The Philosophy of Rhythm: Aesthetics, Music, Poetics Paperback – 27 Nov. 2019

Rhythm, like breathing, is fundamental to human existence and survival, one of those activities that we all do. Intrinsic to being alive, both are interrelated at many levels. Yet, being inverted pendulums, humans are complex; and neither rhythm or breathing, despite their apparent simplicity, come naturally to many and remain much talked about yet little understood.This book is an intriguing and insightful investigation into the complexities of rhythm – from sounds and gestures and movement to words and lines and shapes – to penetrate some of this multifaceted and multilayered jungle.It is not a pedagogic manual or treatise, but an offering of new horizons of listening, seeing, feeling and thinking which are equally important for non-philosophers and philosophers alike. Horizons are glimpsed through differing points of view and at times stark contrasts between contributors as they grapple with – amongst other things – analysing and upending commonly held beliefs and misbeliefs and urban legends about what rhythm is and isn’t.It is a rich journey of exploring that points us “down the passage which we did not take / Towards the door we never opened … \ ... Through the unknown, remembered gate” (TS Eliot Four Quartets). Being an innovative investigation into something we all know yet don’t know, there are also questionable statements and lacunae, but these seeming weaknesses are precisely where the book’s strengths lie. It is the gaps as much as the illuminations offered that light the way forward to further reflections and discoveries of the complexities that make rhythm such a fascinating gate not just for arts practitioners and performers but also for philosophers into why and how rhythm is as fundamental to our lives as breathing.MARTIN MAYES is a freelance horn-player and alphornist who, through a focus on improvisation, leads workshops and creates performance projects in locations from theatres and churches to mountains and the sea, in solo and in groups.

Although this volume makes a point of drawing parallels between different fields and practices, every essay offers a unique and refreshing perspective on the topic. Possibilities of rhythm are explored in the conventional ‘temporal’ arts of music, dance & poetry, without neglecting the spatial/ visual arts. Contributors adopt a variety of approaches from theoretical to empirical, and ideas are not presented in an overly-technical way. Would recommend to anyone – throughly enjoyed reading.

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