Last night, I went to listen to Fazıl Say, one of Turkey's -probably also the world's- most talented musicians. The way he played with the piano, as if it was his sole jewel and his slave, the way he just got into his music, seeming to be completely isolated from the world. And just as I thought this, it all clicked. Maybe the reason why people create music is to isolate themselves from the world, from their problems; and not just to "express themselves".
So why do we have such different kinds of music? During a period of one hour, Say played: his own compositions, in one of which he held the strings of the piano to make it sound like the Turkish instrument saz, the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, Summertime by Gershwin (with his own jazzy modifications), and Chopin's Nocturne No.20, in C# minor. At the end of the concert, I thought the only thing missing was a bit of Beatles and Queen. In his own compositions, he strives to reflect a thought, reflect İstanbul, for instance. In the Moonlight Sonata, Beethoven struggles to imitate moonlight, both its soft, delicate touch (the first movement) and its harsh, bright shine (the third movement). Gershwin gives a smooth yet bouncy, melodic yet not-sounding-quite-right feeling in Summertime, with syncopation and many, many accidentals. Chopin, on the other hand, is melodic, smooth and flowing, fitting exactly the definition of "nocturne", which is "night music".
All of these different kinds of music represent their composers and their way of shutting the rest of the world out and going on a journey. While some choose to paint and some choose to act, these masterminds, from Bach to Freddie Mercury, John Lennon to Chopin, Bartok to Axl Rose, choose to forget, and help us, the listeners/musicians, to forget, using music; the art of skillfully using both sound, and silence.
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