IS THIS SF?
Yes, aliens come to visit Earth, and likewise, we go to visit them. Technology, spaceships, etc.
PJE SYNOPSIS/TEASER
A meditation on the adage that ‘musical is the universal language’, where the universal part is taken literally. This is paired with the concept that ‘Opera’ is the highest form of High Art, etc. Thus, if we can communicate with aliens, then Opera should be the medium.
REALLY MUSICIANS?
YES-singers sing, instrumentalists instrumentulate, conductors conduct. Complaints are issued regarding singing, playing, costume changing. Feels like real musicians.
WHY MUSICIANS?
To perform the operas. The main characters seem to be the various producers and impresarios, the ones who actually provide and ‘make’ the taste. Thus they are also the ones mainly involved in the debates and cross-world inter-civilization ideas-passing. Of course, the aliens have their own art forms with which they are trying to convey as the universal communicator. Of course nothing works, and in the end a kind of slapstick wins out—lowest common denominator stuff tends to be more universal…
RECOMMENDED?
YES-ish—Funny, witty—there’s not much plot per se, just explorations of the central conceit. It all feels like a gaint set-up for the ending punchline. But fun!
IS THIS SF? Hmmm, yes? Framed as a dystopian London at some time, but not enough clarity from the characters, as immersed as they are. Not much science in this one, but speculation on the ‘power’ of music to sway, to control, to destroy, to corrupt…
PJE SYNOPSIS The world’s gone bad, and no one can remember anything unless they can ‘fetish’ their memory to an object or a self-made injury. Somehow, a group of people can remember and pass down ‘tunes’, and/or can perceive the memories of others. Then they can try to set the world right by destroying a carillon made of palladium which some people are also trying to collect pieces of upon pain of death. Oh, and everybody speaks in solfège, but orally and in terms of hand gestures.
REALLY MUSIC? WHAT ABOUT MUSICIANS? People of all classes and situations gather to sing along with the carillon. Solfège is spoken and gestured, music is mentioned as being composed by the elite. Syncopation, inversion, rising/falling, are all noticed by the narrator. The music has a ‘hey, it’s there’ quality, so it’s not dissected. Certain tones and patterns seem to cause great discomfort, from “don’t sing that here” to “destroy the world”… Not sure about this one.
WHY A MUSICIAN? The narrator uses music as a mnemonic carrier of information, but isn’t quite sure of a lot of it. He can find memories and turn them into a sonic narrative, a process shared with his friend/companion Lucien. Lucien can sense palladium and use his voice to project his followers where to find it in the abandoned subterranean passageways of London. Lucien it turns out was born into a caste of musicians who control the world, outcast, and then brought back and can with a few day’s worth of practice become a carillon-er of extraordinary caliber. Lucien is also blind.
FURTHER PJE COMMENTARY Solfège is a language, imbued with meaning and memory, but it’s not a detailed one. In this book it’s practiced more rigorously and spoken fluently by the cognoscenti caste, who seem distant, aloof, mean, measured and ruthless. Is this a commentary on undergraduate musicianship and ear-training? Are people with perfect pitch and easier recall part of a different class?
RECOMMENDED? Hmm—-a novel of interesting ideas, but I feel it falls short in terms of plot and action-framing, and it’s not-so-interesting in-and-of itself. Literally a lot of the action is in the dark. Additionally, the character you follow along throughout the novel turns out to be the main side-character (?) so the investment of time into understanding them doesn’t feel like it pays off. Also, it ends quite abruptly, without addressing the main plot motivations. Success? Failure? A good volley towards the appreciation of a sidelined non-hero?
IS THIS SF? YES, astronomy, Arecibo, asteroid mining in the belt, space travel, first contact, relativistic speeds…
PJE SYNOPSIS The first alien messages received at Arecibo are in the form of music! A team is assembled to travel to the not-so-distant planet and make first contact. Of course the government and business sectors move way too slow, so who better to make first contact than the Jesuits! Much back-story ensues. The novel is shaped around a kind of ‘confession’ so the story starts with the return of the main character, with every telling and re-telling (distant past and recent past) pointing towards the revelation at the end.
REALLY MUSIC? WHAT ABOUT MUSICIANS? Yes, really music. Though we often talk about how music is math, and vice versa, what separates music is it’s ‘human’ element—shifts in color and tone, dynamics and pacing, etc. Often this is what instead connects music to poetry (one of the ‘less-literal’ arts). Interpretation, presentation and sharing are key to a culture, and not necessarily is this shared to ‘aliens’. However, I don’t want to ‘ruin’ the ending for you… There is a musician/musicologist/conductor on board the trip, and everybody else seems highly interested in music. During their time traveling they rehearse different material, from the “Hallelujah” chorus to a Mozart String Quartet (!?), with Saint-Saens and Beethoven along the way.
WHY A MUSICIAN? Well, since they received music from the Aliens, its obvious that they should be ready to present music in return. This the full intention of their visit, and as such they are prepared to do so. An analytical based musician at Arecibo would have been more helpful, just on a personal note, as they were inspecting waveforms and time-points on a linear scale, whereas overtones and such become much more apparent on a logarithmic scale
RECOMMENDED? YES—well done, and perhaps even moving. A great story, and once everything catches up at the end it all ‘comes together’ in an interesting and unexpected way. The center of this novel is ‘catholic’ and all perceptions and motivations stem from that, and the great revelation at the end is really not as big a deal unless you’re caught up in ‘sin’ and ‘fate’. Instead of crying, you could end up laughing!
IS THIS SF? No, doesn’t even pretend to be (see parenthesis in post title).
PJE SYNOPSIS Number 2 in the Joona Linna series. Murders are committed, Joona pieces them together, much witty dialogue and fast-paced action ensues—well written and well pieced together, good believable characters.
REALLY A MUSICIAN? not Joona, but YES to Alex Riesen, plays the violin and savant-like seems to know everything about it, ever. He was forced to be a musician by his parents, which adds a ring of truth to his character. Though, by his own admission, he doesn’t necessarily practice, and hasn’t played in thirty years. Knows his music by ear, by touch, by history, etc.
WHY A MUSICIAN? I’ve included this book in an otherwise SF review series because the musician character is exceptional. Alex Riesen is the newly-appointed chair of a board that oversees munitions supplies and shipments from Sweden. He feels a lot of pressure, but knows in his heart-of-hearts that something’s not right and as such he doesn’t give in. He shows character and steadfastness in the face of dealings with illegitimate businessmen when people previously in his position have not been able to do so. As a result he prevents a highly disagreeable international situation. His skills as a musician, and thus as a guide and teacher or the violin, allow him to delay and add a layer of confusion to the otherwise violent conclusion of the book. Also, he’s able to date a photograph (the crucial piece of evidence…) by studying the hand positions of the string quartet in the background…!!!
RECOMMENDED? YES—well done overall, with lots of music and musical references throughout. The original Swedish title of the book translates as “The Paganini Contracts”
IS THIS SF? No, though Fredric Brown is known a science fiction author. Many lump fantasy with SF, and so it could be considered that way.
PJE SYNOPSIS A clarinetist searches the world for the perfect “Sound” which haunts him throughout his life and travels
REALLY A MUSICIAN? YES, plays the clarinet and talks about musical things using musical terminology. Able to recognize a ‘hautboy’ instrument even though its particular build is hundreds of years old.
WHY A MUSICIAN? See above—to recognize the hautboy puts the narrator in a situation of privilege in regards to the owner of the hautboy, who has never entertained guest previously. As a clarinetist the narrator is over-qualified to play the hautboy which leads to… the outcome (can’t say more without really ruining it…). Being a musician helps link the narrator to the hautboy-owner and to… Mythic considerations. Once the reader knows the ending, then someone drawn to sound was the only choice for the protagonist to be a musician.
RECOMMENDED? YES—well written, well paced and well constructed. Will leave you thinking for a bit after you’ve finished.
IS THIS SF?
I believe so, though it’s close. Based a bit on the story of Steve Kurtz, the SF in this book centers around tinkering with biological agents in home lab. This is not so SF in itself, but in this story the protagonist, composer-teacher Peter Els, aims to tinker with bacterial DNA to a degree where he can code his music into it. So the world of the book is the world of 2014, but with the science a bit speculative-ish…
PJE SYNOPSIS
See above, but then the FBI fears he might be a terrorist, so a chase ensues with many flashbacks along the way (Richard Powers style….)
REALLY A MUSICIAN?
YES, talks aptly and deeply about music and musicians. Know full well the trials and tribulations of working creatively in music, finding performers, making recordings, etc.T ells a great story about Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, witnessed a Cage happening.
WHY A MUSICIAN?
Why a composer (hahaha)? Someone who is a good tinkerer, used to be being alone with their thoughts. Someone who is good at ‘theory’, though most composers, like this one, mostly fake it 😉 Also, good to have a protagonist who is intellectually well-rounded and curious, and has been for the past 50 years or so.
RECOMMENDED?
YES—moves along quickly with all kinds of drama and flashbacks, I enjoyed it. Perhaps for non-musicians there’s a bit of lull here and there. The drama with the daughter helps tie things together, but only as a touchstone and move-along for the plot.
IS THIS SF?
Yes, far future, far-flung humanity, Artificial Intelligence that can be a ship and at the same time be its individuals, super-duper healing technology.
PJE SYNOPSIS
Breq seeks revenge, and we don’t know what for until half-way through. Before, she was part of this ship Justice of Toren. She helps to save someone who becomes her traveling companion and sidekick. All the while, retelling the events that make her seek vengeance.
REALLY A MUSICIAN?
YES, as a ship who has lived for thousands of years she’s interested in collecting songs from all over the galaxies, songs which she remembers and catalogs, but also sings them on request and subconsciously hums them, too (which ends up betraying her identity).
WHY A MUSICIAN?
Interesting question. Perhaps she was programmed this way. Perhaps she grew bored and as an AI she learned to find an interest. Breq is somewhat cold-hearted and devious, and like I said, seeking revenge, which doesn’t fit with flowery-hippy type of musician you often associate with literature. Perhaps it’s also a nod to music as a kind of history, as Justice of Toren remembers cultural tunes (folk music) as well as tunes by individual composers, and as such it’s an interesting way to balance out the un-human qualities that we (in the early twenty-first century) associate with AI. When asked to reproduce she can pipe music through speakers, I guess, but can also ‘perform’ them through one of her individuals, and as such becomes and musician and an ambassador. At one point Breq comes across a new instrument and teaches herself to play it so it can accompany her singing.
RECOMMENDED?
YES—a ripping yarn that moves along quickly. Because of the duality between shipwide AI / an individuals, the narrative style is a bit complex, especially at the beginning, but one gets used to it.
John Cage said “[t]he material of music is sound and silence” and that “instead of counting we use watches if we want to know where in time we are.” Cage was speaking to composers and to those interested in his sonic philosophies, but was he also speaking to improvisers?
Here is an audio recording from a free music class that captures a five-minute performance method called “11/49” whereby each improviser/performer is allowed 11 seconds of activity for each minute:
This is quite successful as a free improvisation; give-and-take, emergence of personality, drama, compelling text/non-texted sound—5 minutes just flows on by, compellingly!
Here is a photo of the whiteboard bagatelle that lead to such results. N.B., this was devised right before, and further developing during said class:Let’s work through it a bit.
Cage balanced sound and silence as equals. For an improviser, however, I don’t think “50/50” would cut it, as it could sound like “a measure on, a measure off” or “trading fours,” etc. Therefore, I argue for skewing towards silence a bit, at a ratio of 45/55. Set a timer and equate the ratio to 27 seconds of activity to 33 seconds or inactivity per each minute. For a single improviser this makes sense, allowing ample time for the audience to recognize your “non-performative intentionality.”
If two improvisers follow the same 27s/33s ratio the audience might lose out on the sound/silence intentionality, as per minute you could have 54 seconds of activity, not nearly enough to make the point! Pure math indicates that each performer go for a 22.5/77.5 ratio, but we should skew that a bit, this time towards sound to allow for overlaps, so a ratio of 30/70 or even 35/65 would be great, the latter translating to 21sec/39sec for both performer. In total, this theoretically could result in 42 seconds of activity out of each minute, but if we actually allow/encourage overlaps AND keep in mind “silence” as a resultant aesthetic, performers could close to 50/50 or perhaps even achieve 45/55…!
The same basic process follows in the photo above for up to 5 performers. When it got to 6 improvisers (the actual number of performers in class that day), my “fudging” intentionally became even more imprecise, and the mathematical process followed throughout particular columns was “no longer relevant”. Why? The fourth column had become a simple arithmetic progression, by 5, while the fifth column was likewise proceeding by 3 for each iteration, and the idea of continuing in this manner seemed a little too “harmonious” perhaps, so I just changed it to what I thought was a more fitting amount. PLUS, 11:49 had an intriguing ring to it…
Here’s a chart that lays out the above information and carries through to 16 performers:The last column provides a maximum amount of sound possible, just for the sake of information for the ensemble leader—for one, two, fourteen or fifteen performers, let things fly, but aesthetic “Silence should be (at least) half of the Sounds” will need to be taught and enforced for all other group sizes.
The chart would seem to suggest that a group of 15 improvisers would be quite interesting, yet 16 would take a lot of practice to get the feel of things right. Any more people, and you could perhaps multiply the values of the sixth column by additional minutes, or split everyone into different groups of 15 which alternate minute-by-minute.
N.B. Of course, any number of performers who improvise by highlighting distinctions in timbre and/or melodic angularity and disjuncture will make themselves stand apart, regardless of style, texture and size of ensemble, and even more so in this case—in fact, when such persons are “silent” it becomes quite obvious by occlusion!
IS THIS SF?
No, not technically, as stories are mainly mythological or allegorical in nature.
PJE SYNOPSIS
There are about twenty-five or so stories and five novels featuring John the Balladeer, so a specific synopsis is not possible, but John wanders from town to town with his guitar on his back, passing through, telling stories, singing songs, having adventures, saving the day, moving on, etc.
REALLY A MUSICIAN?
YES, plays and sings, for sure BUT never talks about playing or about music, just picks-and-grins, so NO!
WHY A MUSICIAN?
Came about in the mid-60s, when folk-singer musicians were all the rage: Pete Seeger, PP&M, Kingston Trio, Bob Dylan, etc.—probably an extrapolation on that theme; guitarist-singers are the new gun-slingers and if you just listen maybe they will save the world, or the world will be saved just by listening…
RECOMMENDED?
SO-SO—stories are good, though more ephemeral than substantial, they are good in that sense. Not much speculative here, though the stories are quick reads. There are beautiful girls and charged adventures. We do learn that his guitar has silver strings, and as such when you swing it, it kills vampires!
IS THIS SF?
YES?—action takes place in the now, but there is advanced pharmaceutical technology in the form of NZT-48. The invention and use of this drug makes the narrative quite speculative.
PJE SYNOPSIS
Brian Finch is a failed musician, failed in life—takes a pill, becomes incredibly smart, with super-quick and detailed recall, and also the ability to make connections become concrete, no matter how far-fetched they may seem. The pill kills, however, overwhelming the brain unless a immunization-booster shot is administered. The booster in this case is administered by a shady-seeming politician. Given this, crime-solving with the FBI becomes Finch’s main goal/day-job, though he runs into politically-oriented conspiracies that threaten his family and co-workers.
REALLY A MUSICIAN?
YES, though “failed” without commercial or aesthetic success. Sings, plays guitar—after first taking the drug one part of Finch’s “mastery montage” is the playing the guitar an an incredible rate of speed. Also has many LPs of unknown bands in non-popular genres…
WHY A MUSICIAN?
I think, mostly, for the sake of irony—from fumbler to fed! Writers/creators needed someone to start off as low as possible to present contrast to the tight-lipped straight-arrows. They also needed someone who seemed to have no prospects who would’ve been no stranger to drug culture. Perhaps, and this is where I hang some of my hopes, they wanted someone who didn’t think like cop, but rather someone who sought connections, and is used to lateral thinking on their feet—so why NOT a musician!?!
RECOMMENDED?
SO-SO, at times light-hearted and speculative—-a bit weak as the conspiracy deepens… Would have been better off as a “monster of the week” type show.
Let’s work through it a bit.
The last column provides a maximum amount of sound possible, just for the sake of information for the ensemble leader—for one, two, fourteen or fifteen performers, let things fly, but aesthetic “Silence should be (at least) half of the Sounds” will need to be taught and enforced for all other group sizes.