An Insight Into the Muse.

Where does music come from? Are the beginnings of a symphony whispered into a composer’s ear as he lays, half-asleep, fingers worn, by a beaten Steinway at four a.m.? Or are those sweeping passages of light and dark, passion and agony, merely random configurations of notes that jettison along neurological highways, finally crashing at the fingertips of the madman pursuing them?

I know which I’d rather believe.

Shooting composer, Karim Elmahmoudi, was a real pleasure; listening to his work was an insight into the muse.

Like the greats who have come before him, Karim fashions symphonies out of thin air.

Or does he?

Perhaps, just like Mozart and Co., Karim has his own private muse. One who glides in at four a.m. on the back of an angel, conductor’s baton at the ready, and a symphony on the tips of her lips.

Or perhaps he just toils at a piano, for endless hours, madly scribling notes as he chases the masterpiece in his head.

I guess it’s a mystery. A great mystery. Let the construction of Beethoven’s 5th; the Beatle’s “White Album”, and Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” remain a secret of the ages, then. One that’s buried far, far away, deep in the ether, where muses, and angels, and imagination rule supreme.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 24th, 2010 at 10:01 am. It is filed under Portraits and tagged with angels, beatles, beethoven, blood on the tracks, dylan, elmahmoudi, instrument, karim, mozart, muse, music, musician, portrait, symphony, vertical, white album. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.