Pauline Oliveros – King Lear in Space

Pauline Oliveros was a composer, essayist, and passionate fighter for female liberation, who would combine her skills to advocate for said rights. Her musical goals were to bring attention to her idea of attentiveness not only to one’s surrounding sounds but also to those in one’s head. She had the idea to train the listeners’ ears while engaging in meditative exercises and listening to her ‘energy music’ or meditation music.

“Lear” begins very softly and only slowly starts to build up more diverse sounds. Immediately it resembles cinematic background music as if it could be used for movies such as Star Wars or any Avengers movie. It gently builds up space-y connotations with swelling sounds, creating wave visuals with horn sounds in the background.

Around the third minute, it becomes very empirical and sounds like a soundtrack to movies about ancient empires, showing their powerful rulers and their mighty armies. The effects turn more towards epic rather than space-y as in the first few minutes. It reminds me very much of fellow student Peter’s review on “Lear” as he mentioned the fictional King Lear. This part of the song might be what would closest fit the wanted legacy of a king.

At around six minutes, the sound turns somewhat creepy due to the vocals in the background. However, during the entirety of the almost 25 minutes of the song, the sounds are never abrupt and flow easily into one another, even when the connotations and the effects change. Oliveros works instead with different sound qualities and volume to create suspension and the association of waves, as mentioned earlier.

There is no precise climax in “Lear” and technically, this piece could go on forever. While this piece has a beginning and an end, it would work just as fine if it didn’t – maybe even better. It would not only provoke thoughts of space for the listeners, but it would also resemble the vast endlessness of space and literally become a sound version of the universe with all its aspects.