ABSTRACT

The art of composing may be considered an art of creating illusions. Music is the only context in which we hear sounds which have no particular basis in the physical world, even though some physical props are necessary to create the artifice. In our everyday lives, the sonic environment provides sensory information on which we depend to analyze what is going on around us, while hearing music for its own sake is a very different experience. By common agreement, we try to suspend our normal listening habits and allow the music to create a different atmosphere, where the sounds are interpreted as transcending the mundane world and creating new images - sometimes abstract, sometimes more literal imitations of familiar phenomena. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that composers often resort to modes of imagery that draw on the properties of the physical world in order to produce illusions that retain a convincing presence and behaviour.