Photo credit Mark Morgan
Come in and out of silence,
Tone swirling in the balance.
Nothing, then everything
Waving into space.
Then Light.
And after a longer while
Air.
And now sixteen strings manually animated,
Vibrating through time.
When Harumi Rhodes of the celebrated Takács Quartet reached out about writing a piece for the group I was surprised, greatly honored and fearful. The string quartet is considered a ‘perfect’ ensemble. It inspires delicacy, sensitivity and adventure. The core range is smaller than that of the piano, yet its timbre allows for beauteous interplay.
Harumi then requested the quartet be about anything in the natural world on behalf of lead commissioner Cal Performances.
Fortunately patterns in music and science pair well, so that brought relief.
Sketch made by Thomas Young to illustrate the two-slit diffraction of light. Narrow slits at A and B act as sources, and waves interfering in various phases are shown at C, D, E, and F. Presented to the Royal Society in 1803. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
I researched a wide array of subjects for over a year. Topics included the life cycle, carbon reclamation, environmental protection, animal communication, starling murmurations, our last universal common ancestor (LUCA), black hole collisions and the sub-atomic realm. I listened and re-listened to the silky recordings of the Takács Quartet with gusto, especially savoring their performances of Johannes Brahms, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Florence Price. Systems layered upon other systems revealed a common flow to existence tying us to the initial outburst of energy and matter at the birth of our universe.
We flow through life. Conversely, the flow of existence is temporarily housed in us each generation. Everything in nature flows and develops through time. Flow can be expressed mathematically, psychologically, physically, visually and, now, via string quartet.
‘Prana’ in Sanskrit fits this concept. ‘Pra’ means ‘first’ and ‘na’ means energy. It is infinite and all-pervasive through animate and inanimate realms. The quartet is asked to connect through ‘Pranayama,’ where ‘ayama’ is the expansion of ‘Prana’ and practiced through breath control. The quartet also connects with initial energy through the concept of Om ॐ, which is synonymous with ‘Pranava’ meaning “foresound” and ‘Onkara,’ meaning “Om maker:” the first source of sound and act of creation. ॐ in the string quartet mostly appears on an upbeat as a widely vibrated pizzicato glissando in the cello imitating rhythmic placement of the gong in Balinese Gamelan. That, in turn, imitates the vibrational birthing energy of our universe.
Energy spreads as our universe expands. As intensity diffuses its ‘pitch’ lowers on physicist John G. Cramer’s audio representation of the ‘Big Bang’ based on the European Space Agency (ESA) Planck Mission’s analysis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation from April 14, 2013. Those 100 seconds are the general overarching frame to the quartet ‘Flow.’ Cramer’s audio file is based on temperature fluctuations and scaled upward by ~1026 to match the response of the human ear. It begins with a quiet glissando from a high pitch, spikes into a raucous outburst, then ripples and tails into an ever-lowering dissipating bass decrescendo.
Audio by John G. Cramer. Cosmoknowledge, June 7, 2019
Courtesy of NASA WMAP Science Team
‘Flow’ starts like gas seeping from an infinitely full balloon about to pop. Then, as matter inflates space, climactic material is presented almost immediately before abruptly burning out for the universal dark ages.
Cooling during the epoch of reionization allow H (Hydrogen - represented by the note B) and He (Helium - represented by notes BE) to stabilize. There is light, then stars and galaxies form.
We, at 62% Hydrogen (10% of our mass), are ancient dust from our universe’s creation 13.7 billion years ago. Our atomic selves can be traced to this epoch of reionization 400 million through a little over 1 billion years after the ‘Big Bang.’
The Prelude examines ‘B’ing/‘BE’ing melodically and harmonically through moments of pranayama. It ends with a trailing ॐ .
The Lento brings further cooling and space in chorale around an octave B-centric pedal. Prelude motifs are given room to develop. The bass line further descends and expands. Microtone slow glissandi hold the group together.
Courtesy of NASA WMAP Science Team
And There Was Light: Internal 3D view of the gas density evolution in Thesan-1
Quark Scherzo explores our fundamentally playful selves vibrating here, there - and where? Our quarks giddily waltz up (u) and down (d) in hadron packets of three while we embrace ideas of solidity and ego. The opening cello mimics quark motion for 2 H = 2 protons + 1 neutron = uud uud ddu = ddu uud uud. Later, it’s He-4 = 2 protons + 2 neutrons = uud uud uud uud + ddu ddu = uud uud ddu ddu udu duu. The trio, whose only claim to three are triplets in the cello line, provides no break and instead intones a ballade. The movement ends in virtuosic flurry.
The Finale settles into a stylized recitative. Three lower strings solo before coming together to feature a soaring treble voice. Flowing triplets turn into a Classical Indian Dadra Tal (even six beat) rhythm in the bass line while upper strings bow their bouts simulating Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. Upper strings join in ॐ via pizzicati glissandi. There is a return to the Prelude opening, then a slingshot into the awe-inspiring starling murmurations photographed and reported by Søren Solkær in the New York Times Travel column ‘The World Through a Lens’ from April 4, 2022.
Lower strings drive unrelentingly while violin lines chase the other in flight reflex as one mind, instantaneously turning, merging and transforming beyond individuality. The sky eventually calms as they land over a long D overtone series. A retreating tremolo reveals:
Enjoy and go with the flow, we only know what we know.
Heartfelt thanks to Harumi Rhodes and the entire Takács Quartet for asking a Divinity School graduate to write this. Thanks also to all of the commissioners: Cal Performances; University Musical Society; Shriver Hall Concerts; 92nd Street Y New York; Philadelphia Chamber Music Society; Friends of Chamber Music. Portland, Oregon; BroadStage; Boston Celebrity Series; and Capital Region Classical (Schenectady, NY) for supporting this sonic exploration and deepening my yoga practice, a necessity for this all-encompassing challenge. Thanks additionally to musicians Dewa Putu Berata (director of Gamelan Çudamani), I Wayan Arya Misha and Dewa Ogen for the opportunity to share and learn about different layers of instrumentation in Balinese Gamelan.
Knowing natural history gives insight into our role as the 4.6% atomic matter. We are the anomaly. Life and agency (‘Atma’ - soul in Sanskrit) allow the universe to be observed from our sliver of pie. We’re humor passing time, blinks to be cherished. There are no limits coming together in love and gratitude. We are connected in appreciation to true nature, there is no “us” or “them.” Flow in Peace. ॐ
— Nokuthula Endo Ngwenyama
Courtesy of NASA WMAP