Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Steve Reich, a Vacuum Cleaner, and Rumi

Minimalist composer Steve Reich joined me this morning to the gym.  Specifically, "Music for 18 Musicians" (ECM Records).

However, as I worked out, a custodian was working nearby with a penetratingly loud vacuum cleaner.  It had the effect of creating a "white noise" blanket over my music.

What really struck me was, as I left the gym after my work-out, Steve Reich came brilliantly alive again!  The vacuum had wiped out what was going on all the time anyway; namely, the music.

It's a lot like life, perhaps, where in the words of Persian poet, Rumi:


We rarely hear the inward music, but we're all dancing to it nevertheless.

Or, again from Rumi:

If reasonable people don't feel the presence of love (or music) within the universe, that doesn't mean it's not there.

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