Between the Notes and Music

A collection of notes becomes a piece of music.

Whenever I look into the details, I am amazed by how carefully the composer chose them and placed them on the staff.

I feel like I’m wandering into a big labyrinth.

It’s like looking into a kaleidoscope.

The process, in which every single note gets into its own place, resembles building a huge cathedral.

All notes are related to each other.

They are not meaningless collections of sound.

They were born from harmony as their parent,and counterpoint nurtured and raised them.

There are reasons why they move, stop, gather, gasp, turn, skip, flow, stand still, disappear, and so on.

They are not acting nonchalantly.

That is why it’s so important to understand why and how they are there.

The character, the reason, the role, the hierarchy, and the individuality of each note need to be understood and carefully attended to.

Music is the art of sound, but that’s not all.

When we finally go through the same process the composer went through during the act of creation,music becomes our cognition.

Collections of notes and sound become real music,

and we begin to build our thoughts with sound and notes.

That’s when we can realize the music through performance.

We can realize the composition through our performance.

There is no longer a gap between the notes and the music in one’s mind.

You will start seeing what you couldn’t see before.

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音を聞くことを

思考と思ってはいけない。

音楽は音の芸術だから

音の品質は非常に大事であるけれど、

その音は勝手気ままに集ったり流れたりしているのではないのです。

無意味な音の集まりではないのです。

一つ一つの音の個性と性格を知らなければならない。

そしてそれは和声から生まれて

対位法によって

何かを作り出していくのです。

その過程を作曲と呼び

それを実現するのが演奏です。