‘A Still, Thin Sound’ is an attempt to create sonic impressions of two very different kinds of spiritual experiences: collective and individual. The ideas are sourced from two Biblical passages: the first describing the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Torah to the Hebrew nation at Mount Sinai, shortly after the Exodus from Egypt, the second being the prophet Elijah’s one-to- one encounter with the Divine spirit.
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The essence of ‘Sinai’ is the sound of the shofar - the ram’s horn used during the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, which, according to scripture, was the main sound-type heard during the Sinai revelation (see below). Introduced by long breaths, the shofar’s primal cry slowly builds in density and speed, leading to the supernatural communication of the first two of the Ten Commandments. According to Talmudic exegesis, the Commandments were to be given not just to Moses but to the entire Nation. However, the intensity of Divine communications was such that the whole population died after hearing the First Commandment and was consequently resurrected. The same occurred again for the Second Commandment. At that point, the people asked Moses to climb the mountain and receive the rest of the Torah on his own. Each Commandment was heard as one sound, all the words condensed into one miraculously intelligible sound. To suggest this I recorded the words individually and then stacked them up into one ‘utterance’.
“On the third day when it was morning, there was thunder and lightning and a heavy cloud on the mountain, and the sound of the shofar was very powerful, and the en- tire people that was in the camp shuddered. Moses brought the people forth from the camp toward God, and they stood at the bottom of the mountain. All of Mount Sinai was smoking because God had descended upon it in the fire; its smoke ascended like the smoke of the furnace, and the entire mountain shuddered exceedingly. The sound of the shofar grew continually much stronger; Moses would speak and God would respond to him with a voice.” (Exodus 19:3 to 19:19)
“... The entire people saw the thunder and the flames, the sound of the shofar and the smoking mountain; the people saw and trembled and stood from afar. They said to Moses, “You speak to us and we shall hear; let God not speak to us lest we die”” (Exodus 20:15)
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In ‘Elijah’ the bass clarinet represents Elijah the Prophet who, many years after Sinai, climbed alone up a different mountain to seek communication with God. To reach the necessary spiritual level he had to first go through deep meditational states, passing through a sensorial 'cloud' where all perceptions became blurred. He then encountered three mystical stages of prophetic vision, three transcendental states of mind and being which are described in metaphorical physical terms. First came a great wind, next an earthquake and then fire. In the composition these raw natural elements are represented by the different electronic treatments transforming the bass clarinet's original tone. Ultimately, though, God’s voice is not heard within these roaring chaotic states. It resonates beyond the noise of the physical world in a still, thin sound. Out of the silence: a breath.
“Go forth and stand on the mountain before God; and, behold! – God is passing, and a great, powerful wind is smashing mountains and breaking rocks before God – but not in the wind is God; and after the wind an earthquake – but not in the earthquake is God; and after the earthquake a fire – but not in the fire is God; and after the fire a still, thin sound.” (I Kings 19:11 & 19:12)
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At Sinai, the Hebrew people were a passive collective, practically forced by God to acknowledge the metaphysical domain in order to receive his Word. No effort was required from them. This was a one-off gift of insight into the spiritual reality. A maximum voltage experience that was impossible for the nation to sustain but allowed them a moment of divine intimacy and clarity. After that momentous event, back into the constraints of the physical, any connection with the spiritual world could no longer be achieved by a collective. Only certain gifted individuals, through
enormous meditational effort, could reach a state of prophecy and receive metaphysical messages. Elijah had to battle against the noisy realms of the physical to finally hear the almost inaudible inner voice of the Divine.
This contrast between collective and individual is reflected in the live performance of ‘A Still, Thin Sound’: ‘Sinai’ is an ‘empty stage’, a purely electronic (=metaphysical) passive listening experience, whereas ‘Elijah’ brings on the human musician who, through an instrument (=prophetic discipline), can interact with the electronic realm. The two combine to become one sonic entity.
The Talmud explains that at Sinai the people ‘saw’ the sounds. This was no metaphor. Sounds became visible, not just as a synaesthetic experience, but as a heightened perception of reality. In a similar way, the sound Elijah perceived is described in terms of movement and shape (still, thin) rather than auditory (quiet, high-pitched).
The Jewish sages talk of God creating and continuously re-creating the world with Ten Utterances, as described in Genesis where each act of Creation is prefaced with the words “and God said...”. The physical world is, therefore, brought into being by words and sound. Significantly, in the Hebrew language the word for ‘thing’ or ‘object’ is the same as the word for ‘word’: ‘davar’. The object and the word that describes it are inseparable. The word, a combinations letter shapes and sounds, is the object’s DNA which crystallises it into existence. The idea that words, and by extension sounds, are active, creative forces is a fundamental concept in Jewish thought.
At Sinai, God’s presence became apparent to all, the sounds were as loud as they were ‘visible’. But in our times, as in Elijah’s, true spirituality is obfuscated by selfishness, hatred and materialistic abuses. God’s voice is drowned out by the cacophony. Only those who learn to block out the noise and really listen can hear the still, thin sound.
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Bonus track: ‘Circulation’ was written to accompany visual artist Rachel Garrard’s ground- breaking holographic film of the same name. The film won the 1st prize at the 2009 Musion Holographic film awards. It is a purely electronic piece exploring circular motion in sound form.
Original album released in 2009
This is the definitive version edited and remastered by Daniel Biro.
credits
released December 20, 2020
Written, recorded and produced by Daniel Biro.
Recorded at Camac (France) and at home (London) during 2007- 2008.
Special thanks to Daniel Finfer and David Breuer-Weil for extra shofar blowing.
Huge thanks to Gareth Davis for his enthusiasm, time and inspired playing.
‘A Still, Thin Sound’ was partly funded by the European Association for Jewish Culture.
Dedicated to all my teachers.
Composer, keyboard player, producer, improvisor, songwriter, sound designer who loves the Rhodes electric piano + analog
synths and makes jazz-fusion / electronic / ambient / art-prog / experimental music. From solo projects to working with his bands Echo Engine and Mysteries Of The Revolution, to film soundtracks, Daniel's unique cosmopolitan sound is at the centre of his multi-faceted universe....more
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