out of curiosity, has anyone else read Hermann Hesse's Glass Bead Game book
recently, interpreting it in the light of live coding?
Hermann Hesse The Glass Bead Game, Vintage: London 2000 translated by
Richard and Clara Winston.
P23 GBG as live coding, description of the game
>From stringing beads on wire to represent musical notation, ‘was taken over
by mathematicians.’
P23-4 ‘the players, mutually elaborating these processes, threw these
abstract formulas at one another, displaying the sequences and
possibilities of their science.’
Mnemonists spoil the game
P70 ‘talent without character, virtuosity without values’
introduce contemplation (spirituality)
Physicalist position p81 ‘someone who can read notes but has no command of
my instrument should not join in the dialogue on music.’
A public essay on algorithm. A disputation/dialectic.
P101, doubt of game. ‘It would be better not to play this Game, but to
occupy oneself with uncontaminated mathematics and good music.’
Received on Thu Sep 29 2005 - 09:10:49 BST