Firstly, I would like you to have a look at this wonderful cyanotype design that Maia did for Augusto’s and my concert. In the background you can see a sketch of mine and the flower is a lily. The concert title “utopie in blue” is kind of self explanatory. Tomorrow (28.11.25), we will play some of our own compositions and also some Brazilian jazz music.

Sometimes I find the most interesting quotes about music in the seemingly unrelated realms, this time around, I brought in a quote from Johann Kreutzer in his commentary on St. Augustin (I put it in German first and then offer an attempt at translating it):

“In der Analyse der Musik stößt Augustin darauf, dass Einheit und Harmonie nicht Gegensatz vergänglicher Zeitlichkeit sind, sondern gerade erst in dem und durch das Vorübergehen des Zeitlichen sich erfüllen und Sinnvoll werden”

“Analysing music, Augustin discovers that unity and harmony are not opposites of passing temporality, precisely in and through the passing of temporal do they fulfil themselves and become meaningful.”

I think Augustin is pointing out something worthwhile investigating here. One could easily have the opinion, that unity and harmony are very much opposites of earthly time with its never ending problems that come our way, the fact that we are ageing, and that resources are forever sparsely distributed.

And here is something that amazes me about music: through it, the meaning of passed time, of temporality, is revealed. We might say, we even get a sense of meaning of life as it is from it. 

Indeed there are certain fields of questions which one can always wrestle with, and the meaning of music is one of them. To understand is to embark on an adventure of conversing with oneself.

To raise a problem, a question to be answered within yourself and genuinely sit with it, until you come up with an answer is a great art (not to say that I would be good at it).

The message for us musicians is: You can do the “same” thing with your instrument. As practising improvisers, that is basically what we are doing everyday. Play a phrase. Sit in silence. Play an answer. 

It may take a lot of time though, especially in the hectic everyday life we may not have the patience to do that. Personally, I become serene in a great concert hall or I may sit in a church. Being there, I stare in awe at how beautifully the light is broken through the windows, as if I was sitting under a canopy of leaves. But everyone has their own way of coming to peace, or non at all. 

The topic of language, of question and answer, seems all over the place within music philosophy. Everybody has a different opinion which space music should rightfully occupy, and its amazing that it is still a riddle to us in this day and age.

I like to answer the “music is a language” statement with the pun: “Well, why do we not just talk then?”. Music evolves through temporality, like a story. It is intertwined patterns, and more than that.

For a closing of this piece of blog, I invite to listen to the following Album of the Week:

“La Bomba” by Luca Curcio. 

A true “jazz” record it combines many approaches into one cohesive sound language. The powerful improvisations go well together with the Innovative sound and rich rhythms.