JAVS Spring 2024

For this article, hypnosis will refer to a changed state of awareness that is characterised by improved focus and concentration. While hypnosis, for some, may sound like a supernatural phenomenon, it is a normal part of human experience. Hypnosis, as defined here is merely a form of enhanced attention. Noteworthy is the fact that individuals vary in their susceptibility to experiencing hypnosis, with some unable to experience it at all. People also vary in terms of which stimuli make them more susceptible to hypnosis. 16 Those “who are more hypnotizable tend to exhibit higher levels of absorption [in a task]; for example, they readily become ‘lost’ in a book or film.” 17 Hypnosis has a “special impact upon temporal judgment,” making its subjects considerably underestimate the passage of chronometric time. As Valtteri explains, “it is not unusual for the participant [of hypnosis experiments] to suggest as little as half the true duration.” 18 Repetition may be an important factor in the experience of hypnosis. 19 To have continuity implies that there is a beginning, and that all events leading up to some hypothetical end or stop are related. This ties back into the idea that how we parse out beginnings is what creates time. Hypnosis is in essence, maximal continuity. Others have also remarked that repetition in music may induce hypnosis. Gerard Grisey, in his own words has described experiencing hypnosis at the hand of music. 20 Despite the fact that there is not much literature on hypnosis induced by music, it does seem to trigger such an effect in many listeners. Conclusion The act of listening to music is an intimately personal journey, unique to each listener. My insights and perceptions, detailed herein, are but a single narrative in a sea of interpretations. I warmly invite and cherish alternative perspectives. There is a certain thrill in discovering facets and nuances in my music that were previously veiled to my own consciousness. This dialogue of discovery not only enriches the listener’s experience but also deepens my own connection with the music I create. I have crafted the language of this article to mirror my personal journey through the composition and appreciation of Shubho Lhaw Qolo. This introspective process has not only deepened my understanding of my own work but has also sensitized me to the nuances and

subtleties of music as a whole. In other words, it’s made me a more sensitive listener.

I encourage you, the reader, to immerse yourself in Shubho Lhaw Qolo or any piece, not just as a passive listener but as an active explorer. With repeated listening, as Elizabeth Margulis so eloquently states, music “trigger[s] an attentional shift from more local to more global levels of musical organization. Repetition, thus, can be understood to affect a listener’s orientation toward the music; the horizon of involvement widens with additional exposures.” 21 This repeated engagement with music is not a mere act of redundancy; it is a journey towards a broader, more profound understanding. This is a subtle and beautiful complexity of musical perception: even an unchanging piece may be perceived differently upon each encounter. This remains the case even as the object turns into a mental object, as “every time we revisit a memory, we change it slightly.” 22 Author’s note—A very special thanks I am very grateful to KSO for giving Shubho Lhaw Qolo its first performance outside an academic institution. Additionally, an entire set of blessings came in the form of the players who put on the first performance; I’d like to acknowledge every single one of these performers by name. Alyssa Warcup, solo viola Philipp Elssner and Grégoire Miczka, violin Mary Peyrebrune, section viola Andrew Shinn and Isabella Lorenzo-Giguere, cello Drew Collins, double bass Juan Riveros, harp Albert Mackey and Zachary Courtney, percussion Text Translation The most common modern setting was made prominent thanks to Fairouz; her version combines the first two stanzas from St. Ephrem’s original Aramaic text (in bold on the right) with three stanzas in Classical Arabic—as opposed to a dialectical variety of Arabic. The following is my translation of the text.

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Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 40, No. 1, Spring 2024