What do you think about music?

The essence of music is movement, and sound is its vehicle. Movement occurs when a dynamic force is applied to an object. In order for movement to have the potential to carry meaning, the object must have a minimally cohesive identity, and the movement must have a minimally perceptible dynamic tendency.

Movement must not be confused with mere agitation, which may simply be a disguised form of stasis; it is necessary that there be some form of displacement. The space between the point of departure and the point or arrival can be as minuscule, or as gigantic, as the music-creator desires, and still function. Naturally, there are as many forms of movement, and of objects, are there are creators of music; however, the absolute necessity of these two elements working together appears to be universally applicable, regardless of style, culture, period or function.

The ultimate generator of meaning, expressivity and force in music is the permanent dichotomy between two complementary requirements: the music must demonstrate a high enough degree of cohesion that the listener is not adrift in the totality of all possible worlds; and enough chaos, in the form of meaningful deviation from this cohesion, that a sense of movement can manifest.

Therefore, my definition of meaningful music, otherwise extremely open, would exclude both total stasis, and total randomness, either of which would tend to preclude the possible formation of meaning. It is certainly possible to create meaningless music, but its social and cultural value would be correspondingly low. Otherwise, the word ‘music’ must include all possible aesthetics, procedures, materials and grammars. Pitch, rhythm, melody and timbre have extremely variable degrees of importance in different cultures, and any of these parameters may in fact be totally absent without in any way compromising music’s ability to carry meaning.

The more a musical work is deeply meaningful, the more it is deeply valuable. The highest function a musical work can have is to assist human beings in orienting their lives in such a way that everything becomes significant and meaningful. It would seem obvious that this is of the very greatest importance in assuring the survival of the human race.