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THE
COMPOSER TO
THE
ART
OF THE FEMININE
CLASSIC-Life:
Herr Huebner, you have created quite a number of pieces of work, which
have the title “The Art of the Feminine”. 16 of these have
the subtitle “Love”, and 16 further ones the title “Harmony”.
When
you listen to them, you notice that they are all related to each other.
Can you tell us something about this?
PETER
HUEBNER:
Yes, “Femininity” first of all is a delicate topic –
during a time in which, especially in high positions, more and more
women effectively stand up for themselves.
Like
the whole of nature, the microcosm of music presents us creative powers,
conser- ving powers, and destructive powers.
In the advanced civilisations of mankind the principles of “preservation”
were attributed to the feminine element, and “creating” and
“destroying” to the masculine.
I
have transferred the principles of conser- vation from the microcosm
of music to the compositional, and used it in a fugue of up to five
parts.
The
fugue theme can be frequently modified, without encroaching on the musical
element of femininity in any way.
In
this respect, the 16 pieces of work are modifications of the very same
feminine themes. Therefore, they differ from each other. It would require
too much explaining to go into this in more detail – you can hear
it all anyway.
But
there is also a special story behind this: all 16 pieces of work in
a series are related to each other. One would think that it would be
easy to memorise them, and musicians might assume that they would be
able to play them from memory after a short time.
But that is made especially difficult because of the close relationship
of these pieces – if not even rendered impossible.
I
therefore believe that a conductor, for instance, when he knows them
all, couldn’t conduct these pieces from memory – whilst he
could easily do so if he only knew one of them.
CLASSIC-Life:
Among the “Art of the Feminine” there are the two cycles “Love”
and “Harmony”. In what way do they differ?
PETER HUEBNER: Regarding the 5 polyphone
voices, the particular individual movements are the same. But the series
“Harmony” also has the basso continuo, which reveals the natural
harmonious development – whereby this basso continuo is missing
in the “Love” series.
Why
these two groups “Love” and “Harmony”? Here, I must
explain in more detail. Imagine five children who are playing with each
other in a meadow. The ideal natural harmonious contact of these five
children is shown in the series “Love”, the children being
symbolised by five voices.
But
the basis of a natural harmonious musical development can only be the
basso continuo – which is indeed not played here, but to which
the voices are directed. In the series “Harmony” this basso
continuo is played, and it embodies the mother.
Whilst
in the series “Love” we experience the children’s play
only with the mother’s omnipresence, in the series “Harmony”
we experience the mother who is creating harmony in the basso continuo,
and then only recognise unambiguously in her the basis for the natural
harmonious development of the children’s play – the 5 voices.
The
interesting thing in “Love” is that in your subconscious –
and the music expert perhaps also consciously – with the help of
the children’s play: the 5 voices – you add the natural harmonious
role of the mother in the basso continuo, sometimes though making a
mistake. But you only notice this, when you later hear the corresponding
piece of work with the corresponding number from the series “Harmony”
with the basso conti- nuo, i.e. with the role of the mother.
In
natural harmonious music, the basso continuo always determines the natural
harmonious development, and so the basso continuo determines here also
the natural harmonious development of the 5 voices – just as the
mother determines the natural harmonious development of her five children.
As this is about “The Art of the Feminine”, besides the mother,
the five voices represent five girls.
In
“The Art of the Masculine” the father will correspondingly
play the decisive harmo- nising part as the basso continuo, and the
children playing are sons.
But
the matter is even more specific: In the first 4 “Meditations”
there are not five different girls, but a girl playing by herself simultaneously
in 5 parts. Musically it is about a theme that is set up to fivefold
in playing musical motion within itself- intellectually guided and maintained
by the mother as a basso continuo in the series “Love”, and
physically and/or tonally in the series “Harmony”.
Thus,
in “Love” the mother is only present in the mind, and only
determines the natural, harmonious fivefold dance of the girl through
her mental presence, and in “Harmony” the mother is physically
and/or tonally present, and in the basso continuo we experience the
natural basis of the harmony of the fivefold dance.
So
far the “Meditations” 1-4 in “Love” and/or “Harmony”.
In the “Meditations” 5-8 we are concerned with the fivefold
dance of two girls. In the meditations 9-12 there is the fivefold dance
of three girls, and in 13-16 the fivefold dance of four girls.
The
mother of all four girls is one and the same – which you can gather
from the development of the basso continuo. And which of the girls is
just dancing and in how many parts at the same time, can be gathered
from the themes you are hearing.
In an extended form, the “Metamorphoses” have developed from
these two cycles “Love” and “Harmony” – whereby
the or- chestra was enlarged, as further motifs were added: new people
of the musical action and/or dance – girls and boys.
Now
somebody might ask: Why is he doing all this? Here, he is producing
a number of musical pieces with 5 voices in “Love”.
Then, he adds the basso continuo in a further series “Harmony”.
And finally in “Meta- morphoses”, he brings in more musical
themes and motifs.
In
“Metamorphoses” I have included everything. So why would I
want ”Harmony” and “Love” as well?
Here
we might have the view of the music producer thinking of the economic
aspect and/or the music consumer, who thinks in terms of the laws of
economicalness. The matter has a different background.
Every person must learn to deal with himself harmoniously. Almost everybody
is aware of the fact that this is not easy and by no means always easy.
In
“Love” you, as the listener, can learn or get used to handling
yourself simultaneously in an up to fivefold way – harmoniously!
So you can learn to play 5 different parts simultaneously within yourself,
without facing dissonant and/or disharmonious collisions, but on the
contrary in a sensible together- ness – which is audibly proven
by the music of 5 voices as a whole.
Where
do you nowadays find such a teaching and learning process? At home,
in a nursery school, at school, at university, in your job?
Such natural harmonious dealings with yourself is the pre-condition
for natural harmonious dealings with other people.
In the “Meditations” 5-8 – as I have already explained
– we are concerned with the fivefold natural harmonious dealings
of two sisters with themselves, and up to 5 x 5 = 25 fold with each
other.
Thus,
the learning process is on the one hand the repetition of the fivefold
dealings with yourself, as learned in the “Meditations” 1-4.
But in addition, we now have the natural harmonious dealings with the
sister, who at the same time handles herself in a fivefold way. Correspondingly,
the educational scale is extended to No. 16.
In
the series “Harmony”, the knowledge is included that the same
natural and inevitable laws of harmony determine all our inner lives:
two or several people deal with themselves as well as each other according
to the same harmonious laws.
The “Metamorphoses” extend this individual and social educational
process, and in addition, lift it into the ecological area. With the
joining orchestra voices, the individual, the social community and thereby
related and non-related people, and finally also the ecological conditions
are integrated into the harmonious play, according to the same laws
of harmony.
Out
of this “whole” nobody would be able to hear with certainty
the harmonious togetherness of two or several people as well as the
laws according to which this togetherness develops in the “Metamor-
phoses”, if there wasn’t also “The Art of the Feminine”
the two groups “Love” and “Harmony” in the cycle.
For
the listener is too much distracted by the additional voices of the
orchestra in the “Metamorphoses”, to clearly hear the fivefold
conversation of an individual girl with herself, or the part of the
mother.
For this reason, it was and is necessary to record all three orders
in a separate form. That is classical music: Education for the soul,
as Socrates calls it.
CLASSIC-Life:
Herr Huebner, at your request, the picture of Maria was put on the CDs
of “Art of the Feminine”. Do you regard her as a special personification
of femininity?
PETER
HUEBNER:
When I first saw this portrait of the Pieta in St Peter’s Cathedral
in Rome – that was in 1972, I spent about half a year near Rome,
and travelled quite regularly into town – I was deeply impressed
by this work of Michelangelo.
You have to imagine: a mother has just seen her son murdered –
the worst that could ever happen to her.
We
are used to women turning hysterical, when they lose their handbags
or their husbands stray. The average citizen all over the world would
expect a women who has just lost her son, to be absolutely care-worn,
and this to be expressed on her face.
No sign of all that in Mary, as portrayed by Michelangelo.
And
if you then look at her son in her arms, then you probably first notice
the crown of thorns and the serious wounds, but finally you see the
face of a very alert, absolutely relaxed man resting in his mother’s
arms.
For me, the Jesus in this portray was more alert and more present than
most of the people who were wandering around St Peter’s Cathedral.
He seemed to be simply resting thoroughly and relaxing.
What
I also noticed was that he was much bigger than his mother, and that
he seemed heavy – but nevertheless she was holding him without
any effort in her arms, as if he had no weight at all.
This
portrait of mother and son made me think hard. Obviously Michelangelo
had managed to present him as an immortal soul: wide awake, resting
deeply, completely relaxed, full of life, and despite the outer wounds
and the crown of thorns on his head also completely without pain.
And obviously his mother saw him like that, too, and was neither blinded
by wounds nor death nor weight.
That
is why she wasn’t suffering. This Mary was obviously living beyond
birth and death, and recognised her son as being immortal. And she wasn’t
older than her son, either.
Most men think, when they father a child, that they are the creator
of this child and that is why the child is to bear their name. In my
opinion, women are a little more restrained in this respect.
When
somebody is the creator of something, he usually knows what he is the
creator of – at least that is what one would think.
But the men who are fathering a child do not know of what they are the
creator, although they think they are the father, and also say that
they are. They don’t even know if it will be a boy or a girl –
never mind the rest.
But
then who is the creator of this child? Somebody must be the creator
and know what he is creating. I have the impression that Michelangelo
knew and expressed a lot more of this than most people would guess.
A mother giving birth to an immortal child, a son who was murdered,
but lives, who – although physically existing – is absolutely
without weight for his mother: that shows me a vision of life’s
reality which in many ways does justice to superior ideals. For this
reason, I asked – when we are dealing with ideal femininity –
to use this picture of Mary.
This
reality – as Michelangelo expressed in his Pieta – I also
tried to express in the “Hymns of the Domes”, whereby the
slightly louder intermediate parts also remind of such ignorant views
of people who in their narrow-minded limited understanding of creation
imagine that it was possible to kill Christ and thereby harm his mother.
The
name “Mary” is also interesting, because originally it meant
“cosmic ability to think and universal creativity”, and the
person who extends his thinking, can hear this name more and more clearly
in his inner being.
I
hope the “Art of the Feminine” and the “Hymns of the
Domes” do justice to the claim and the view of Michelangelo.
The central themes in “Hymns of the Domes” come from the “Art
of the Feminine”. Thus, I have arranged the “Art of the Feminine”
for the organ, and I have called these arrangements “Voice of the
Domes”.
It
is interesting that we have the same view of the world and/or of life
as we find with Michelangelo, and probably also at least among the people
in higher positions in the catholic church – because otherwise
the portrait wouldn’t be in St Peter’s – , in the Bhagavad
Gita.
Here,
we have Krishna, resting in himself, fully conscious, not active, and
Arjuna, his student, who knows his immortality. Krishna symbolises the
immortal soul like Christ, and Arjuna characterises the cosmically developed
powers of cognition, which in the end cannot be deceived by the confusion
of the raging world events.
In
this respect, I see a perfect, outstanding presentation of that phenomena
of yoga in Michelangelo’s Pieta: better, more convincing, more
comprehensible than I have ever seen in a picture in Asia.
If
someone asked me to portray yoga and its principles in the best possible
way, I would choose the picture of the Pieta to do so – whereby
the real understanding clearly only develops, when you know the whole
story: about the mother and the murdered son, and the various levels
of knowledge of this matter which I have already explained – starting
with the murdered son and the suffering mother to the immortal son,
and the mother who is therefore not suffering.
The path of yoga is exactly the path of ignorance to the knowledge of
these facts. I have learned yoga, I spent a long time in Asia in the
Himalayas for this purpose, and I practised yoga – in the late
sixties, early fiveties I taught thousands of people yoga, and I know
what I am talking about.
In different cultures and religions there are many portrays of goddesses
of wisdom.
When
I see those pictures, I don’t know what would bring me to the conclusion
this is an expression of “wisdom”. It is not possible for
me to follow the thought, that this is a portrayal of a wise woman.
But when I see Mary, as portrayed by Michelangelo, and I know the background
story, then her unstressed, youthful appearance can only be explained
in such a way that she must be wise, because otherwise she would look
bowed down with grief, as this is indeed the case with a lot of pictures
of Mary, which have been created by ignorant artists – where her
creators seriously imagine those Romans would have been able to murder
God’s son and bring disaster on his mother.
It
is surely the most terrible thing that can happen in the world, that
somebody murders a mother’s son – there is nothing worse.
But if she subsequently does not suffer, she is either completely callous
or without conscience, or she is wise and knows about immortality. This
picture of Mary has an extremely meditative effect – it is worthwhile
having a look at her, closing your eyes and doing a bit of soul-searching,
internalising it and learning to regard the world with the eyes of this
woman.
That
is why I also recommended that picture of Mary to the publisher’s
for the label „Peace of Mind“ regarding spiritual music.
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Johannes
Brahms (sitting)
and Joseph Joachim
Johannes Brahms
in discussion with the famous violinist
and friend
Joseph Joachim
“All
this is most fascinating, Johannes, and I understand now why
you have always been so aloof in this respect, even with me.
We are now treading on holy ground. But if you feel that Bach,
Mozart and Beethoven were more inspired than you were, what
do you think of me?
As a young man, I, too, composed, but since associating with
you so intimately, I have long since given it up; your inspirations
were of a so much higher order than mine, your workmanship also,
that further effort on my part seemed futile.
My
compositions, even my Hungarian Concerto, are being more and
more neglected and will soon be forgotten, while yours are gaining
in recog- nition from year to year.”
“That
is true, Joseph, but it will be another half century before
I shall find my true place in the musical scheme. It is difficult,
if not impossible, to explain why one composer is more inspired
than another, but I can put my finger on one weak spot in your
past, Joseph – too many official positions and posts of
honour. You are the director of the Berlin Royal High School,
you are in great demand as a violin soloist and as a quartet
player, you devote a great deal of your time to teaching; the
many conferences connected with your posts of honour encroach
upon your time; you are flooded with manuscripts of composers
for violin who seek your advice –
to mention only a few of the troublesome and annoying inconveniences
which have come within the scope of my own observations. All
these things interfer with composing.
A
composer who wishes to write worth-while music must devote his
whole time and energy to that one occupation. If I had had as
many calls upon me as you have had, Joseph, I could not have
created anything worth listening to, either.”
“Granted,
Johannes, but when we first met as young men, I was not burdened
with all of those opressing loads; I had the creative urge,
too, and yet the difference between your productions and mine
were like day and night. No, there is a deeper reason. No doubt
it is natural aptitude. It must have been very easy for Jesus
of Nazareth to contact Omnipo-tence, just as it was for Beethoven;
his ideas must have come with no conscious effort on his part,
as witness the hundreds of wonderful themes in which his works
abound.”
“True,
Joseph, but his sketch books prove that he too toiled incessantly
in order to leave to posterity such masterpieces as the Eroica,
the fifth, seventh and ninth symphonies, the fourth and fifth
piano concertos and the violin concerto. That is why I have
always taken him as my ideal; he had not only the highest inspiration
but also supreme craftsmanship.”
The famous
Violinist
Joseph Joachim
Joseph
Joachim about
Johannes Brahms
“To
one who knows him as well as I do, that is easily explained.
In spite of his crusty manner, Brahms is in reality a kind-
hearted man. I have found that out in many ways. He realizes
that for future generations of composers, it would be of great
value to have such detailed accounts of his own experi- ences
when in those trance-like states in which his inspi- rations
came to him.
Those
secrets would have been invaluable to me as a young man. I also,
through my early associations with Mendelssohn and Schumann,
before I met Brahms, had ambitions to be a great composer; and
if I had known then what I learned that last evening with him,
I might have accomplished a great deal more than I did. Yes,
I am convinced that he knows that young composers of the future
will profit by his revelations concerning those higher spiritual
laws. He himself gained very valuable infor- mation from the
teachings of Jesus and of the great poets.”
Johannes
Brahms
“You
see, the powers from which all truly great com- posers like
Mozart, Schubert, Bach and Beethoven drew their inspirations
is the same power that enabled Jesus to work His miracles. We
call it God, Omnipotence, Divinity, the Creator, etc. Schubert
called it, ‘die Allmacht’ but, ‘what’s in
a name?’ as Shakespeare so aptly ques- tions.
It
is the power that created our earth and the whole universe,
including you and me, and that great Godintoxicated Nazarene
taught us that we can appro- priate it for our own upbuilding
right here and now and also earn Eternal Life.
According
to Jesus’ own words, He was in that case not the great
exception, but the great example for us to emulate. We are all
sons of God, for we could not have come from any other source.
The vast difference, however, between Him and us ordinary mortals
is that He had appropriated more of divinity than the rest of
us.
Of
course, to the disciples it appeared that Jesus was walking
on the water, but in reality He was walking in the air. His
spiritual power was so great that He could, by drawing on Omnipotence,
rise superior to the Law of Gravitation. We call that a supernatural
power but supernormal would be a better term.
Jesus was using a higher law of which his disciples in the boat
were all ignorant, and their only explanation of the phenomenon
was that He had supernatural powers, being God Himself personified.
Nevertheless, their terror was very great for we read in Matthew
14:26, ‘And they cried out for fear’”.
Brahms
“How
different life on this earth would be if we could all consciously
appropriate Omnipo-tence as Jesus did.”
Joseph
Joachim
Johannes
Brahms
“My belief in our immortality is based chiefly on the unde-niable
fact that all peoples of all times and all climes have always
clung to the belief in a life beyond the grave; that is to say,
the more spiritually advanced leaders of such peoples.
There are, of course, always some who do not believe in a hereafter
but that is of no importance; the fact that so many different,
widely sepa- rated races of antiquity did believe it, is to
my way of thinking, proof that it is implanted in the human
breast by the Creator.
By
burying with their dead weapons, articles of clothing, and various
utensils which they had in daily use, they beleived that the
dead would need them in the next world. Ancient sepulchers and
the many different modes of disposal of the dead, reveal to
us the hope which long since vanished civilizations held of
a future life.
One
of the most wonderful illustrations of the universality of the
belief in another life is to be found in your American Indians,
who were wholly segregated from all the rest of mankind, and
yet they talked of the Great Spirit and the Happy Hunting Grounds
where they would hunt after leaving this world. Their idea of
heaven was a primitive one, to be sure, but one finds that the
conceptions of that abode were always coloured by the state
of civilization of the nations that believed in hereafter. However,
all that is unimportant; what counts is the universality of
that belief in a future life.
In
the Holy Writ it says in John 14, 10: ‘The father that
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works’.
The real genius draws on the Infinite Source of Wisdom and Power
as Milton and Beethoven did.
That is, in my opinion, the best definition of genius. Jesus
was the world’s supreme spiritual genius, and He was conscious
of appro-priating the only true source of power as no one else
ever was, although Beethoven and Milton realized too they were
tapping that same source in a lesser degree.
It is all a question of degree.”
Brahms
Johannes
Brahms
“I
always had a definite pur-pose in view, before invoking the
Muse and entering into such a mood. Then when I felt those higher
Cosmic vibrations, I knew that I was in touch with the same
Power that inspired those great poets and also Bach, Mozart
and Beethoven. Then the ideas which I was consciously seeking
flowed in upon me with such force and speed, that I could only
grasp and hold a few of them; I never was able to jot them all
down; they came in instantaneous flashes and quickly faded away
again, unless I fixed them on paper.
The
themes that will endure in my compositions all come to me in
this way. It has always been such a wonderful ex-perience, that
I never before could induce myself to talk about it – even
to you, Joseph.
I
felt that I was, for the moment, in tune with the Infinite,
and there is no thrill like it. I can understand why the great
Nazarene attached so little importance to his life. He must
have been in much closer rapport with the infinite force of
the Universe, than any poet or composer ever was, and He no
doubt had glimpses of that next plane, He called ‘heaven’.
Shakespeare’s admonition ‘To thine own self be true’
has always been one of my guiding principles.”
Brahms
Richard
Strauss
“..
but no matter how clever the workmanship, no composition will
live unless it is inspired.
Composing is a procedure that is not so readily explained.
When
the inspiration comes, it is something of so subtle, tenuous,
will-o-the-wisp-like nature that it almost defies definition.
When
in my most inspired moods, I have definite com- pelling visions,
involving a higher selfhood. I feel at such moments that I am
tapping the source of infinite and eternal energy from which
you and I and all things proceed. Religion calls it God.”
“It
is of the utmost importance to put the thoughts on paper immediately
lest they quickly fade away. Once fixed I often look at them
again and this conjures up the same frame of mind that gave
birth to them; thus the ideas grow and expand. I am a firm believer
in the germination of the idea.
I
realize that the ability to have such ideas register in my consciousness
is a Divine gift.
It is a mandate from God, a charge entrusted to my keeping,
and I feel that my highest duty is to make the most of this
gift – to grow and expand.
I
was, however, definitely conscious of being aided by a more
than earthly Power, and that it was responsive to my determined
suggestions.
A firm believe in this Power must precede the ability to draw
on it purposefully and intelligently. That much I definitely
know.”
Richard
Strauss
Johannes
Brahms
“I
begin by appealing directly to my Maker. Immediately after that
I feel vibrations that thrill my whole being.
These are the Spirit illuminating the soulpower within, and
in this exalted state, I see clearly what is obscure in my ordinary
moods; then I feel capable of drawing inspiration from above,
as Beethoven did. Above all, I realize at such moments the tremendous
significance of Jesus’ supreme revelation, ‘I and
my Father are one.’ Those vibrations assume the forms of
distinct mental images, after I have formulated my desire and
resolve in regard to what I want – namely, to be inspired
so that I can compose something that will uplift and benefit
humanity – something of permanent value.
Straightway
the ideas flow in upon me, directly from God, and not only do
I see distinct themes in my mind’s eye, but they are clothed
in the right forms, harmonies and or- chestration.
Measure by measure the finished product is revealed to me.”
Brahms
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