Tavener Quote # 1

John Tavener (b. 1944), a British composer, is one of my favorite composers, ever. His music is deeply spiritual, metaphysical, and influenced by perennial philosophy and the Eastern Orthodox faith. His music, and the spiritual essence behind it, is a huge inspiration for me. I have dreamed of being a composer since about age 14, and when I discovered Tavener's music, many years later, I found someone who was following a path that I wanted to follow, but up until that time never knew that such a path was possible or that there were even words to describe it. Here's a quotation by Tavener, from his book, The Music of Silence - A Composer's Testament:

I think we have to go back. I think in the end intuition teaches us everything. Leave the universities of the world and go into the universities of the desert. So say the Fathers. I am, of course, talking about metaphysical intuition; the only way still unexplored by our modernist hell.

First of all, one has to say we know nothing, and from that abyss we must abandon all preconceived ideas, whether it be serialism, sonata form, development, fugue, canon, and so on, and get rid of it all, so that one has nothing left in one's mind to begin with. It feels like an abyss. This does, of course, presuppose that one believes in some kind of higher reality. But even if not, let the young composer try to forget everything he or she knows, just to see what happens. If it's just silence, then okay, it's just silence. If it's just one or two banal notes, okay, then it's just one or two banal notes. But I guarantee that if one continues with this, gradually a music starts to form inside one, and who knows, we might start to realize another kind of reality does after all exist.

Tavener's ideas, and profound music, mean so much to me. For years and years I had been concerned about "fitting in" and "following the rules" (i.e. going to a university, mastering Western theory, getting a degree in composition, becoming "legit" by Academia's standards). Yet, my gut feeling has always been telling me that there was something wrong with all of this. I was once nearly at the door of Academia, attempting to get inside; but still, something hard to define, disgusted me about it and I just felt I had to find my own way. I did not enter that door. And now, in many ways, I am so relieved.

More later...