Grieg Academy, University of Bergen
Lecture and Recording Release
The project Sounding Philosophy, supported by the Norwegian Artistic Research Program (2021-2024), integrated the fields of music composition, philosophy and science to understand how theories of reason and the mind can be approached from creative, metaphysical and scientific perspectives. As part of this project, I worked on a series of works based on philosophical texts by Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677). The recording of this cycle has been released by Genuin Classics in November 2025.
The Ethica composition cycle, written between 2017—2022, explores Spinoza’s philosophy of the mind while simultaneously considering the historical dilemma of a 17th century Jewish immigrant in the Netherlands from the perspective of modern-day globalized existence. Following this historical trajectory, the composition cycle integrates melodic material derived from Portuguese plainchant from the time of the Jewish expulsion and Torah trope from the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam. Integrating elements of chant traditions from Dutch immigrant communities of the past and present into the composition cycle, the composition explores the continuing relevancy and complexity of Spinoza's Enlightenment project. In my lecture, I will show how Spinoza’s thinking regarding the mind and consciousness can also be re-evaluated in terms of its connection to Jewish theology and how his theories and their historical context informed the creation of my composition cycle. Integrating historical and contemporary theories of the mind and perception, the composition cycle investigates how Spinoza’s philosophical project brings up questions of how religious minorities exist within state power structures, as well as questions into relationships between freedom of expression and religious tolerance – questions which remain relevant in our own time. The lecture will be followed by a listening of the spatialized (Dolby Atmos) version of the composition Scholium Secundum.