John Vallis - 1104064

Music and Community: Music and The Mind (MUL229) Musical Commentary Expressing Freuds model for the mind through Jungs theory of the Archetypes

When dividing the mind into three subsections; id, ego and superego Freud was aiming to describe the motivation and control factors of the brain. It would seem appropriate to assume that if you wished to communicate ideas from these internal subdivisions through art you should be able to simply relate to what Freud wrote. However, as you are to discover, my own undoing was in my own misunderstanding of how these partitions function and how the metaphor I elaborated around these elements of psyche was flawed beyond the face values I gave them as mere concepts. To me it seemed that the mind, as described by Freud, was in fact a model for music. The id described as Freud as the primitive functions translate well to the elements of pitch, rhythm and dynamics perhaps even improvised music. By comparison the ego is the control; composed through structure and form (The Composer as an explicit example). These two components are then governed by the eternal superego; the critic and musical canon, where the music fits (genre) and if it is deemed good or bad a musical morality. To fit this model into context I analysed the oratorio A Survivor from Warsaw (1947) by Schoenberg1. This piece stands out as being led by a male narrator reciting a monologue of sorts over a musical soundscape of war and turmoil. The text itself was based upon stories told to Schoenberg by survivors from the Warsaw Ghetto, (MacDonald, 2008, p. 172) and

As being exemplified by Michael Jacobs in Sigmund Freud (2003) as a composer influenced by The Interpretation of Dreams (1899)

John Vallis - 1104064

is an affirmation of the indestructibility of the human spirit in the face of Nazi atrocities. (MacDonald, 2008, p. 82). Indeed without the context provided by the name of the piece and if the narration is ignored a listener is left with the striking dissonance of an orchestra exploited. We are led through a sewer and concentration camp as if the bloodshed were sound. It is arresting that even if the Twelve-Tone form demands no attention from conventional harmony, the progression of the tone row throughout the piece is designed to pierce and destroy the pristine performance inevitably given by classically trained musicians. The apparent aggression which is attained through the use of extended techniques 2 and martial percussion culminates in an overwhelmingly emotional mens chorus of the Hebrew song Shema Yisroel. The counterpoint of the folk tune (even with its adaptations by Schoenberg) is poignant against the continuing struggle of the orchestra that crescendos to a conventionally dissonant chord. When comparing A Survivor to Freuds Unconscious mind two areas conflict. Firstly there is the idmatic orchestra. Dissonance and neglect of conventional musicality could be attributed to a disparate sonic environment and the sheer hostility of the sound is likeable to the natural aggression of the id. There is also a feeling of instinct to the piece. We have instruments performing many individual lines at one time (counterpoint) but also independent of a tonal scheme in the western understanding. This is contrapuntal in itself to the other secondary feeling of superego in the work. The dictated and often prodigious narration is drawn to overcast the struggle of the musical bed and is a constant reminder that the piece is composed and has authority- this implying that the free aggression of the tonal form is calculated and precise, which it is.

Strings play harmonics and col legno whilst the woodwind have flutter-tongue instructions.

John Vallis - 1104064

Consequently, this also means that my model for music and the unconscious is invalid to a point. It would be fair to compare the model if one was analysing the ecosystem of a music composition and also how the fundamentals of the piece were arranged but, the model does not help you create music drawn from one subsection of the mind. This became a problem as soon as I started improvising id like music. Once you find yourself repeating riffs or singing words you find elegant you have extended beyond the pleasure principle, you have considered those exact features and forged the work an identity in the very words you chose to use or, in fact, dont. Thus, I disregarded the concept of composing thoroughly idmatic music and tried to decipher a better method of expressing the psyche through music. After struggling through Freuds lack of musical understanding and unwillingness to tackle the subject I decided to turn to Jung as a psychologist known to be influenced by Freud3. Jungs theory of the Archetypes and to a greater extent the collective unconscious is more communicative that Freuds personal model4. Importantly to my application the Archetypes are already found in many different guises from traditional folk stories to the music of Bach. In fact when describing the orchestration of A Survivor from Warsaw I described the soundscape with the terms war and turmoil. I came to these terms through the timbres of overblown brass and intense dynamic changes from loud to soft. Brass instruments are symbolic of war and the extended technique/dynamic range is harsh and violent, traits coupled with turmoil. There may be no one defined Archetype that embodies these factors

As made explicit by the letters sent between the two. (Freud, 1974, p. 535) This is made clearer in Understanding Dreams in Clinical Practice (West, 2011) in the case of Chapter 11 (p.93)The Wolf-Mans dream
4

John Vallis - 1104064

but by acknowledging Archetypal elements I have come to an understanding of the piece through the symbolism of the music in my unconscious5. This becomes relevant to my composition as there is no Archetype which exemplifies the existence of these internalized levels of the unconscious. However, there is a method in which the basics of the self are described that would allow me to use Jungian archetypes to connote the elements of id, ego or superego. These common descriptors are exemplified by Sarah Wilson of The Guardian (online) who uses a model often given to the mind; The id is the "horse". It is the unevolved instinctive part of our brain, responsible for the urges and desires we try to repress. The ego is the "driver" of the chariot, and the rational part of our brain. It is able to guide the id, but never has full control - just as the driver is aware that if the horse wants to go in a different direction, he is ultimately powerless to stop it. The superego is the chariot driver's father, sitting behind him, pointing out his mistakes. It is the part of our brain responsible for criticism and moralising. (Wilson, 2009) To describe the partitions of the psyche as horse, driver and chariot is to assign a personification or archetype to the aspect of the mind and then through interpretation apportion associated qualities. Therefore these previously incommunicable traits become explainable through music and thus this is what I have tried to achieve within my composition.

Jungian theory would implore that these meanings extend beyond my own personal unconscious and to that of wider communities which, in this example of war like music is most probably the case.

John Vallis - 1104064

During this time of reimagining my own methodology I also reconsidered the most appealing part of the mind to converse through my music. As the chariot drivers father, the superego is in a position of power, often attributed to belief in God6 and from a composers, and perhaps more personally, atheists perspective a more encompassing figure to convey. My piece Sanctus is written in three distinct sections all of which portray separate interpretations and fundamentals of what I perceive as the superego but through the likenesses of God. Using musical symbols and iconography that depicts God or indeed the chariot drivers father, I am in turn depicting the omnipresence of the superego. The first section is a musical expression of creation. The free flowing of the chords represents the aether, an air like time that grows with imitation between the woodwind and brass sections, these parts are then melded together by an open chord played by the strings. This acknowledges a time in the mind before the superego if fully formed. My short melodic phrasing is passed around by the orchestra as if trying to find its place in the music, supported by only a few chords perhaps representative of the ego as the rational part of the music. Here the melodic fragments of the id are being maintained by the ego into a coherent form unlike the rest of the music. Consciously this section is in 6/8 but written with a free feel that then contrasts the next section in which the superego has developed The Oppressor. Obstinate timpani pound a simple marching 4/4 rhythm to introduce this new section. They set a fresh pace for mankind to follow, a fast demanding pace. Perhaps likeable to a depiction of The Shadow, from Jungs own archetypal studies, the brass section proceed to command the performance with a riff played in E minor. This martial section goes a long way to
6

Clinically an example would be the case of Alice, a girl who heard the voice of God telling her to not leave the maternal home so she would not desert her mother. It later came to be described as her superego God. God did not appear as an external voice but an internal one. (Clark, 2011, pp. 1-10)

John Vallis - 1104064

connote The Oppressor that is God. Far from the mists of creation in the first section he now commands over his subjects with a militaristic grasp. Soldiers march in his name. I actively placed the music in E natural minor as it is a strong and prevailing key with a European feeling. The scale stirs images of Russia and Germany, countries known for their military history and dictatorships. Marcato strings blister a countermelody I had previously improvised on piano which is then doubled by a xylophone that accentuates the melody from the bellowing lows notes of the brass. The idea of separation from this omniscient force both as God and superego, there is an unobtainable greatness that demands us to grow and achieve. The choir is an explicit reference to a vast history of religious music. Male voices start the chant of Sanctu Dominus Do which crescendos when joined by the alto and soprano sections. This reiterates my point that whilst the superego can be perceived as God it is also constructed around collective criticism. A chanting choir also represents society and its ethics and hegemonies being audibly imprinted onto the mind of the listener. The piece resolves with a third section of melancholic reflection; once proud and magnificent The Shadow of the superego has become solemn and lonely. Instead of pride the focus of this section is guilt. An innocent and youthful soprano melody passes freely over piano chords whilst the strings play con sordino and dissolve away to reveal a variation on the musical themes presented in the previous section. Slight dissonances that resolve in the harmonies and a change of key suggest a major tonal scheme all in the aid of purveying remorse. Unbeknownst to the music, much like the mind, the superego has created guilt from the oppression and criticisms from the second section. This section is also closer to my original improvisation and is intended to resolve into a modulation between two chords (the tonic and dominant) that carry the melody (or the superegos intentions) beyond itself as it repeats and

John Vallis - 1104064

makes an approach to reinforcing the endlessness of struggle between morality (superego) and personality (ego).

Wordcount: 1632

John Vallis - 1104064

Bibliography:
Bishop, P., 1993. Jung in Contexts: A Reader. London: Routledge. Clark, M., 2011. Understanding Religion and Spirituality in Clinical Practice. London: Karnac Books. Freud, S., 1918. From the History of and Infantile Neurosis. London: Hogarth. Freud, S. a. J., 1974. The Freud/Jung Letters. 1st ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Lawson, T. T., 2008. Carl Jung: Darwin of the Mind. London: Karnac Books. MacDonald, M., 2008. Schoenberg. 1st ed. Cary: Oxford University Press. Sigmund, F., 1913. The Interpretation of Dreams. 3rd ed. New York: The MacMillan Company. West, M., 2011. Understanding Dreams in Clinical Practice. London: Karnac Books.

Audio:
Schoenberg, 1909. A Survivor From Warsaw Op. 49. Brussels: BRT Philharmonic Orchestra.

Online:
Wilson, S., 2009. The Guardian, Life & Style - The ego, the superego and the id. [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/mar/07/ego-superego-id-sigmund-freud [Accessed 30 April 2013].