'Canto Ostinato' by Simeon ten Holt
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Ways of Seeing was conceived of as a playground where music awakens synesthetic possibilities through the fusion of perceptual experiences.
Intentional pairings of music presented in parallel with other art forms invite the blending and bending of senses - the contours of a melodic phrase mirror the fluid undulations of a dancer's body; rhythm takes on three-dimensional form, revealing proportion in a building's angles, arches, and domes; and the layered complexity of a fragrance is unveiled over the duration of a symphony.
The spark for this sensory play is Simeon ten Holt's magnum opus Canto Ostinato - a rarely performed work legendary for its profound emotional and perceptual impact. Canto Ostinato has been known to activate life-altering experiences over the 90-minute journey - watershed moments of cathartic insight, a recalibration of internal rhythms, and a quiet permission to let go. Conceived in the 1970s for four pianos, this performance condenses all four parts into one instrument, constructing a deeply complex texture underpinned by a perpetual rhythmic pulse. Traversing immense spans of harmonic tension balanced by gratifying waves of release, the result is akin to hypnotic states experienced during drumming ceremonies, Dervish whirling, and techno raves.
What emerges is, as the composer envisioned, 'more ritual than concert, where time turns into space and the music begins to hover'. In that moment music opens new ways of seeing, an awakening to the totality of experience.
