Homo Audiens

"Composing is ultimately 'listening' and through 'listening' the self opens up to the outside, to the other." (from chapter 2)

In this book, Jo Kondo - one of Japan's best-known living composers - develops his idea of music as a "shared object of listening": a deeply hopeful vision of music as a purposeless, non-instrumentalized practice in which composer, performer and listener participate equally in the shared creativity of listening.

The book is both an exploration and critique of the aesthetics of absolute music - from German Romanticism to the present day - as well as a passionate plea for diversity in musical thought, both out of artistic conviction and as a reflection of a polystylistic society. Kondo reflects on works that have influenced him - from Beethoven's 9th Symphony to John Cage's 4'33 " - and develops a philosophy of listening as the basis of all musical activity.

In addition to the main text (a translation by Kiku hito, published in 2013), the book contains two appendices with earlier essays by Kondo that shed light on his compositional approach and the theoretical foundation of his thinking. The translator's foreword (available here as a preview) also offers a brief biographical introduction that places Kondo's work in the context of his life, influences and artistic companions.