One Hand
Clapping:
The Taoe of Music
WholeArts and
The Psychic Internet is proud to present the
"Preface" and "Part One" of this
remarkable book by Daniel d'Quincy. "One Hand
Clapping: The Tao of Music," originally published by
WholeArts in 1991, is a book-length essay on the
performance of music from the perspective of Eastern
philosophy and religion. Mr. d'Quincy is a noted
composer, musician, author, inventor, educator, speaker,
and photographer. Please visit his unique music sites at WholeArts: syNThony, and the WholeArts Online Music Conservatory.
Page 8
By contrast,
the epitome of eastern music resides in the
improvisational freedom of the individual musician who
plays either alone or in association with a few other
autonomous musicians. What may be lost in the realm of
counterpoint may be gained in the realm of personal
expression.
But, again, we
need not draw only in black and white. The East also
excels in producing fully composed, non-improvisational
music. And, Bach, Beethoven and Mozart were sublimely
competent in the art of improvisation. In our own time,
Jazz evolved in the West as a highly evolved form of
improvisatory art. Moreover, in western music that does
not allow improvisation - in classical chamber ensembles,
for example - individual musicians may approach the goal
of equality among themselves with regard to shaping the
sound of the whole. In the East today, musicians seem to
be as interested in composed and/or improvised music as
they are in the West. The meeting of East and West is a
dance for two. Those who lead must follow. Those who
follow must lead.
This book is
an attempt to import the flavor of eastern traditional
arts into the experience of the western musician. It is
therefore about the process rather than the product. It
is about a path that may be taken toward a particular way
of making music.
In Chinese,
the word “Tao” (pronounced “Dow”)
sometimes denotes a path that one walks in harmony with
the fundamental principals of Nature and existence. Its
full and comprehensive recognition presupposes a certain
kind of spiritual enlightenment, and the Tao is sometimes
construed therefore as a path of development toward that
enlightenment. We shall seek to uncover a Tao of music.
By extension, the lessons learned may apply to our lives
as artists in general and ultimately to our everyday
lives as citizens and people. There is a Tao of music,
and a Tao of being in the world. They are the same Tao. (Next Page)
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