Pauline Oliveros – „Lear“ – a lesson in tense situations

When closely listening to „Lear“ by Pauline Oliveros, a literal movie developed within my mind.     

It started out with the sounds depicting a wooden ship coming closer, seemingly threatening. The sounds could also illustrate some sort of an alien invasion and reminded me of the movie „Alien“. I felt endless width which underlined my connotation of outer space.                                                                            

After that, as the threatening, wide sounds converted in a more quiet structure, I thought of a very tense wild west scene. I pictured a duell between two cowboys. The two enemies were facing each other in the main alley of a desert town. It was quiet and one could only hear the wind whistling. This tense silence bulks up the awaited escalation. The villagers started to are barricading themselves in their homes, rushing into the houses, hastily closing doors and windows. But the awaited escalation remains to happen, when the sounds of „Lear“ already created a new picture within my mind. 

An alarming horn, maybe like a foghorn starts to spread its sound. It was as if the horn is supposed to warn ships about an approaching thunderstorm, abruptly disturbing a comforting silence. Or it could be a battle horn, warning or directing participants of an upcoming battle. 

But my mind stuck with the foghorn, that was accompanied by whale songs. The animals were also sensing a threat or a change in weather. The listener, who suddenly is embodied by a diver looking for the whales who were producing the songs, penetrates into greater depths of the sea. Instead of finding the whales, the diver discovers an old abandoned shipwreck. The diver descends deeper into the waters, exploring the wreck and still searching for the source of sounds. He:she encounters strange sea creatures that seemingly become more odd with diver descending even more.  The diver or listener feels lost and is stuck with that feeling of sound for a while. Until the deep, catching sounds change into illustrating a lighter mood. The diver sees some source of light within the dark, deep sea. Colours become brighter again, the diver ascends inch by inch, backed by anticipation to breath and see normally again. The surface of the water comes closer and the diver slowly reaches the beach, sitting down on the sand and looking at the water in awe of what he:she was just able to experience.

Suddenly, the sound of a didgeridoo breaks up the ocean scene. It switches the illustration to another tense setting, that takes place in a different surrounding. The didgeridoo creates the picture of the Australian bushes, a hunting scene maybe. The thrill continues to be upheld by the sound until “Lear” ends.