Classical things
[Ed. note- this is being reposted as it was never properly open for comments]
Arthur has put me on to Chopin’s Nocturnes, and at the moment I’m feeling them pretty hard. Chopin has always been one of my favorite composers, and his Ballade No. 4 in Fm might be my favorite piece of classical music ever. Perhaps I shall make a t-shirt to proclaim my allegiance; maybe something like “The Fighting Polish”, if I can find a picture of Mr. C in a properly pugilistic stance, and then I’ll put “Punks jump up to get diminished” on the back (I coulda been a great music nerd if only I was any good at playing).
But I digress. I’m sitting here thinking about what ‘classical’ really means, because navel-gazing is the most appropriate activity when riding the Metro North, or at least it beats yakking on a cell phone.
The term obviously implies ‘old’ and ‘enduring’ but I think it has more meaning than just that. The comparison of classical music and classical physics, in particular, seem to me to both be about the restrictions of inputs, and the complexity and depth of insight that follows from that. In classical music, one is given only a certain set of instruments to utilize, and a limited set of forms to utilize them in. This is not to say that those sets are small, only that they are limited in comparison the full set of possible instruments and forms. Likewise with classical physics, the inputs are restricted by the scale of things studied; both the very small and the very big are excluded. While some might say these limitations make for an inferior product, especially in the case of physics, I think they both allow for a deeper understanding of the subject. Both are much better understood than their more inclusive brethren. If we take electronic music to be that counterpart for classical music because it should in theory allow any sound to be used, then we see that much of it fails to achieve any meaning as music due to an overreaching for variety. In physics, the search for a Grand Unified Theory of Everything continues on, but as it piles on invisible, folded dimensions, I feel like it loses meaning for those of us outside the halls of Physics PhD programs.
Maybe I’m just projecting; I feel increasingly futile about my attempts to ‘do it all’ and know something about everything, so the idea of value in limitations is appealing to me.
Maybe I’m just being stupid, and if I knew more about classical music and/or physics I’d tell myself to shut the fuck up.
However, I have a blog and a long train ride, so the world must suffer the indignities of my musings. C’est la vie.
evan :: Aug.24.2003 :: Notions :: No Comments »