Transcript

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

110

3

But hearings were not exclusive of the TwentiethCentury Music course.

We were delighted with very rare music recordings he brought us – Internet did not exist yet and there was no way to have those recordings in Brazil.

They included not only fabulous concert recordings of Ravi Shankar, but also of great masters of India such as Hariprasad Chaurasia and Ustad Sabri Khan, who were totally unknown in Brazil, and also a countless number of Japanese composers like Tohru Takemitsu, Maki Ishii, beyond rareinterpretationsofpiecesbyBeethoven,Bach,Schubert,GuillaumedeMachault,Perotin,Leonin,Palestrina,Debussy,

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

111

Gustav Mahler, Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, John Cage, GyorgyLigetiandFranzLisztamongmanyothers.

Since the first lesson of the course on history oftwentieth-centurymusic,Inoticedthatassoonaswestarteda hearing, he closed his eyes to hear, and sank into the music like a dream.

Sometimes,orinsomemoments,hiseyesremainedopen,butdistant,lostininfinity.Witheyesopenorclosed,his body swaying slightly, especially the head, rhythmically, sometimesthearms,afinger,asifconductingtheconcert.Each hearing was a trip to a marvelous world.

Thefirsttime I sawhis physical reaction tomusic, Iwasbaffled–thosebodilymovementssteepedinblindsightwere something natural in me since childhood. I always had to control myself to avoid being constrained by jokes and teasing, because people did not understand what was

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

112

happening.

Thesensation is likebeingphysically involved in themusical discourse.

Wehadthesamephysicalbehaviorinrelationtomusic–an identitythat, Iwoulddiscover little later, issharedbymany musicians.

But itwassomething Istilldidnotknowabout,andthatfirsttimewas,inacertainsense,astofindinhimadeepspiritualrelationship.

When,lateafternoon,almostevening,eachofthoseclasses ended, the sorrow was general. All we wanted was tocontinue.ButKoellreutterwasirreducible.Attheprecisemomentthattimeranout,itwastheendpoint,notaminutemore – and usually the lesson never truly came to an end.

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

113

Always something to say was missed, on which he wouldreturn,attentivelyandrigorouslyinthenextlesson.There was always a student who took notes about the precise moment when the lesson was over. And the lessons always ended “cut”,mutilated, because as a whole they seemedmorelikeacontinuum,ajourneywithoutendandwithoutscales or breaks.

When someone arrived late and apologize, he said gravely: «My friend, the dead is always the culprit. Never the murder!». It was a way of making each one realize the importanceofrelyingontheunpredictable,betterplanningeach step.

He said the same thing to anyone coming with an excuse.

Nothing could serve as excuse. When he said that the dead was always the culprit, never the murder, some laugh

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

114

and discussion always appeared, but brief and lively. Some surprise and laugh.

Alongyearsthatexpressionbecameoneofhisbest-known marks. In many places, especially among students, that statement was always lively commented and repeated.

Such statement was used in the most diverse moments. If someone said that had not been able to do the work because of something happened, would immediately hear:

− Thedeadisalwaystheculprit,neverthemurder.If youhad takenprecautions, if youhad thoughtabout what could happen, this accident would have been avoided.

Hewouldmakemaximumuseofthatstatementuntilmuch later, when urban violence, especially in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, no longer allowed. Then he started saying, alwayswithhisstrongGermanaccentandalwaysingood-

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

115

mood:− Now is no longerrr possible. Now, the dead

almost always is the culprrrit, almost neverrr the murrderrr...».

Whenastudentinsistedjustifyingthedelaybyaddingmoreandmoreexcuses,hesaid,sometimescoldanddry:

− Myfriend,Itraveledmorethanfourhundredmilesto give this lesson and I arrived early. What do you want me to say?

Andtheconversationwasover.

Somestudentsdidnotaccepthisattitude;theycametobeoffendedandwentawayforever.Buthedidnotcare.Forhim,everythingwasthefluidofNature,andthosewholeftshoulddoso.

He was not a fatalist, someone blindly grabbed at

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

116

thefate.Onthecontrary,hefirmlybelievedonfreewill,onfreedom of decision and on the responsibility that freedom implicates. But, he was not person to close his eyes to the strangemagicofcertainsimilarities.Hehadamagicalsideinside him, very deep, unknown and unpredictable.

Koellreuttersurelywasthemostdemanding,rigorousand dedicated teacher of music I have ever had.

To start studying with him, one should be able to read fluently a traditional musical score, have a good musicalculture, to know at least the basics of harmony, counterpoint and other disciplines.

Atthattime,Ialreadyreadwithfluency,atleastthescoresformymaininstrument,thetransversalflute,Ialreadyhad a good musical culture and a reasonable knowledge of those disciplines – but there were gaps, as there always is.

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

117

He could also accept a student who knew absolutely nothingofmusic–butitwouldbeforclassesofcomposition,astodevelopprinciplesofplasticcomposition,forexample,oraesthetics.

No matter who was, Koellreutter never refused adedicated and serious student, in any area he or she could be, buthelookedtoclearlydistinguishthegoalsandmaintainedaremarkabledifferenceinmethodologyofteaching.

− Compositioncanbeinanything,anartwork,atext,a movie or a musical piece. The important are the principlesofcomposition.Andaestheticsisalwaysessential in virtually any activity. One cannotconfuse things. If someone studies music, it is a story;ifyouwanttostudycompositionwithotherpurposes, noproblem,but itwill bedifferent. Inthe same way, a person may want to study music tobeaprofessionalorjustadilettante.Thisdoesnot put him in a level below the others. There is no

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

118

roomforjudgmentsofvalueorforpreconceptions.Each person should be free to study and to be what he or she wants.

He always was very demanding. When we made mistakes in one of the several disciplines he taught, not infrequently he established an amount in money as penalty and threatened to charge with a tone of such seriousness that made the student uncomfortable and deeply concerned.

− Myfriend,thiserrorwassoseriousthatthefinewillbe the double of the money I normally determine.

At the beginning we never knew if it really would keep our money, if it was really serious or just a joke.

Several students could not stand the pressure – they said he was too authoritarian – and simply gave up.

Of course, though threatened with firmness and

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

119

seriousness-becauseitwasveryseriousforhim–heneverarrivedtocollectfinesincash.Whenwetalkedaboutit,hesaid without any trace of humor:

− But! I’m not kidding. People have to understandthat the work should be taken with responsibility, seriously. No one can charge a penalty on someone who is working seriously. But if someone is “dreaming”, distracted, then, what is this person doinghere?I’mnotheretowastetime.Alsoyouarenotheretowastetime.Ifsomeonethinksthatlosttimecanbelostmoney,thenhewillgivemoreimportance to what he is doing. Time, especially here in Brazil, like what also happens in India, has almost no value. But everyone gives value to money.

ToKoellreutter,workwasthemostseriousthingintheworld, a serious approach that, in fact, has never been very common in Brazil.

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

120

If he asked for a task to be delivered on a given day, there could be no excuses. He gave all freedom for the student to discuss and even set the delivery time before,neverafter.

An important part of his role as teacher was to give to the students the ability of self-management. Butmanystudents did not meet their commitments – although they were,often,extremelytalented.

− Dolcefarniente... dolcefarniente...–hemutteredsmiling and crossing his arms, gently moving the body forward and backward, as if was nothing to do.

He thought that Brazil was the country of dolce farniente, in some sense like Italy. But he did not have this idea assomethingnecessarilynegative.

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

121

It simply was the natural way of people. Only this.

Over the years I have witnessed recriminationsregarding some of his students, even though he has always been very discreet. Those recriminations were often duetodelaysor tonon-deliveryofwork. Inmostof the casesstudentsarrivedsmiling,joking,apologizingthewholetimeandleftsmiling.Theysmiledevenwhenhewasveryserious.Inthosemomentshewasvisiblyupset.Sometimestimeshearrived to be tough:

− Myfriend,beinglikethiswhatyouwant?Whatwillhappenwithyourprofession?Youdon’twork!Soyou will never achieve anything in life. What can we do?

Whenthestudentwasnolongeraround,Koellreutterdidnothidehisfascinationwiththelightspirit,thesweetnessofBrazilianpeopleand,manytimes,madeaplayfulcommentinconfidentialtone.

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

122

One of his greatest pleasures was to live surrounded by students. When the students were around, he was well.

At the other end of the spectrum, something he detestedsocialgatherings.Heneverweariedatieorsuit.

− There isnothingmoreprecious in life thantime.Being around people that talk about superficialthings,withoutinterest,isarealsuffering.Youlearnnothing.Everythingissuperficiality.Purewasteoftime.Theworldisfulloffutilepeople.SometimesI cannot escape. What to do? It is terrible timeconsumptionfornothing.

Once, he was forced to not go to a diner we had booked because he had already scheduled another appointment, buthadforgotten.

The appointment was with an important woman,

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

123

someone from the high society, one of the people who helpedfinanciallythecollege.

− I’mobligedtogo.Therearecommitments.That’spolitics.Andit’simportantforthecollege.Iwilltrytosurvivetothissituation...TomorrowyoucallmetoseeifI’mstillalive...–hesaidjoking.

The following day, when we were alone in the classroom,Iaskedhowthemeetinghadbeentheeveningbefore and he confessed:

− Veryannoying...veryunpleasant...Thepersonwasextremely kind, but they are people from another world, not from my world, from our world, the world of music, the art world. She put to play in his excellent and expensive sound equipment some music I should listen... and she challenged me to findoutwhowasplaying! Itwas likeacontest,agame.ItlookedlikeaTVshow...AsifIwasatameddog. How nasty! The husband and the other guests

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

124

alsoattended.Atonepoint,sheputtoplayaviolinsolo and asked who was playing. It was clear! Of course it was a solo by Jacha Heifetz. It was obvious and clear! But she was impressed, amazed, as if it had been something extraordinary, as if I was a witch. It was extraordinary for her, but not for a musician. She knows the brands of clothes, which is extraordinary to me! I cannot distinguish onebrandfromanother.Thesemeetingsturnouttobeabigconsumptionoftime,verytiring...

IneverarrivedtoknowifKoellreutterreallyhadperfectpitch – at least he always said to me that he did not give any value to it.

− What we call perfect pitch is the understanding of the relations, and it is something that can bestudied, improved, trained.

When someone told him to not have hearing for music,

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

125

he said in a very good mood:− Youdonothaveearrr? – and looked at the ear of

the person – But! It is therrre!

To him, anyone could be a musician, in one or another way. Everything depended only on the commitment, on the timededicatedwithlovetothework.

− Thereare,infact,somepeoplewithrealproblemsofhearingorevenmusicalperceptionatacognitivelevel, in neuronal terms. But when that happens, it is something about a medical nature. And it is rare. Everythingelse,ninety-ninepercentofcases,itisonlyamatterofwork,ofeducation.Anaboriginalin Australia has no “hearing” for the Western music,butsurely,wealsodon’thave“hearing”forhis music. When it is not about a serious physical problem, everything else is a cultural issue.

His understanding of education was that of information.

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

126

That is, the idea of a teacher in front of the classroom providinglargeamountsofinformationtostudentsseemedsomething quite bizarre to him.

He had the understanding of education as theformationof thehumanbeing, a true paideia. So, he was open to be teacher of almost anyone, because he dealt withthemethod,self-knowledge,discovery–andthatcanhappen in any discipline.

Some of his students were not musicians. There were physicists, philosophers, chemists, mathematicians,communicators and so on. Many people wanted him as a master,andnotafewwentfromafar,evenfromothercities,toattendtheirclasses.

SometimesIhadtowaittofollowhimathome,alreadyearly evening. There were even students who appeared to be older than him, often scientists, especially researchers

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

127

on physics and chemistry. In those cases, there were always private lessons. And they treated him with profound reverence.

Theclassesonaestheticswereamonghisfavorites.Inthose moments, it always was the start to a journey into the unknown, to the surprise, the unexpected.

Especiallyinthosetripsonaesthetics,butalsoinotherclasses,helikedtoemphasizetherelativityofthings.

− Weliveeverythingasanillusion.Maia! Everything isrelative.Whenwesaythateverythingisrelative,it means that we are dealing with relations, never withthethingsthemselves.Recently,twoscientistsargued that consciousness changes reality – consciousness changes matter! They are EugeneWigner and John Archibald Wheeler.

Thatday,Koellreutterwroteinverybiglettersonthe

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

128

blackboard: theconsciousnesschangesthematter. And he strengthened, stressing that it is in experimental terms. And, alsoinbigletters,hewrotethenamesofbothscientists.

That lesson was one of the most important moments of my life. If the consciousness changes the matter, thenalmost everything we know is inevitably condemned to a profoundrevolution!

All Western culture is based on the principle that the matterchangestheconsciousness,nevertheopposite!

ItwasnotabouttheWernerHeisenberg’sUncertainty Principle,accordingtowhichtheobservation–throughitsmedia–changesthestateofmatteronasubatomicscale;butyes it was about the consciousnesschangingthematter!

Andthatdramaticstatementpostedontheblackboarddid not say about any change in the understanding of

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

129

whatwasthematter,butaboutitschangeinconcreteandstructuralterms,aboutitstransformation!

When some other teacher heard a statement like that, quickly turned up the nose as if to say that the old German masterhadpassedthelimits,andthathesurelywasgettingsenile – and many said exactly that, though never in his front.

Koellreutter deeply loved physics and philosophy –were two fundamental bases of his thought, of his life.

When he referred to the fact of the consciousness changing the matter, he was pointing to the famousscientific event called Double Slit Experiment, conducted at the beginning of the twentieth century by the Britishmathematician and physicist Geoffrey Ingram Taylor, wholived between 1886 and 1975.

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

130

John Wheeler and Eugene Wigner commented on that sensationalexperienceintheambitofaprofoundreflectionondissipativesystemsandthearrowoftime.

Koellreutteralsodiscussedopenly,nomatterwhowasthestudent,aboutdissipativeprocesses,complexsystems,arrowsoftime,questionsaboutasymmetricor symmetrictime, fundamentalsof general relativity, chaos theory andmanyotherelementsoftheoreticalphysics–andhediditinthe late 1970s.

IlyaPrigoginewasaconstantreferenceinhisreflections,but also Niels Borg, Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, RichardFeynman,ErwinSchröndingerorWernerHeisenbergand others.

Inthesereflectionsthatbundledphysics,philosophyandaesthetics,thefigureofaleatory,ofchance,wasoftenpresent.

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

131

− Ultimately,everythingischance.Imean,ifweenterintoasubatomicscale,wewillhavetheHeisenberg’sUncertainty Principle. According to it, it is impossible todeterminethepositionofasubatomicparticle.On the other hand, everything is causal, because all things are interconnected. When working with music,wewillalwaysbeoperatingchance,inoneor other way, deterministic or non-deterministicchance. The important thing is to give form to it, so it can be perceived. That is, the important is to establish causality in chance.

Sometimes, they were very abstract concepts andoften,hehadtorepeatseveraltimes,calmly,reasoningwiththe students.

When I heard that the consciousness changes the matter,inconcreteandexperimentalterms,Igotintouch,in the very next day, with the United States Consulate in São

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

132

Paulo, where I quickly had the address of the astrophysicist scientist John Archibald Wheeler, in Princeton University,near New York.

Although that at that epoch there were no fast communicationsystemslikethosethatwouldarisefewyearslater – everything was made through letters – there alsowere no fears, no catastrophic dangers of terror, imaginary or not, no exaggerated attention to security controls ofall kinds, and, therefore, the American Consulate sent me almostimmediatelytheaddressofthescientistwithoutanyhesitationorrestriction.

SometimesIwonderif,paradoxically,theoverwhelmingdevelopment of communication systems did not end upmaking more difficult to be connected with personalitiessuch as John Wheeler.

Immediately,Iwrotealettertothecelebratedscientist

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

133

exposing my deep perplexity – even though I was then a boy in his early twenties and he a recognized scientist severaltimesnominatedfortheNobelPrize.

I did not expect to receive a reply.

But to my surprise, it arrived. I was stunned! John ArchibaldWheelerwroteverynicelythankingtomyletter,stating that he had assembled a brainstorming group toreflectonmyquestionsatthePrincetonUniversity!

That so generous attitude of John Wheeler madeabsolutely captured by his free and open spirit.

Along the following nearly twenty years, John Wheeler and I kept in touch through letters, but unfortunately wenever got to know each other personally.

Inthe1990s,ascoordinatorofamajorinternational

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

134

meetingofartandscienceinLisbonattheCalousteGulbenkianFoundation,I inviteJohnWheelertogivealecture,buthecould not accept because of his advanced age.

When Koellreutter knew that I had written to JohnWheeler, that he had replied and we were in touch through letters,hewasimmenselyhappy,reallyexcited.

ToKoellreutterthatmeantthesuccessofastudent,andtherecouldbenobetterrewardforhisworkasateacher.

Forhim,successwasnotfameormoney,butdiscovery,enlightenment. Being in touch with John Wheeler meant to benearasourceofknowledge,tobebetterintegratedintothe global intelligence network.

That lesson that unchained my contact with John Wheeler was not something isolated. There was no class withKoellreutterwheretherewasnotsomekindofamazing

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

135

discovery andwhere hewas not deeply committed to anabsolute professional spirit.

With him, each one of us had to daily live the reality of discovery. But such reality should be, always, openly and stronglycommittedtotherealityoflife,withsurvival,withsocial issues and so on.

Noonecouldbealienated.Buttohimalienationcouldnotberesumedtotheforcesandmechanismsofproduction.It implied a universe closer toMichel Foucault, a kind ofmicrophysicsofpower.

Itwasamatterofconscience.

The students respected him almost in a religious way. Whenheenteredintheroom,everyonestoodautomaticallyin silence. There was no need to ask for it and it was not somethingdeterminedbyhim,byanylaworregulationof

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

136

the college.

Therewas, inrelationtohim,atrueloveforagreatandunforgettablemaster.

I never saw any student arguing with him, not even talking more exalted. When thwarted for some reason, people did not discuss – Koellreutter had reached a stateof admiration and respect that did not allowed majoruprisings.

On the other hand, his dedication to students wastotal. He taught in cities hundreds of miles distant eachother. Along years he lived between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.Butinthatsameperiod,heregularlywenttoCuritiba,Belem, Belo Horizonte, Salvador – where he lived for years inthe1960s–andtomanyothercities.Sometimes,insomeperiods, he arrived to travel more than two thousand miles a week, only to teach.

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

137

Inasingleweek,oftenforseveralconsecutivemonths,he was able to travel between Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and BeloHorizontetobewithhisstudents.Ifyoulookthelocationofthesecitiesonamap,youwillbeveryimpressed.

Theonlyperson Iknewwithsucha freneticpaceoftravel and dedication to students was another teacher,anothergreatmaster:RotiNielbaTurin.

To avoid compromising the time of the students,Koellreuttertraveledatnightandinmostcasesbybus.Hetried to always stay in the front row, with the large front window reserved to him. On every trip, he bought two seats, to be more comfortable and, especially, to not have someone at his side, talking to him.

He preferred to travel in silence. «Who speaks much, thinks little», he always said. Sometimes, people saw that

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

138

the place beside him was vacant and went closed to sit. «This placeisoccupied!»–hewarnedwithnopatience.

− Peopledon’tunderstand!Ipayfortwoseatsexactlyto have nobody next to me. When someone insists onwantingtositnexttomeIaskifheorshecansee that the place is already occupied, as if there was a person there. People don’t understandand sometimes sit. So I insist: “Now you just sitonmy friend!Standup,please!Fast!Hurryup!”.Sometimestheylaugh,thinkingthatit’sajoke,soIhave tomakeavery seriousexpressionand re-emphasize, and sometimes they think I’m crazyseeing ghosts... and go out quickly.

Over the years he gathered students to travel to Madras in southern India during the dry season. They went toattendtothefamousfestivalofIndianmusic.

Unfortunately, although we agreed to go together a

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

139

fewtimes,Ineverhadconditionsgotothesefestivals.Imetsome people who went and came back delighted. The trip wasnotjusttoattendafestivalofragas, but also aimed to understand another world and even that one with which they were already all too familiar, numbed, insensitive. Itwas,afterall,aspiritualjourney.

KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions of a Zen masteremanuel dimas de melo pimenta2 0 1 0

140

HansJoachimKoellreutter-photobyEmanuelDimasdeMeloPimentainSão

Paulo, in 1999


Top Related