Noi wasn't at home when I got back today having gone out with a friend. Although I had a bit of work needing to be done, I found myself with a good hour or so to just relax before I really needed to apply myself. It struck that circumstances had conspired to allow me to carry out an experiment in listening I'd vaguely thought about for a couple of days.
My idea was to put John Luther Adams's become desert on the stereo at reasonable volume and see whether I could engage with it closely throughout its forty minute duration. I should explain here, for those not acquainted with the piece, that's it's a gorgeous single-movement work that evokes the world of the desert, but that not a lot happens within that forty minutes in terms of obvious melody. It's hypnotic in its effect (on me, anyway) but potentially soporific (on me, certainly.)
So I bunged it on trying to avoid any distraction, except for the coffee and chocolate muffin I just had to treat myself to. They proved a big mistake. In fact, the whole idea was. I'm embarrassed to tell the world that I think I managed about ten minutes all told of genuine immersion in the sound world. I enjoyed the whole piece, but as a kind of atmosphere in which my thoughts wandered all over the place (usefully planning one of my Friday lessons at one point.) Talk about the monkey mind, eh.
But despite the disaster, and the damage to my self esteem, I'm determined to have another go. I feel I owe it to Mr Adams, and the rather wonderful Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
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