The coincidence of opposites is the idea of having both the Yin and the Yang in one creation. It is an interesting struggle, because not the one nor the other is true: it’s always both at the same time. Creation through the coincidence of opposites, writing the one AND the other, is very different from taking a commonly known form, like a Rondo. That form is more like a series of baskets that you can fill with notes, one after the other. But the form in itself has no artistic meaning. There are no opposites at the same time, there is no tension in this form. It’s a rope rather than a resonating violin-string.
Stagging the two opposites in Time, that makes it difficult, because normally events are pictured as rational logical follow-ups on a time-line. To the right is forwards, to the left is backwards in time. That is not what FORM in Music could be. If you want to write music that says something interesting about Life itself, you have to stack multiple opposing events in time.
Creativity comes with the tension of trying to express both the light and de dark in one moment. There is a tension in de connection of the opposites. And since in a composition, as in life, all is connected, even the feeling of Time changes when other things in a composition change.
I think, today, that a meaningful FORM can only appear within creation through the coincidence of opposites. A FORM created this way behaves differently through Time then the commonly used forms, like a Rondo, because you can only Create ‘4D’ using the tension of opposites in all directions.
Other forms are not forcing you to do that, they are more like a linear structure you can use, like a gridded paper. It’s a good strucuring tool, but that form creates no meaning in itself. The music might sound like a stop motion movie, a series of stills, rather then a continuous spatial experience in real time.
I think the lack of internal meaning of traditional forms has to do with the lack of intuitive feel for duration within the traditional form and the process of using them.
AND
there is a lack of intellectual stillness for Listening while filling it with notes, because a lot can be done immediately by actively using music theory.
So, I’ve started exploring a new way of working: intuitively starting from (literal) motion at the piano and intellectually starting from sitting still to think and Listen to the Silence.
Of course, it’s both the Craft AND the Art that Create something unique together. See, the question ‘is that Craft or Art?’ is a wrong question, it’s always both. It’s about being intellectually and intuitively in good shape. Then Creation will happen, whether you like it or not.
