My newest piece “The Brain Abhors the New” for Percussion Ensemble and Live ElectroAcoustics will premiere at West Liberty University on April 16, 2016 at 3pm in College Hall.
The Brain Abhors The New
for percussion ensemble and live electroacoustics
Matthew D. Harder 2015-16
2-channel sound system: left rear, right rear (speakers behind audience)
“The brain abhors the new…” is a quote from author Jonah Lehrer spoken during an episode of WNYC’s Radiolab (which can be found as a podcast online at www.radiolab.org). He is the author of several books, including “Proust was a Neuroscientist”, about the nature and science of creativity. Lehrer made the comment during the episode titled “Musical Language” in which the first performances of Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring were being discussed. One of the hosts of the program, Robert Krulwich, was summarizing the idea that the neurons in our brains seem to “prefer” familiar patterns. Krulwich went on to say that the audience for the first performance of The Rite was expecting something very different than what they received, and therefore, their neurons revolted causing great emotional stress which led to the now-infamous riot. Stravinsky himself was extremely distraught, believing his piece, and possibly his career, was a failure. Lehrer then added, “the brain abhors the new”, which to me sounded like hyperbole at first, but then made absolute perfect sense. My piece juxtaposes the percussion ensemble against the electro-acoustics both literally and figuratively. Ensemble sounds from the microphones on stage are sent to a computer, the “brain”, and are processed and reorganized before being sent to the two loudspeakers positioned behind the audience. The computer program attempts to “organize” and “arrange” what it is hearing. Lehrer followed the titular quote by saying “Stravinsky realized that it was the purpose of the artist to challenge the brain”. To me, this is both the perfect definition and the ultimate acclamation of Art. The segment ends with the description of another performance of The Rite of Spring that occurred one year later in the same city. This time, it was a smashing success and Stravinsky was forever labeled a hero.