Desiring Machine

Listening to the third movement of Gustav Mahler’s first symphony. I can’t really explain why but the music just makes me want to be alive in the 19th century. There is a mood to the music that makes me think of an atmosphere, pace, time and space that is quintessentially 19th century. It is an atmosphere I wouldn’t mind inhabiting far away from modern conveniences.

However I recognize the impossiblity of recapturing this atmosphere and abandoning the modern conveniences. Even though the music was composed in the 19th century the atmosphere it creates is not necessarily of that time. My experience of the music is mediated by modern conveniences. I am able to call up the digital replication of the music and listen to it over and over as I like. Psychologically invoking the mood and atmosphere with each listen. This is an experience not possible in the 19th century. Even the most ardent symphony buffs in the 19th century probably were only able to hear Mahler’s symphony a few times in their lifetime. And moreover, this experience would have been mediated through a great concert hall and live performance. In other words, in the 19th century listening to Mahler would have been an “event” not a mere casual experience in the middle of the night when one is prone to specific moods and atmospheric modalities.

So in essence I am alive in the music today. The atmosphere is present in my phenomenological experience of my headphones. There is no 19th century, there is no past, only a trace of it and my experience of the here and now. The next song in my playlist is a song by Johnny Cash. Now that is an experience that nobody in the 19th century has ever been able to experience, concert hall or no concert hall.