JOURNALIST:
And what about “harmonical music” in this context?
PETER HUEBNER: Harmonical music is this system’s natural expansion
of spontaneous insight into the laws of harmony of the microcosm of music,
and the linked creative act. If so-called harmonious music is shaped by an
intuitive insight into the natural laws of harmony of the microcosm of music,
then so-called harmonical music demands an increasingly more conscious insight
into the harmonical conditions of the microcosm of music. The path from so-called
harmonious music to harmonical music is therefore a path of further insight
into the laws of harmony of the microcosm of music, and on this path of knowledge
classical music, for instance, is formed at some time or other – first
and foremost, by the way, is Johann Sebastian Bach.
JOURNALIST: And where does contemporary modern music find its place?
PETER HUEBNER: Atonal music, 12-tone music, serial music, the music
of the so-called avant-garde does not touch this aspect of the harmonical,
indeed many of them even avoid natural harmony by all means.
The whole theory of serial compositional technique can do completely without
the aspect of the harmonical – that, however, does not make it less interesting,
only with that its public failure is pre-programmed, as medical science has
proven: biological systems are harmonically structured by nature, their functions
are harmonically arranged, they recognise dissonant structures as foreign
to their nature, and therefore spontaneously reject them.
Years or decades of educational process, carried out by the avant-garde*1
and their helpers on a large-scale through the media, concerts and music academies,
and which they are still carrying out in an overbearing manner, are of no
help here either.
Due to the disregard of the natural order of biological systems, this whole
desire is doomed to fail as a kind of medical disturbance of order.
However, the philosophical and music-theoretical thoughts which belong to
the concepts of modern disharmonious music, should not be diminished by this
statement, and the artistic ability of their creators shouldn’t be either.
But even an intelligent car will not be used spontaneously by the public,
as long as it’s not guaranteed to drive safely.
JOURNALIST: I would like to return to the following question: is it
easy to make harmonical music?
PETER HUEBNER: This question can be explained in the same way as
the question about the ease with which a healthy baby is procreated, because
it concerns naturally structured music. The fertile person is able to father
a child, the infertile man is unable, the man who has restricted fertility
will father a disabled child. This is a simple truth, and it also applies
in music, as far as harmonically structured music is concerned – i.e.
perfectly harmonical music, natural music.
This craft cannot be learned from outside, just as one cannot learn fertile
strength from outside. One has it or one hasn’t, or one has it only to
a limited extent. And our history of music supplies loads of examples which
confirm these facts.
In our times, too, everything is to be found. Just as we find a boundless
multitude of different kinds of animals and plants in the most varied stages
of development, so we find the most varied stages of development of harmonious
music on the music market.
When I see, how someone drives a car like a madman all over a field, then
I don’t quite know if he is able to drive in an orderly manner through
the streets. This may be the case - but it may also not be. And that’s
the way it his here. One or the other of the composers among the circles of
the avant-garde can possibly make harmonious music as well as he can make
disharmonious music. I am an example for this. But it is equally conceivable
that some of them or even all of them cannot make harmonious music, as this
is only possible if it comes out spontaneously from the inside. And nobody
except me has furnished proof of this.
Without doubt they can – approaching the matter from the outside –
compose music which, at first glance, seems to be harmonious, for this is
also part of conventional compositional studies. But that sort of music that
has been designed from outside with an image of the harmonious, is not successful
with the public – as that which the simple creator of a “Schuhplattler”,
the typical folk dance of Tirol, Bavaria and Carinthia still has.
The lack of success then only documents infertility, and success with the
audience documents fertility. And if fertility is better, then success will
be fairly long-term, and if fertility is less, then success will only be short-term.
If it is a long-term flop, then this is proof of musical infertility.
In this respect, it is easy to understand whether it is easy or difficult
to make harmonical music. As said beforehand, it is the same as with procreation.
The infertile man cannot father a child despite decades of enormous efforts
and different techniques, and the fertile man can father lots of children
without any effort whatsoever, and without any complicated academic studies
– it’s as simple as that. This is also the absolute answer to the
question of being able to decide to create harmonical music.