This week’s theme is…Shining Silver! Silver gleams and glistens. It’s gold’s sleek, slick, and stylish cousin. Where gold holds court, silver courts. Silver has driven the history of the world just like gold, and appears in music in many different ways. This week, we look music on which silver has left its dapper lustrous.
Shining Silver, Day 4 – Silver Apples of the Moon by Morton Subotnick
I suspect we all know the little adage by Shakespeare from Romeo and Juliet, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet utters this, almost in a daydream, as she muses about a life in which the seemingly arbitrary barrier of names, and the ancient blood feud they represent in her case, keep her and Romeo from the romance and happiness they both crave. It can be useful in helping us see past the seemingly capricious nature of the names things bear.
But…I also think Shakespeare is wrong about that idea. Or maybe he knew it was wrong, and simply wrote it that way to make Juliet seem naive and pure, which I think it does. I would have to talk to a literature expert to get to the bottom of that one. But whether it was Shakespeare’s or Juliet’s mistake, my observations of the world tell me that naming is a highly effectful process, deeply impacting the named subject. It can work a couple ways. Names affect the way people and things develop, and they also affect our perceptions. In school I once saw a film hosted by a Native American who described his fascination with the beautiful bird that his tribe called something like “metzicatzi”. He spoke of the bird’s grace as it glided in gentle circles through the air. That’s a lyrical name isn’t it? The English word is “duck”, which evokes a completely different image. But, would we see different aspects of that bird if we referred to it by the Indian name?
And then there’s the effect which names have on the people who receive them. And this is a biblical idea. There are numerous instances of names bearing transformative power in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. In the Old Testament, when God designated people for specific missions or callings, He sometimes renamed them. Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, and Jacob became Israel. Their names helped them to grow into the path ahead. Jesus Christ, too, renamed some of his disciples. Simon became Peter, John and James became the “Sons of Thunder”, and Saul of Tarsus became Paul. All of these figures must have sensed the significance of the change and were surely changed themselves upon receiving their new names.
People grow into their names, don’t they? Have you ever noticed this? You seldom, perhaps never, meet someone who doesn’t feel true to their name. It works in both directions: I have almost never been surprised to learn someone’s name after beholding their presence, and inversely I have seldom been surprised in meeting someone after hearing just their name. People grow into their names, and so you have to be careful what you name things. Even pets exhibit this. There is something deeply metaphysical about what things are named. And I’m not sure why this is, or even how to describe it, but I bet you know it’s true. Names somehow have the spiritual ability to shape reality.
Here’s a name for you… Morton Subotnick. Say that name a few times. “Morton Subotnick…Morton Subotnick…Morton Subotnick…” How does it feel to you? What kind of images or qualities does it evoke? What would a person of this name feel like? What would he look like? How would he talk? Well, here he is. How close did you come?
I first head of Morton Subotnick in an electronic music class. In addition to creating original electronic compositions in a state-of-the-art laboratory, we also studied the history of electronic music and some of its notable composers, including him. I found the name to be wonderfully evocative, and my mind formed an image prior to learning anything about him. It almost feels like the name of a Martian, or a strange robot. And, I knew there was music from this person. What could it possibly sound like? As bizarre as his name? As it turns out, it does!
As a related concept to naming, I also suspect that the art people create feels quite congruent with their name. Just think about some of the great composers: Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, Handel. If you know their works, I think you will probably agree that the music seems to fit their names. And so it is with Morton Subotnick. His music is as introverted and eccentric as his mad scientist name sounds. His most famous work, Silver Apples of the Moon, occupies a unique place in the history of music in that it was the first piece of purely electronic music to be commissioned by a record company. It hasn’t happened very often, but producers at the quirky and adventurous label Nonesuch, which is known for finding composers and performers a bit off the beaten path, decided in the late 1960s that it was time to make electronic music a bit more mainstream. You can listen to the full 30 minute piece here:
It is replete with the odd sounds and gestures that you might expect from a musical mad scientist with a name like Morton Subotnick, and in his imaginative and fantastic world of such sounds they make sense and speak a consistent language. It is quite an experience to listen to all of it, but if you want to hear the part that cooks the most, go right to 18:00 or so, and you can hear the buildup to the raucous and entrancing climax.
One notable aspect of Silver Apples of the Moon, which distinguishes it from most other electronic music, is that it contains sections, like the climax, with a strong sense of regular rhythm. This is often avoided in electronic music for aesthetic reasons, but Subotnick is able to deploy that device in a way that feels tasteful and consistent with the other sections, although I suspect opinions probably vary among composers and connoisseurs of electronic music on that question. But I bet that is one of the aspects that helped to make it publishable on a label like Nonesuch.
I feel that many mainstream composers of electronic music, like those who compose industrial rock, dubstep, and related genres, probably look to music like this for inspiration. Here’s a fascinating track from a very eccentric and meticulous English musician, Tom Jenkinson, better known to his audiences as “Squarepusher” (again, the power of names – you would not expect to hear the music he creates in association with his given name), known mostly for his highly rhythmic drum and bass dance tracks, which feels positively electro-acoustic. No regular rhythms or beats to be found here; Subotnick’s Silver Apples is actually more rhythmically regular than this piece:
I’m not sure that Subotnick’s Silver Apples of the Moon exactly changed the flow of history in any significant way, but it was a sign of electroacoustic music’s increasing dominance in the culture of academic composition. Squarepusher is evidence that the appeal is a bit broader than that culture and audience. I can’t imagine a better ambassador to make the attempt than the mad genius Morton Subotnick, and the imaginative and bizarre music that is as wonderful as his name.
—
Would you like Aaron to provide customized program notes especially for your next performance? Super! Just click here to get started.
Want to listen to the entire playlist for this week and other weeks? Check out the Smart and Soulful YouTube Channel for weekly playlists!
Do you have a comment to add to the discussion? Please leave one below and share your voice!
Subscribe to Smart and Soulful on Facebook and Twitter so you never miss a post!
smartandsoulfulmusic 