Choices are made real through action. Ethics, morality, religion, spirituality and all our laws and decisions are products of choice. We may indeed in counsel point to the higher road, but we cannot compel any free creature to walk upon it. That leadeth to tyranny, which disfigureth good and maketh it seem hateful. [J.R.R. Tolkien, Morgoth’s Ring (1993).] I believe…
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Value for Thursday of Week 21 in the season of Growth
Novelty
Because all dynamic systems evolve, novelty is present everywhere. However, the distinction of “novelty” is reserved for things that are remarkably so.
- Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview – nothing more constraining, more blinding to innovation, more destructive of openness to novelty. [Stephen Jay Gould]
- Monotony collapses time; novelty unfolds it. You can exercise daily and eat healthily and live a long life, while experiencing a short one. If you spend your life sitting in a cubicle and passing papers, one day is bound to blend unmemorably into the next – and disappear. [Joshua Foer]
- The radical novelty of modern science lies precisely in the rejection of the belief… that the forces which move the stars and atoms are contingent upon the preferences of the human heart. [Walter Lippmann]
- . . . the contempt which I had to fear because of the novelty and apparent absurdity of my view, nearly induced me to abandon utterly the work I had begun. [Nicolaus Copernicus]
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If you try something or do something or read something or experience something new, you may be pleasantly surprised at the result. It may even change your life. It may even change the world through you. That is the value, and the potential, of novelty.
Real
True Narratives
- Robert D. Friedel, Zipper: An Exploration in Novelty (W.W. Norton & Company, 1994).
- Marilynn Robinson, What Are We Doing Here?: Essays (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2018): “Marilynne Robinson’s Essays Reflect an Eccentric, Exasperating, Profound and Generous Mind”.
Technical and Analytical Readings
- Winifred Gallagher, New: Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change (Penguin Press, HHC, 2011): exploring the human response to a rapidly changing world.
- Donald Crosby, Novelty (Lexington Books, 2005): an “argument for the metaphysical reality of novelty.”
- James H. Austin, Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty (Columbia University Press, 1978): an early neuroscientific approach to the foundations of novelty.
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
I am half inclined to think we are all ghosts, Mr. Manders. It is not only what we have inherited from our fathers and mothers that exists again in us, but all sorts of old dead ideas and all kinds of old dead beliefs and things of that kind. They are not actually alive; but they are dormant, all the same, and we can never be rid of them. Whenever I take up a newspaper and read it, I fancy that I see ghosts creeping between the lines. There must be ghosts all over the world. They must be as countless as grains the of sands, it seems to me. And we are so miserably afraid of the light, all of us. [Henrik Ibsen, "Ghosts" (1881), Act II: Mrs. Alving to Mr. Manders.]
Poetry
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Tuvan throat singing, also called overtone singing and Khöömei, is a method and style of singing that is conspicuously different from conventional singing. “Imagine a human bagpipe—a person who could sing a sustained low note while humming an eerie, whistle-like melody. For good measure, toss in a thrumming rhythm similar to that of a jaw harp, but produced vocally-by the same person, at the same time.” Scientifically, it “provides for an exotic demonstration of the physics of harmonics as well as introducing an Asian musical aesthetic. A low fundamental is sung and the singer skillfully alters the resonances of the vocal system to enhance an overtone (harmonic above the fundamental).” “Tuvan singers show remarkable control in shaping their vocal tract to narrowly focus the harmonics (or overtones) emanating from their vocal cords. The biphonic sound is a combination of the fundamental pitch and a focused filter state, which is at the higher pitch (1–2 kHz) and formed by merging two formants, thereby greatly enhancing sound-production in a very narrow frequency range. . . this biphonation is a phenomenon arising from linear filtering rather than from a nonlinear source.” “For the seminomadic herders who call Tuva home, the soundscape inspires a form of music that mingles with these ambient murmurings. Ringed by mountains, far from major trade routes and overwhelmingly rural, Tuva is like a musical Olduvai Gorge—a living record of a protomusical world, where natural and human-made sounds blend.” Some of the best Tuvan singing is from:
- Huun Huur Tu, with its many albums, along with live appearances on May 18, 2001, November 18, 2008, March 29, 2012, and live in concert plus an interview;
- Alash Ensemble, with its album “Meni Mana” (2020) (60’), and live appearances on November 20, 2011 and February 20, 2016;
- Khöömei Beat, “Changys Baglaash” (2021) (44’): “They combine traditional Tuvan throat singing and influences with modern instrumentation . . .”
- Choduraa Tumat, “Byzaanchy” (2021) (62’): “The album Byzaanchy features 14 tracks of traditional songs from Tuva, performed by Choduraa Tumat accompanied by a musical instrument called byzaanchy. The byzaanchy is a traditional bowed string instrument from Tuva, with a history that dates back centuries.”
- Tyva Kyzy, “Ayalgalar – Melodies” (2019) (47’) is from an all-woman throat-singing group;
- Khunashtaar-ool Oorzhak, “Alazhymny — My Alash” (2021) (47’) presents recordings from 1967-1977; he is also presented on “Uzlyau” (1994) (62’).
Inhabiting a completely different musical world from Tuvan throat singers, Steve Reich was influential in developing minimalism. According to Alex Ross (“The Rest Is Noise”), he “immerses himself in strict procedures, and yet he takes on subjects that are almost unbearably charged.” “Reich is impatient, a quality that surely comes from having a mind that works 10 times faster than everyone else’s . . .” “Reich has built a language that fuses the heightened discourse of serious music with strong elements of the vernacular. His particular strength lies in having done so in a style that is uniquely and recognizably his own.” He won a Pulitzer Prize for his work “Double Sextet”. In interview, Reich has charted the evolution of his work. His works include:
- Violin Phase (1967) (approx. 15’) (recordings)
- Four Organs (1970) (approx. 16’) (recordings)
- Music for 18 Musicians (1976) (approx. 68’) (recordings)
- Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards (1979) (approx. 22’) (recordings)
- Tehillim (1981) (approx. 37’) (recordings)
- Octet (Eight Lines) (1983) (approx. 16’)
- The Desert Music (1984) (approx. 48’) (recordings)
- City Life (1985) (approx. 24’) (recordings)
- Electric Counterpoint (1987) (approx. 57’) (recordings)
- Different Trains (1988) (approx. 27’) (recordings)
- Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings (2005) (approx. 22’) (recordings)
- Daniel Variations (2006) (approx. 30’) (recordings)
- 2 x 5 (2008) (approx. 20’) (recordings)
- Reich/Richter (2019) (approx. 37’) (recordings)
Puuluup is an Estonian folk duo that plays what they call “neo-zombie-post-folk”. So far, the following albums have survived:
- “Viimane Suusataja” (2021) (40’)
- “Süüta Mu Lumi” (2018) (49’)
In Western classical music, the saxophone is a novelty instrument. Here are some works for saxophone and orchestra, and an album:
- Paul Carr, Saxophone Concerto (2019) (approx. 19’)
- Marius Constant, Concertante for Saxophone and Orchestra (1977) (approx. 11’)
- Paul Creston, Saxophone Concerto, Op. 26 (1941/1944) (approx. 19-20’) (list of recorded performances)
- Théodore Dubois, Alto Saxophone Concerto (1959) (approx. 19’)
- Alexander Glazunov, Saxophone Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 109 (1932) (approx. 23-25’) (list of recorded performances)
- Lars-Erik Larsson, Saxophone Concerto, Op. 14 (1934) (approx. 21-26’)
- Paweł Łukaszewski, Concerto for Alto Saxophone, “Trinity Concerto” (2006) (approx. 13-14’)
- John Mackey, Concerto for Soprano Sax and Wind Ensemble (2007) (approx. 25-27’)
- Darius Milhaud, Scaramouche for Alto Saxophone & Orchestra, Op. 165 (1937) (approx. 10’) (list of recorded performances)
- Jacques Murgier, Saxophone Concerto (1960) (approx. 27’)
- Astor Piazzolla, Tango Suite for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra (1985) (approx. 27’)
- Thomas Sleeper, Concerto for Alto Saxophone & Orchestra (2010) (approx. 14’)
- Mikis Theodorakis, Cretan Concertino for Alto Saxophone & Orchestra (2005) (approx. 11’)
- Michael Torke, Saxophone Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (1993) (approx. 17’)
- Vagues Saxophone Quartet, “Glazunov, Françaix, Nagao: Masterpieces for Saxophone Quartet” album (2022) (60’)
Albums:
- Hulbækmo & Jacobsen familieorkester, “Rundsnurrknurr” (2024) (57’) “is pure musical fun. The music of Hulbækmo & Jacobsen Familieorkester is based on Norwegian folk dance music, but the proclivities and unbounded creativity of the four multi-talented players take it in too many wild directions to count.”
- Sväng, “Svängo Nuevo” (2024) (44’): fun music from a harmonica quartet. Here is a link to their other releases.
- 11 Hours, “Kyrgyzstan Sessions” (2025) (33’) “is an international jaw harp collaboration between Irina Bogatyryova (Russia) and Mark Growden (USA), dedicated to celebrating and expanding the cultural legacy of the jaw harp. The name 11 Hours refers to the time difference between our homes.” “The album places the jaw harp, in all its regional variants, squarely at center stage. The styles are surprisingly diverse, from rhythmic sounds to droning lines. The players draw deeply from world music traditions and often resembles a circle of storytellers trading myths around a fire.”
Music: songs and other short pieces
- Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, “I Put a Spell on You” (lyrics)
- Boots Randolph, “Yakety Sax!”
- “The Chipmunk Song”
- Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers, “Monster Mash” (lyrics)
