Nietzsche & Microexpressions: for Oboe and Trombone

Well, it was only a matter of time before Nietzsche ended up being mentioned here, and the fact that it has only happened in the 3rd post might be a testament to self-restraint. My use of the works of Nietzsche to spur my own work is something I have been doing since 2006 (Five Meditations on Texts by Friedrich Nietzsche for tenor and piano), but more recently I have been utilizing aphorisms from Nietzsche’s Beyond Good & Evil in an ongoing series of pieces aptly titled Aphorisms. Each Aphorism is composed for a unique duet combination and draws inspiration from a single aphorism from the aforementioned text. In light of the upcoming premiere of Aphorism V, for oboe and trombone, I thought it would be worthwhile to explore the theme of this piece’s aphorism further.

Even when the mouth lies, the way it looks still tells the truth.
       Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Part 4, #166

The above aphorism, on which Aphorism V is based, is one of the most interesting of Nietzsche’s aphorisms, as it anticipates an understanding of microexpressions (small and involuntary facial expressions that indicate an individual’s emotional state) by nearly a century. Microexpressions have been somewhat popularized of late by the FOX TV series, Lie to me, but the formalized study of them dates back to a 1966 study by psychological researchers that has been followed by numerous studies. Today, the interest in microexpressions is no longer confined to scientific research, but is utilized by law enforcement and the TSA. Microexpression specialist, Paul Ekman was even featured on an episode of Radiolab.

What made Nietzsche’s intuition of microexpressions so appealing to express musically has everything to do with the ability to play with time and the procession of given events. Structurally, I was able to symbolize microexpressions (which typically exist in milliseconds) in more prolonged and exaggerated gestures and, as the work develops, those same musical portions begin to leak into and eventually pervade those arioso sections that represent an insincere posture of warmth and lyricism. In this way, the piece was an opportunity to express Nietzsche’s notion in a more concrete, albeit abstract form.

The premiere performance of Aphorism V: Even when the mouth lies... will be featured on Angela Limoncelli’s masters recital at Mannes College The New School for Music on this coming January 12.

For more information regarding this performance and microexpressions visit: 

http://www.andrewpauljackson.com/news.html

http://www.radiolab.org/2008/mar/10/catching-liars/

A Foreigner Writing for Native Ears

I have had a long affinity for all things Russian (history, literature, film, fine art, and, especially, music) and I was recently afforded the opportunity to write a piece for the tenor Michael Spyres and The Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Having gained so much from this culture’s  dizzyingly vibrant musical tradition, the task of writing a work that might in some small part convey my admiration became quite a daunting task. Ever cognizant of writing in an authentic manner, I knew that I should in no way adjust my own musical language for the occasion, but one thing I did want to do differently was set my text in the native language.

My favorite composer, Dmitri Shostakovich, took great pains to translate his 13th Symphony into German (with the help of Kurt Mazur) and his insistence that a work should be presented in as intelligible a manner as possible to its audience is something I greatly admire and to which I aspire. But not speaking Russian in the least put me considerably out of my depth. So I enlisted the help of my dear friend and collaborator, Ben Pfeiffer, who, aside from being a fantastically talented writer, also studied Russian in college. Ben, ever the perfectionist, then took his translation to Irina Fediunina Six, a Literature and Russian language professor at KU who is a native Russian speaker. The result was an impeccably beautiful translation that I could set without much difficulty.

In the midst of finishing the piece (originally scored for piano and voice per Michael’s request), I received a call from Michael in which he said those 7 words that every composer longs to hear, “can this be for full orchestra instead?” All of sudden my palette went from black paint on white canvas to a rich array of orchestral colors. The resulting piece, partially in English and Russian, is  filled with a warm zeal and moments of tender lyricism that I am thrilled to present to the concert-going residents of St. Petersburg! 

And this will be all will receive its premiere performance as part of the 2010 Musical Festival St. Petersburg Palaces on November 12. 

If you would like to help defray some of the costs associated with my trip to St. Petersburg, please visit www.andrewpauljackson.com/about.html and click the donate button at the bottom of the page. Thank you!

Charlie Sheen in... HYPER-REALITY!

As an avid TV watcher, I came across a series of commercials advertising an HDTV provider. This campaign featured easily recognizable scenes from notable movies in which, part way through whatever dialogue or action was taking place, the lead actor, newly spliced into the original footage, would say something to the effect that “if so-and-so were experiencing this scene in HD, they would…” etc. My particular favorite in this series is the one involving Charlie Sheen in his role from the Major League movies. In the commercial Sheen’s character specifically argues that an umpire that just called “ball” on a pitch would have seen it was a strike if he had only been watching this in HD.

For those of us who over think, what this campaign was specifically selling was hyper-reality. As the actors by nature of their characters are ostensibly in a simulated reality, but they acknowledge that that reality is somehow lacking or would pale in comparison to the hyper-real, symbolized in this particular instance by HDTV.

From HDTV to dying one’s hair, hyper-reality is becoming more and more prevalent in our contemporary lives. And it is something on which Jean Baudrillard was way ahead of the curve. In his wonderful treatise Simulacra and Simulation, Baudrillard explores the nature of symbolic representation and its role in contemporary life. This conjecture became the impetus for a recent work of mine for string trio, befittingly called Simulacra, that will premiere a week from today. The piece attempts to present Baudrillard’s formulations of increasing simulation (reflection, perversion, pretense, and simulacra) in an abstract musical essay. I hope you can join us!

“The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth- it is the truth that there is none.” Jean Baudrillard in Simulacra and Simulation

Simulacra will be premiered on The Fifth Floor Collective’s first concert of the 2010-2011 season. For more info visit: http://www.fifthfloorcollective.com