1995-97 Music & Aesthetics (2)

The second part of the Sussex University course introduced Harvey to the music of a number of contemporary composers.  They were all new to both of us!

1. ‘Rothko Chapel’ by Morton Feldman (1926-1987)
   • ‘Sequenza VII’  by Luciano Berio (1925-2003)
2. ‘Un re in ascolto’ (Opera based on ‘The Tempest’) by Berio
3. ‘Earth Dances’ by Harrison Birtwhistle (1934-2022)
4. ‘Weltethos’ by Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012)

(Rothko Capel, Houston Texas)

I could tell that ‘Rothko Chapel’, inspired by the art and architecture of the building dedicated to the artist Mark Rothko, struck a chord with Harvey.  I noticed that he played a recording of it, one Sunday evening, during worship at Haywards Heath Methodist Church.

The music was played while the Passion Narrative of Jesus from Mark’s Gospel was read aloud among the congregation.

(Luciano Berio)

The works by Luciano Berio appeared to have no resonance with Harvey’s body.

‘Earth Dances’ by Harrison Birtwhistle was a fascination. During performance, orchestral players are required to move around the performance space.  I imagine the fascination lay in the possible comparison with the drama of Christian liturgy.

(Jonathan Harvey)

By far the most important work was Jonathan Harvey’s ‘Weltethos’ – a work for huge orchestral and vocal forces.  It is a setting of poems written by the controversial Roman Catholic theologian Hans Kung (1928-2021); Kung commissioned Jonathan Harvey to write the music.  All the poems are the same length, and each one represents a major world religion.

My awareness of, and interest in, the closeness between God and Music resonates nowhere better than in most of the works listed here, and experienced by my extended ‘body’ Harvey.

And I would venture to suggest that for many composers, including Jonathan Harvey, Morton Feldman, Luciano Berio, Harrison Birtwhistle, as well as others, associating their work with some kind of a ‘spiritual’ quest would cause them no difficulty whatsoever.

Surely ‘Musicking’ (music-making, resonating and music-listening) is an integral constituent in the creative wonder of the universe, not merely an illustration or a metaphor of it!