Ode to Cologne

While in an interview with a Dean, I noticed a painting on her wall that was made of musical composition (note, the drawing below is actually notes on a scale to be played by musicians). It was a recreation of the church in Cologne, Germany, that I visited when I was 19 years old and it took my breath away. The artist, Geoffrey Wharton, created the composition by drawing the cathedral in musical notes (and the music above is its instrumentation). I was mesmerized by her story of the Cathedral and her University's connection to the music.

The coincidence sparked my interest and I thought about the brilliance it takes to make musical art out of an architectural wonder and I was blow away by the fact that musical notes were used to draw the structure that I witnessed in my youth. The fact that a scale can be aligned with a physical scale truly fascinated me and I knew I had to find a video to hear what the composition sounded like. Wow. Wow on multiple levels.

I wonder what our homes, our cities, our buildings, our lives would look like if we encouraged students to write in musical notes. I imagine it would be magical like this piece of work. I am going to sleep a humble man. If one lifetime of labor can mimic such genius than I will be a happy man.