Beautiful Tension

The Daily Haiku for Jan 12. Beautiful Tension.

Waves of raw, pure sound,
cello, viola, violins...
Beautiful tension.

Today's Daily Haiku is inspired again by music, in this case, by the music of Kronos Quartet performing Philip Glass string quartets.

There's something fascinating about string quartets. From Hayden to the Kronos Quartet, From Mozart to Eleanor Rigby. Grand symphonic music sometimes sounds to me quite "far" and "distant". Now matter how emotional or brilliantly composed, it never inspires the same feelings I get when I listen to a good string quartet.

Perhaps it is the rawness of the bows against the strings, or the strength of such a close and intimate setup, or the vibrancy and freedom of expression of a more dynamic performance without the metronomic precision of a conductor.

I also tend to enjoy sounds when they are more minimal and raw. Just the sound of a melancholic piano melody, or a beautiful cello note sustained gives me goosebumps.

As a minimalist, I always thought that the most beautiful things in life are the simplest, smallest ones. In music, as in life, we feel lost when there's a wall of sound or a cacophony of different voices vying to be listened.