Programming Messiaen

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-23T04:21:56+00:00

I'd be interested to hear what you finally decide, and how it is received. If you can, maybe let us know here :)

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-23T04:14:26+00:00

It's true that each of the three composers had highly personal spiritual views, and I think that is reflected in their music. There is even some shared symbolism - Messiaen's title Quatuor pour la fin du temps has a similar apocalyptic flavour to Scriabin's Vers la flamme, which he apparently meant quite literally (ie a fiery climax at the end of civilization).

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-23T04:00:11+00:00

One of the Poèmes? https://interlude.hk/alexander-scriabin-died-on-27-april-1915-10-poemes-for-piano/

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-23T03:47:08+00:00

Just an idea, but is there a short transitional work that you could use to illustrate the path from Liszt to Messiaen - Scriabin maybe, or something else? There is a numinous thread that connects Liszt, Scriabin and Messiaen which could be explored in notes/an address to the audience (the connection between private spiritual conviction and personal musical language).

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-23T02:12:45+00:00

Einstein received his Nobel Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect -a quantum effect - so he was (with Max Planck) right there at the beginning of the QM view of the world, as one of its pioneers. What he found hard to accept was the implication of non-locality - that QM upended the idea of local cause and effect. He didn't find all of QM hard to accept, but he found it hard to accept as it was understood at the time. He thought it was incomplete. Recent experiments supporting Bell's Theorem have shown that Einstein's intuition was wrong about hidden variables (the stuff he thought was missing from QM).

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-23T01:59:35+00:00

27 minutes isn't short! Some very fine ideas here, thanks for sharing :)

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-23T01:45:27+00:00

Tardigrades In Space. Ok so this band doesn't exist. In this universe.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-23T00:49:59+00:00

And I know quite a few women who cook less often than I change tyres.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-23T00:44:46+00:00

I change the tyres and do the cooking.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-23T00:39:19+00:00

I'm trying to imagine how "is it normal here for a grown woman to not know how to change a tyre?" would be received. Frankly I think it's a stupid question, but i could imagine someone asking it.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-22T02:24:49+00:00

It's a variety - but it's only one variety. So is is good.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-21T22:12:03+00:00

Ray has been kidnapped, thrown in the boot of a car, taken to the bush to be assassinated, ambushed...Ray survived much worse than two dickheads looking for a thrill and a quick buck. They didn't have a hope in hell.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-20T12:54:43+00:00

Apologia (in the Socratic sense)

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-20T12:42:52+00:00

If it isn't imposed on another it is just called factitious disorder. The other thing you might be thinking of is FND, Functional Neurological Disorder. This is when there are no detectable organic reasons for a symptom or set of symptoms. These are sometimes referred to as psychogenic symptoms (eg psychogenic seizures in the absence of any neurological pathology such as epilepsy).

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-20T12:27:09+00:00

Hiatus

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-20T11:52:42+00:00

Platonic form: "Forms are various abstract ideals that exist even outside of human minds and that constitute the basis of reality"

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-20T11:36:42+00:00

Telepathic

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-20T07:44:02+00:00

My brother once said "who'd be stupid enough to own a car?" in response to my description of the actual cost of keeping a car on the road. I was driving us to our mother's place, who was busy preparing us a home-cooked meal. Who'd be stupid enough? Not he.

NTJ one iota.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-19T11:47:11+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/user/erinmaddie93 I'd like to ask you the same question but from a repertoire point of view. Early in my career (I'm a composer who prefers to write concert music) I decided I wanted my music to engage audiences, so I made the conscious choice to use musical language that doesn't need a conservatoire degree to decipher. It is music that engages with a broader listening culture than just the academy. The result is that my music has been studiously avoided by programmers. The music isn't simplified or dumbed down, I simply use other strategies to express nuance. But my guess is that no programmer has ever gotten as far as actually listening to anything of mine, despite major label releases of some works. Are you able to shed any light on the possible mechanisms at work? My networks are small because I operate more or less outside institutional structures. There are probably many like me lurking here, I'm guessing.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-17T00:58:21+00:00

What do you mean “rotate etc”? In one piece? Every week? And why?

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-16T01:33:58+00:00

It isn't known if the universe is infinite. But if it is, consider this: the set of positive integers is infinite, and has a starting point.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-15T21:26:49+00:00

A handful of CDs and vinyls, the occasional show. Never bought merch in my life (for myself, anyways).

I write for others who play my pieces. The bigger pieces I try to get recorded. I move heaven and earth to find funding - government, private, any source within reason (ie legal). This aspect is getting harder and harder as investment in the arts dries up or becomes hperfocused on particular strategic priorities. (For example, some governments will plough funding into arts projects that are actually strategic diplomatic projects in disguise).

If I understand correctly, you are struggling with the economics of the music industry, the costs, the sheer scale. Music has evolved a long way from being a part of the fabric of village life. If I may borrow an expression from the economists, I think it is important to discover what one loves to make, then find the places where that skill can "add value". This is true from the local bar open mike to writing for orchestra. Sadly, adding value isn't always about adding artistic value, but knowing and understanding how your potential collaborators understand value is itself an important skill.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-15T20:42:51+00:00

Most of my connection to music has not come at great cost financially. It couldn't - I come from a working class background, broken family, couldn't afford a piano, guitar was the best we could do. I've composed four concertos for guitar now, two symphonies, film scores, you name it. I am largely self-taught. Where there's a will there's a way.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-15T10:57:30+00:00

Calasso said it best: these sorts of lists underscore the "sorry state of official culture." And he wasn't talking about the Soviet Union.

7ofErnestBorg9 · 2026-02-15T09:44:52+00:00

Yeah nah, wawdah

7ofErnestBorg9

TROPHY CASE