Pauline Oliveros – Lear

 Pauline Oliveros, born 1932, was a well-known composer and played a big part on the development of electronic music until her death in 2016.

At the beginning of Lear, the music is so quiet, that I first thought I forgot to turn up my volume. As the piece continues, however, the volume picks up just as more and more instruments and sounds are introduced to the piece.

The cover is three times the same picture of a section of a forest in which the trees are sparce around the bottom. I believe this fits really well to the overall vibe of the music. The soft sounds that fade in and out do have some resemblance with the way the sounds of a forest feel. Wind picks up and lets leaves rustle but fades out again, too. Birds might be quiet one minute but sing loudly the next. The way the trees aren’t really close on the picture; is the same way the sounds of the music aren’t all really close together.

The music would also fit very well for a horror or thriller scene in a movie or could be connected to a haunted mansion or an empty castle as well. For me Lear represents something hollow, not filled with life. So more of an abandoned location than a tourist hot spot.

Up until about the middle of the song, it seems perfect as listening to when working or reading something, nice background music or an alternative to white noise. However, as it continues after around the halfway mark, it picks up volume and becomes more urging. From a Sunday stroll through the woods to more of a feeling of being followed by someone or something. The mood changes completely for me, and I did not want to continue. It was to loud for me and the sounds suddenly weren’t as relaxing anymore.

At the end it sounds much more darker and while many of the different sounds fade out more and more as the song comes to an end, parts of it interrupt the general theme and end it with a low, almost humming sound that is accompanied by lighter electronical bits, which take away the idea of natural calming sounds and seem very mismatched to me.