Synaethesia: apparently Messiaen had it and Scriabin invented some kind of instrument that projected colours. Does it add anything to one's enjoyment of music, I wonder? And do any of you 'see' music in this way?
Oliver Sacks, in his latest book, Musicophilia, discusses this. It's pretty weird, if you ask me, but apparantely a fair amount of people have this "problem". (I don't.)
Unlike Messiaen, Scriabin probably wasn't "truly" synesthetic... or at least his color-scheme wasn't 'synesthetic' in that it translated colors in a manner much more structured and simplistically than it would appear to a synesthestete. Sibelius was partly synesthetic, too. There are links at this internet blurb (of mine) of a talk that Hakan Austbo gave on Scriabin's synesthesia: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/09/visual-music-musical-vision.html
Oliver Sacks, in his latest book, Musicophilia, discusses this. It's pretty weird, if you ask me, but apparantely a fair amount of people have this "problem". (I don't.)
ReplyDeleteUnlike Messiaen, Scriabin probably wasn't "truly" synesthetic... or at least his color-scheme wasn't 'synesthetic' in that it translated colors in a manner much more structured and simplistically than it would appear to a synesthestete. Sibelius was partly synesthetic, too. There are links at this internet blurb (of mine) of a talk that Hakan Austbo gave on Scriabin's synesthesia:
ReplyDeletehttp://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/09/visual-music-musical-vision.html
Thanks for the link. Will be interested to read that.
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