Richard Vella    composer

The A to Z … is a collection of sounds, images, memories and definitions. While not exhaustive, its encyclopedic and humanistic approach lists phenomena associated with the human spirit and techniques used by composers and musicians to evoke these associations. Its subtle ironic title suggests there is a manual for composers and listeners that explains how to write spiritual music.

The A to Z… does not deify music. Adopting a hermeneutic perspective, it catalogues musical devices and various musical tropes associated with personal meaningfulness and transcendence.  It does not refer to “values” which are more aligned to morality or institutional approaches to spirituality. It treats the human spirit as one’s engagement with life.

The ‘spiritual’ in western music is somewhat slippery to define. However, it implicitly underpins many expectations of music. Music is able to address  concepts of soul and spirituality which for many are too difficult to describe. However, concepts such as the sublime and heavenly are easily transferred into sonic structures without the use of words. This translation is done via music and phenomenology: music embodies the meaning and our experience of various spiritual concepts.  An important part of this transfer is the common acceptance of certain sounds and patrterns in having a symbolic meaning (i.e musical tropes). For example, the use of a pulse to refer to action as can be heard in chase scenes in film. This is the domain of music semiology: the attribution of cultural meanings to various sonic gestures and shapes.