In Search of a Divertimento

I saw Out of Africa in 1986 on the big screen in Mumbai, when I passed my Xth grade. I was mesmerized by the movie’s visual grandeur and swept off my feet by the music. Later in 1987, I managed to rent a VHS video cassette and savored it several times. There were two hypnotic sequences in the film that had the same background score - a Western Classical piece by Mozart:

First, when Karen (Meryl Streep) is walking alone in her farm and hears the sound of music for the first time in her farm. She seeks the source of the sound and discovers Denys (Robert Redford) playing a gramophone. “Look, they finally made a machine that’s really useful!”, he exclaims.

Second, when they’re on safari, Denys places the gramophone with a string attached in the wilderness near a pack of baboons. He pulls on the string to play the music and see how the baboons react. After the baboons jerk off the pickup, he says “Think of it: never a man-made sound…and then Mozart!”.

The music sounded devilishly simple, yet there was subtle complexity. It was spirited, vibrant, mischievous, and relentless.

I was obsessed with that piece of music. Through the ending movie credits on the overused VHS cassette, I could identify it as a Divertimento, but could not discern the Kochel catalog number. This was 1987: Western Classical music was virtually unheard of in India. There were no western classical cassettes available in shops - and if there were a few in Mumbai’s Rhythm House, they were beyond my middle-class, student’s pocket. Moreover, how could I get this piece without knowing the full details?

My elder brother then went to the US for a year and on my insistence, brought back the Soundtrack CD of the movie. I was elated, and then disappointed when I found that the Divertimento was not on the CD!

I then learnt that Max Mueller Bhavan in Mumbai had a large western classical collection and offered a free student’s membership, where you could borrow 3 music cassettes a week. I traveled to the Bhavan every weekend, poring over the collection. Unfortunately, most of the cassettes didn’t even have any titles or identification of the contents. I didn’t relent, and picked my lottery cassettes every week. And one day, viola! I got the Divertimento on one cassette and immediately created my copy. I still didn’t know the Kochel catalog number, but I had it on cassette. This miracle happened in 1988.

In the 90s, I discovered a site called “Classics of the Silver Screen“. It was an excellent resource for identifying operatic and classical works used in popular Hollywood films. However, the Divertimento was not listed for Out of Africa. I wrote to the webmaster, and he didn’t know about it either. Neither did IMDB. (Both these sites now list it). But soon, the Internet exploded, and by 2000, I discovered that it was the 1st movement “Allegro”, of the Divertimento in D Major, K. 136.

In 2001, when I discovered in Gutman’s Cultural Biography of Mozart, that this Divertimento was composed by Mozart in 1772 - when he was just a teen of 16 years - I wept.

What a journey through the years! What is this obsession? Insane? Stupid? Call it whatever you wish, this is the way I am! It took me almost 16 years to find out the music composed over 225 years ago by a 16 year-old. It will take less than 16 minutes today. Here’s the YouTube version conducted by Menuhin:

This is what technology does - aren’t our children lucky?

Styles of Composition - Music

This is a sequel post to Styles of Composition - Writing. Please read it before you read this post. Thanks.

Structural Music

On the one hand, we have complex, heavy, and unemotional compositions, which are vigorous and characterized by structure and grandeur. When listening to such music, personal and emotional responses are minimal, as the mind is involved in the development of the theme by the use of complex notes and their inter-relationships set in a mathematical framework. The Baroque and Classical musical eras - Bach, Haydn, and early Mozart - are representative of this style of composition.

Easy Listening Music

On the other hand, we have soft music, which has a flow and rhythm that makes it suitable for easy listening. Mental concentration is minimal as the music is based on elementary note variations and harmonies. But there is a sentimental touch to such music that involves the emotions of the listener. Folk tunes, pop songs, and simple melodies are examples of such music.

Superlative Music

Superlative music is a harmonious synthesis of these two styles of composition. It involves the greatest effort on the part of the composer and offers the most rewarding experience on the part of the listener.

Here, a profound theme developed by a simple set of notes within a complex harmony is presented with the grace, charm, and simplicity of soft music.

The result is that the listener’s mind is awed by the combination of melodies of the greatest strength and beauty with contrapuntal devices of the smoothest mastery and the listener’s heart overflows in response to the poignant human emotion embedded in the composition.

The principal technique employed in the composition of such superlative music is that of counterpoint. It is the technique by which two or more melodic lines are combined so that they establish a harmonic relationship while retaining their individuality. Very much like sentences in the superlative style of writing.

The mind of the listener is awed by the development of the theme through integration of the intricate melodies into a coherent whole, and his heart is swept away by the passionate, subtle intimacy of the orchestration.

It is this unison of the heart and mind that makes listening to such music a rewarding experience. Isn’t the sense of fulfillment that prevails after such communication what every composer and listener seeks?

The last three symphonies of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart offer a classic example of the superlative style of composition. They are masterpieces which still excite audiences and baffle musical scholars.

No wonder that they have been called ‘the apotheosis of the symphony’!

Styles of Composition - Writing

This is a piece I’d written in 1991, with minor edits. I’m not sure what ‘categories’ I should post this in. When I read it today, it sounds too simplistic and I could be justifiably accused of over-simplification and generalization. However, I think it is still a humble and worthwhile exercise in the tenuous conceptual process of abstraction.

Styles of writing vary between two extremes.

Conceptual Style

At one end is writing that is succinct, heavy, and read and written slowly. Individual sentences in this style encompass ‘heavy’ content, complex concepts, and have an air of independence in relation to other sentences. Each sentence harbors a complete unit of information, and the writing is a conglomeration of such units. This entails the development of more and more complex and broader concepts built upon the units of information conveyed earlier, which in turn constitute concepts built upon the preceding ones.

In this style, the reader has to grasp the previous concepts before he can grasp the later ones. If a reader skips some content, the later content doesn’t make sense. For example, read Godel, Escher, Bach - An Eternal Golden Braid.

Since such writing deals essentially with the communication of the development of higher concepts, I call it as the style of writing on the conceptual level.

Perceptual Style

At the other end is writing that is elaborate, simple, and read and written rapidly. Individual sentences in this style encompass light observations, simple descriptions, and do not possess an entirety in them. Instead they ‘belong’ to the text and form an integral inseparable part of it.

This style of writing has a unique flow, which lends it favorably for rapid reading, since one can usually anticipate the subject of the following content. Even if a reader skips some content, he can usually “catch up” to what’s being said later.

Since this style deals essentially with the communication of perceptual matter through elaborate description of the perceptual experience of the writer, I call it as the style of writing on the perceptual level. For example, read Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men In A Boat.

Words are conceptual in nature, hence conveying perceptual matter through concepts is a reverse process. The extent to which reading such content stimulates the perceptual experience depends on the ability of the writer.

From another perspective, the conceptual style of writing involves the reader and writer on an intellectual plane, whereas the perceptual style of writing involves them on an empirical plane.

The style of writing is determined, among other things, by the intended audience, the subject matter, and the psychological state of the writer.

Intuitive senses, event narratives, and expressions of feelings dominate the perceptual style of writing, whereas conceptual style is dominated by expressions of thoughts and ideas. Hence perceptual style is the result of a rapid and quick process and engulfs the reader in its rhythmic flow, whereas conceptual style is the result of a conscious, carefully planned process, and needs the concentration of the reader’s cognitive faculties.

Another dimension is that conceptual style of writing involves left-brain activity; perceptual style of writing involves right-brain activity.

Superlative Style

Superlative writing is a harmonious synthesis of these two styles of writing. It involves the greatest effort on the part of the writer and the most rewarding experience on the part of the reader.

Here, the writer communicates complex concepts in such a fashion that the reader is presented with a complex chain of concepts along with the perceptual experiences that motivated the writer. Hence, the reader is led through the development of concepts in a manner as if he were himself developing them.

The result is that the writing develops wider and an evolving set of concepts yet has a unique flow and an enjoyable rhythm. The text is heavy, yet simple to grasp, the sentences are independent, yet they belong to the text. Complex concepts are communicated, yet the text can be read rapidly. Matter is rationally thought out and planned, yet the reader has an intuitive feel of what is to come.

It is this unison of the mind and heart of the writer and reader that makes such writing a rewarding experience for both. Isn’t the sense of fulfillment that prevails after such communication what every writer and reader seeks?

Ayn Rand offers a classic example of superlative writing in her non-fictional works. ‘The Romantic Manifesto’ is a masterpiece exemplifying how the superlative style of writing can be employed to communicate complex concepts. The reader experiences a pleasant journey through profound subjects dealing with the psychological and philosophical implications of Art.

Expanding the horizons of this analysis leads us to the application of this principle to music…(contd.)

Shining Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd’s Dark Side has sold more 35 million copies worldwide since it was released in 1973 and has spent more than 1,550 weeks as one of Billboard’s Top 200 best-selling albums - that’s about 30 years.

Now it’s becoming a best-seller all over again, on iTunes.

The album is climbing the charts again, thanks to the unprotected 256kbps AAC version available through Apple’s iTunes Plus. Since Apple’s DRM-free music experiment with EMI was launched in May, sales of Dark Side have gone up more than 270 percent.

Just goes to prove, there’s always a silver lining to the Dark Side.

Yearning for Sense…

Once an issue becomes a mainstream news item in India, you can be sure every major religious group, political party, student organization, and celebrity will have an opinion on it. After the Shiv Sena, it’s now the All India Minorities Front’s (AIMF) turn to freely express their views on Orkut while living in democratic India.

What are odds that the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) will not be the next to express their views from Gujarat?

How does one issue become mainstream? Well, one of the TV channels has to take the bait, and the rest will follow. The print and electronic media will then aggressively offer the right platform for everyone to get their views miscommunicated, taken out of context, and misquoted. Competing with a dozen other news channels and newspapers, the one creating the most sensationalism and misunderstanding will win the most eyeballs, goes the wisdom. There will be talk shows with pundits, and opinion polls, and public talks shows.

In all this brouhaha, two things happen. Not only is the true issue misrepresented to various extents and typically blown out of proportion, but other significant newsworthy items are all but ignored.

How many of you recollect tomorrow’s British PM-to-be, Gordon Brown’s high profile visit to India? No? Not surprising, because the Indian media never knew of anything else happening in the world apart from Big Sister Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother!

Not only is this phenomenon unique of India. For e.g., in the US, the retirement of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman was relegated to the background over more important stuff like celebrities being jailed for drunk driving.

While US Cable TV was obsessed with drunk-driver-celebrities (DDC, a long wanted title):
“President Bush skipped the final session of the G8 Summit, Vice President Dick Cheney needed to have his heart pacemaker replaced, and NASA’s Space Shuttle Atlantis prepared for launch!”

In India, it’s Cricket Coach Controversy, Big Sister abused on Big Brother, the AAA (Abhi-Aish-Amitabh) wedding, Big Uncle kissing Big Sister, so on and so forth. Too much coverage, too many opinions, too many mountains out of molehills. When this happens - and its happening with increasing frequency - I need a break. To regain my sense, rejuvenate my capacity to reason, to make this world meaningful again.

Then I listen to Kumar’s Nirguni Bhajans (or read this review) , or Mozart’s 40th in G Minor. Watch Ek Doctor Ki Maut, (or read this review by my friend, Asuph), or dream of taking a yacht cruise like Gail Wynand in The Fountainhead. What can you do? Escape to the Himalayas by reading my Spiti Travelogue! Just kidding…though I do that too, sometimes!

Raaga and Symphony

Raaga said to Symphony:

“You are magnanimous, and over a 100 musicians perform you.”

Replied Symphony:

“Yet, I’m static and unchanging, but you’re evolving and ever-growing.”

Both realized:

Symphony is timeless and eternal; Raaga is living and breathing.
And thus, a new friendship was born…