What does a recent discussion with Students and Teachers from Pennsylvania, with History, Art, Science, Astronomy and Mathematics, have to do with STORM WORKS & STAR TREK?
What a title!
On 29 June 1988, I completed S-MATRIX, Symphony Number Numberless in 21:00, in 4 movements. It was my 404th piece and the very first Time I felt worthy of making the self-directed proclamation, “Now, I am a Composer.”
The form of the work is involved. Suffice it to say that each note was part of a pre-determined Matrix, and composed/orchestrated to transposed score without any instruments save pen and paper. Writing by means of this self-imposed challenge, each and every aspect of the work represented a significantly recursive, “left-brained” undertaking.
The 19 November 1992 premiere brought the first standing ovation in the Memorial Auditorium’s 40-year history. Interestingly enough, listeners said, “Wow, what a total right-brain journey that was!”
I just returned from Harrisburg, PA. Many of the hard-working kids, future Mozarts to be sure, asked questions. Their curiosities always get to the heart of what Music actually IS, and why we make it. I always begin with “The Silent Language.” Yes, what affects us most about Music is actually Silent. It becomes manifest in sound, but just as a Cathedral or a garage become manifest in brick, so does a great work or a passing one become manifest in sound. It is the “architecture,” the “design” to which we respond.
Rather than go into some heady discussion on this, which works MUCH better in person, let me direct you to an article by a brilliant person named Kevin Muldoon. He lives in New Haven, CT., most likely somewhere near Pepe’s! (Yes, I am envious!!!)
The SYNC is this. When I got back, a good Friend sent me the article linked below. I just had to smile. I said, “Now, I am a Composer,” after 404 pieces, but as an 11-year-old, the very first notes I ever wrote down, with backward 1/8th note stems and all, was the THEME from STAR TREK. The Original Series, of course!
And darn if Kevin’s article does not totally explain why I love THAT Enterprise and never cared for any of the spin-off “Enterprises” that followed!
What a SYNC-Eye-Opener!
Whether you are new to the ideas of Fibonacci, Sacred Geometry, Pythagoras, Phi, or not… whether you are a curious Mozart of the Future or a dedicated Music Educator who wants to learn more, Kevin’s article is a great way to start.
As I’ve hinted, Kevin uses the USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701 version) to illustrate the purpose and elegant Beauty of Phi and the Fibonacci Sequence and more.
In the photo above, I illustrated the infrastructure of just one 3:34 Composition. This internal Silence is embedded not only within each of the “Storm” works… but in all of the STORMWORKS Chapters beginning with Chapter Zero. I am working on Chapter 34 as we speak.
The USS ENTERPRISE, a ship I have loved since I was a boy, is fashioned in the same proportions as “Art of the State,” the 3:34 piece I analyzed as an illustration of the “Storm” Works. What can I say? I knew it? Though I still get chills, I’m no longer surprised!
StormWorks… Star Trek. Connected! Of course? Love it!
If you’d like to talk more over Pizza, just let me know!
Here is Kevin Muldoon’s article. Enjoy & Godspeed! S