1.14 Making music modern  (Page 2/9)

In this module, we will study the ways in which progressive modern music differs from classical music. We will then use the conceptual and listening tools that we have developed in earlier modules as an entryway into the modern repertoire.

The shock of the new

A little over three hundred years ago, Sir Isaac Newton created the first mathematically coherent explanation of the universe. To Sir Isaac Newton, nature behaved like a well-regulated, predictable machine. Give Newton comprehensive information about the universe and he could have predicted the future. Famously inspired by a falling apple, Newton's laws are confirmed by our direct perceptions and agree with our common sense. We still launch satellites into orbit using his method of calculation. But Newton's view of a predictable universe turned out to be deeply flawed. Perhaps the most the fundamental scientific discovery of the 20th-century was the recognition that ambiguity is irrevocably built into nature.

The theory of relativity

Einstein’s Theory of Relativity stipulates that the speed of light is constant for all observers. One startling consequence of this is that simultaneity and cause and effect are not absolute, but relative to one’s perspective. It is possible for one observer to report two events as happening at the same time that another observer sees as happening in sequence. Thus, according to the Theory of Relativity, there is no definitive“reality,”no commanding perspective that overrides all others. Instead, nature allows for multiple, and even contradictory, points-of-view. Decades of experiments have confirmed Einstein’s theory.

Quantum mechanics

Ambiguity also intruded into quantum mechanics, the study of sub-atomic particles. To give a speeding ticket, a police officer must know both a car’s location—in order to identify it—and its speed—in order to determine whether it is breaking the law. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle stipulates that an observer cannot measure both the position and speed of a sub-atomic particle with exact certainty. Thus, it would be impossible to give a speeding ticket in the quantum world. Why? If the police officer were to accurately measure the location of a sub-atomic particle, he would have to sacrifice knowledge of its speed. On the other hand, if he were to measure how fast the particle were traveling, he could not know its position. Nature would continually confound him; his information is doomed to be incomplete.

Psychology

It is not just the outer world that is saturated with ambiguity. Sigmund Freud was the first scientist to deeply explore the concept of the unconscious —mental processes that lie beyond our direct awareness. These range from metabolic processes like breathing to the complex motivations that underlie every day decisions. A century of research has established that most of human thinking is unconscious . Various experimental methods have been devised to explore the unconscious, from dream analysis to word association, Rorshach tests, brain scans, and more. Yet deciphering our unconscious thoughts remains elusive. Thus, not only must we must accept the ambiguities of the natural world, we must acknowledge it within ourselves.