EMPATHY « drewschnurr.com

Drew Schnurr is a composer, sound artist, and performer from Los Angeles whose work blurs traditional lines in music, media, and sound.

As a composer for media, Drew has produced music and sonic branding for numerous world brands and media conglomerates. He is also an active concert composer and sound artist with a diverse range of international commissions and exhibits.

Revered by his peers, industry professionals, and critics, his work has been called both “rare” and “remarkable.”

“This composer bends and stretches rules within his own aesthetic, weaving his musical ideas in harmonious waves that threaten to drown, yet gently tumble the listener forward with intrigue and anticipation.” -Adam Rosenthal review for Persee: Orchestrated Perception

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Hyperventilations

for Piano with Four Hands [cat. sc26]

Hyperventilations of a Fire Dragon harnesses music from my early career as a performer in latin bands, jazz ensembles, funk bands, and rock and metal bands. The underlying fervency of these influences is felt throughout the work, leveraged by the power and agility of the piano, driving the performance often to the edge of playability. This piece initiates a compositional renaissance, a drilling down into the musical cores of “fire” that constitute the music of my youth. It comes from the gut—quite literally, was breathed into life. The melodic and rhythmic motives are all derived from vocal inflections (and hyperventilations) improvised, recorded, transcribed and re-composed by the composer.

DREW SCHNURR (2015)

Premiered by Vicki Ray and Aaron Kallay — Hear Now Festival, Los Angeles, May 2015.
Video performance by pianists Kookhee Hong and Minji Noh.

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watch HYPERVENTILATIONS

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EMPATHY

05/01/06

The horns are honking. They have been honking for 2 hours now.

It’s May 1st. I live on Main Street in downtown Los Angeles. There are thousands of people outside my front door marching, honking, and screaming. Today, millions across the country are protesting for the rights of immigrants in the USA. Los angeles has the largest latino population in the country. We have a latino mayor. It is a big day here.

I canceled class today for pragmatism (commuting today would be impossible), and to show respect for the protest. I empathize with their struggle. I find my self questioning why. I mean, it is all but obvious that there is a tremendous injustice and hypocrisy in the way we treat illegal immigrants. I am not talking about that. I mean that their struggle touches my heart in a way that is beyond merely understanding their position. I feel emotionally moved beyond sympathy into empathy. I question this connection.

Lately, I’ve been searching for a true notion of personal motivation. I find more and more that my own motivations are hidden from me. I suspect that this has always been so, that I’m only learning to recognize it. I’ve discovered that often when I’m seeking to be helpful I’m really seeking to feel better about my self; that when I’m being generous I’m really trying to heal pain caused by those who have acted selfishly towards me. The result is many good deeds don’t ring true because they are contaminated by their motivation.

I was at a reception last night following a modern dance concert in Hollywood. I met some interesting people. A group of us began talking about today’s protests. Interestingly enough, there was an assortment of ages and income levels represented. It was interesting to see how people’s view corresponded to their own position in life. Those who had a closer proximity to struggle in their own life were more sympathetic to the protest, and those who were beyond struggle were less interested in supporting the cause.

Do we really only care about what effects us individually? It is perhaps a simple minded question to ask, and a little pessimistic, but I think it bears asking time and again. I think people are good at heart, but I also think we loose track of ourselves. Selfishness begets selfishness, and we fall into the trap of feeling justified in self conquest. We stand up in righteousness, sympathetic to the cause of the oppressed, when in fact we often are the ones who are the oppressors.

The horns are still honking. The people are still yelling. Good for them.

Drew Schnurr

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