Writings about Music

How Music Relates

How does music relate to existence? The air we breathe correlates to expression and intelligence in music.

 

 

What we drink, including, most importantly, water, corresponds to rhythm in music.

 

 

And what we eat, our food, transposes to melody in music.

 

 

Everything in music may be related to the above (thoughts). And everything in existence may be embodied through music.

These thoughts came to me while listening to recordings by Ravi Shankar, whose teachings I am part of having been taught me by Harihar Rao, the person closest to the legendary sitarist for the longest time, burning the incense of Shankar’s spirit and intellect through a remarkable ability to articulate subtle musical concepts.

 

 

I miss Harihar and I wish I had gotten to know Ravi better. And there is so much more to learn! Thinking of Harihar is timely with my favorite plant blooming now. It was Harihar who first identified for me the name of this heavenly-scented, white and pink flowering vine growing in his backyard: Indian Jasmine.

"Dream-Realm", "Mango-Bird" and "Night-Incense" are from my new album, Mango-Bird, presenting music for meruvina voiced with electric piano timbres - Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes - for the first time. Maria Improvisation is my first recorded piano improvisation. Here I played a Yamaha acoustic piano.

- Michael Robinson, March 2018, Los Angeles

 

© 2018 Michael Robinson All rights reserved

 

Michael Robinson is a Los Angeles-based composer and writer (musicologist).