
Music
I agree with Tolstoy that music causes intense and passionate emotions moving them in an arbitrary direction. In this regard, the task of any listener is to entrust themselves to music, which manages one’s psyche and imagination causing deep aesthetic experience. However, contemporary classics do not always follow this rule, because they require not only one’s emotional involvement but also a reflexive reaction that allows to add your own experience in the process of listening. One of such masterpieces is John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls (2002) that is dedicated to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. It was created as a single movement with the duration of 25 minutes. This composition involves the reconstruction of individual memories, which ultimately leads to one’s emotional catharsis of the tragedy.
The composition is constructed in such a way that it requires an individual reaction to the tragedy, involving one’s memory. The main theme begins with the repetition of recorded voices, which immediately indicate what Adams wants to convey. The composer also adds the disturbing choir on the background, which sounds in a single monotone rumble. On the one hand, Adams’ music forms a worrying tone causing to feel uncomfortable with every next sound. It seems that the whole music is an audible memorial, which was built up of sounds, voices, and silence. On the other hand, the specificity of this composition is that it is impossible to listen to it in the same way because it depends on individual experience and memory. Within this idea, Adams constructs a memory space, organizing the dead voices, which are embodied in the meditative choral singing, into a repetitive pattern (1.58). The idea of Adams is that the tragedy did not stop in that day but still resonates in the present causing a variety of emotions.
As for me, Adams’ composition contradicts Tolstoy’s statement since it forms a sort of blank musical canvas, allowing everyone to build own narrative. Hence, the composer sets the structure for emotions but does not directly suggest how to perceive each piece. Accordingly, it is impossible to predict in which direction one’s emotions and aesthetic experience will develop. This condition is ideally consistent with the general theme because it evokes memories, combining both emotional and rational context. Thus, the composition is open and universal for every listener, while the unique process of reflection allows to fit one’s memorable piece into the whole event as its integral part.
Following this, the composition has engaged my personal memory since this tragedy is associated with my emotional paralysis at that day. It was difficult for me to understand how this could happen at all, thus the whole situation resembled a fantastic film. Therefore, my listening of this theme was painful and difficult, forcing constantly to return to the past events, reconstructing each episode from my memory. Accordingly, my personal reflection built a ground for emotions and feelings, ranging from simple to complex emotional reactions. The strongest idea was that the voices communicated with each other in their world (12.34), although they were dead. This was such a powerful idea that made me feel physical pain, plunging me deeper into the tragedy, resulting in the final crescendo (17.36).
In conclusion, John Adams in his On the Transmigration of Souls blows the atmosphere with its minimalist technique, repeating the voices that surround you from all sides. Such a psychological attack is also aimed to make feel the tragedy from inside, involving each individual experience into the open narrative. In this case, Adams created a ‘reflection’ of emotions, allowing the listener to understand the tragedy at the intellectual and emotional levels.
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