Creatively, M: Short Essays

Could there be a way to improvise with words? What would happen if I thought out loud on paper—would I reach a conclusion? 

These questions’ answer is what fuels me, a musician, to write. I want to understand certain aspects of the performing arts and everything related further, and to conclude for now on what actually is always living and changing in my understanding of it. I’m craving the intellectual digestion that comes from taking a position, writing an essay, and releasing it. And I need to learn and do ‘book reports’ and research accountably because otherwise, my heaps of questions will go unanswered.

This will be part-music appreciation, part-inquisitiveness with no end; analysis that marvels, and lots and lots of examples from playlists. 

So, let the cadenza(s) begin..

Out of time, out of timbre

modern life’s accidental music Modern life is punctuated by unexpected solos from all kinds of unofficial instruments. The growling lawnmower. The oracular, ever-constant refrigerator. And as I recently found out, the lamentous tree saw. (Scientific name: Chainsaw, often cutting a tree.) It intoned the familiar monosyllabic “Noooooo” that escapes involuntarily,

MARIECHRISTINE LOPEZMariechristine Lopez

Shhh

the anechoic and arbitrary portals to what is For a moment, simply listen, wherever you are. Eyes closed, eyes open, eyes scanning a lap around your field of vision. Turn your head to the left. Turn your head to the right. Did any of those movements make a sound? Is

MARIECHRISTINE LOPEZMariechristine Lopez

Was That the Music on the Program?

a time when I wasn’t sure.. On a Saturday in the city, parents and children are huddled in concert hall darkness. The lights have dimmed post-applause greeting the cortège of new performers onstage. I’m sitting far enough from everything for the stage to look pinholed and enigmatic. I’m

MARIECHRISTINE LOPEZMariechristine Lopez

Merci, Capet

when violin technique and metaphysics collide.. I opened a different edition of an etudes book and the introductory preface was so motivating, uplifting and philosophic. “it is necessary to consider the role of the right hand vis-à-vis the left hand, like that of the Soul vis-à-vis the Body” -Lucien Capet1

MARIECHRISTINE LOPEZMariechristine Lopez

*To read on Substack:

Creatively, M | Mariechristine Lopez | Substack

interdisciplinary notes from a musician, bookworm, and inquisitivist (all the same person). Click to read Creatively, M, by Mariechristine Lopez, a Substack publication. Launched a year ago.

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