After I heard an interview with pianist Sarah Cahill on Houston Public Radio, Abby and I decided to go to a concert last Friday night.

The concert was entitled “Music For Peace: A Sweeter Music” and was entirely new works that Sarah Cahill had commissioned on the theme of peace.  Some notable composers on the program included Meredith Monk, Terry Riley, and Yoko Ono.  The concert was performed at the Rothko Chapel.

All in all, it was interesting concert, and Ms. Cahill gave meaningful introductions to each selection.  Especially since these works were entirely new, it was fascinating to hear about the pianist’s interactions with the composers and their inspirations.

The selection that I wanted to mention is the work by Yoko Ono, titled “Toning.”  The work was quite conceptual.  The basic premise was that the work is intended to impart PEACE to the performer.  It was a centering, focusing exercise - not actually intended to be performed for an audience.  The music was VERY simple - just major chords slowly moving chromatically up the piano.  I went through all the basic feelings as I heard it performed: “This is silly and uneventful…How lazy could Yoko Ono be?…I’m bored…Ok, Dan, at least TRY to focus on what you’re hearing…etc. etc.”  This is a fairly typical script I have played out in my head many times when hearing new music.

Then I had a moment that changed my perspective in a fairly striking way.  As I was listening, I glanced up to the wall and observed the Rothko painting above my head that I have admired for years.  Blank.  Empty.  Just black.  Basically devoid of form, texture, or movement.  But certainly not lacking in content.  Those empty paintings seem to hold incredible depth.

My friend Michael said to me once: “There are two types of simplicity - the one on THIS side of complexity, and the one on THAT side of complexity.”

Nothing.  Emptiness.  Is this peace?  Or is it despair?  And is there really much difference?

I can’t stop thinking about “the field” that Rumi talks about (see previous blog post).  Is this nothingness “the field beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing?”