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/