judgement, and it was every man for himself to discover that criteria. If this was musical agnosticism on Rand's part, it was with the hope that one day the answers would be found, not abandoned to justify musical abandon. We, in the name of Objectivism, cannot accept a division of objectivity from musical concerns. And the goal of answering these questions is nothing less than defeating the dichotomy of heart and mind, integrating reason and emotion to create the music of the future. This means that SOLO Music will not consist of polls on the greatest composer, the greatest composition, etc. . "It's much to soon for that." What I hope that we will go here is go beyond genre considerations to the root of musical understanding, by tracing the past to set the future stage. It will act with a mission, and all postings and contributions are expected to further the goal. There is no strict formula or program to follow at this point, and there will be a bit of wandering, but "not all who wander are lost." We will begin at the gathering stage, defining terms and checking premises so as to provide a map to guide the way and a solid foundation to build the future. We may not see the answer for some time, but if we can pave the way for the future generations, it will be no small feat. To conclude, consider this quote from Rand: "It is impossible for the young people of today to grasp the reality of man's higher potential & what scale of achievement it had reached in a rational (or semi-rational) culture. But I have seen it. I know that it was real, that it existed, that it is possible. It is that knowledge that I want to hold up to the sight of men -- over the brief span of less than a century -- before the barbarian curtain descends altogether (if it does) & the last memory of man's greatness vanishes in another Dark Ages." In the words of Lindsay Perigo: "Think SOLO, think sunlight. 'Sol' is Spanish & Italian for 'sun,' by happy coincidence. I want SOLO to project that same sunlit benevolent field as which Objectivism treats the universe." For Ayn, for you, for I, for We, the Living, for tomorrow... SHINE ON! | ||
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