Sunday Afternoon Public Programs
November 19, 2:00 PM  •  Presented by Matt Marble, Ph.D.

In tracing the esoteric history of American music, Theosophy is a pervasive influence. Its influence on American music began around the turn of the 19th century, almost immediately after The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875. Its influence continued into the 1970s, if not beyond. From the psychic pianism of Francis Grierson to the angelic visions of William Grant Still, Theosophy was embraced and championed by American composers, whose timeless radicalism often lost them to history. This lecture will look into the creative processes of these composers in relation to Theosophical philosophy and American identity. We’ll listen to their music, view archival documents, and speculate on the esoteric nature of our auditory imagination.

Matt Marble is a composer and writer currently living in Portland, Oregon. He earned a B.A. in Speech and Hearing Science at Portland State University and a Ph.D. in Music Composition at Princeton University. His doctoral dissertation, Buddhist Bubblegum, explored the role of esoteric Buddhism in the creative process of Arthur Russell. Ben Ratliff of the New York Times described Buddhist Bubblegum as “groundbreaking work.” Other writings on esotericism and music have been published in print via Abraxas Journal and The Open Space, as well as digitally via Ear|Wave|Event and, most recently, Desert Suprematism. Please visit www.mattmarble.net.