"1/1" by Brian Eno

“1/1” 

Brian Eno

My musical preferences often cycle with the seasons. The cold, dry, wintry weather often puts me in an ambient state of mind. If I were to suggest one piece of ambient music, it would have to be Brian Eno’s brilliant “1/1” from the album Ambient 1: Music For Airports.

The philosopher Alan Watts has said “In music, one doesn’t make the end of the composition the point of the composition. If that were so… there would be composers who wrote only finales. People would go to concerts just to hear one crashing chord…” Eno it seems, has done just that with “1/1” though. He has taken one brilliant sonic moment, a seemingly simple chord played on piano, and impossibly expanded it into a meditative and crystalline seventeen minutes.

The song slowly forms like an icicle, each harmonic repetition on the piano a drop of water slowly rolling down the frozen column; simultaneously creating the overall structure of the song and adding to its length. Nuanced synths fade in and out like sunlight, creating a nebulous halo around the whole song, and adding some much needed warmth.

At seventeen minutes long, this song does require patience from the listener, but it is patience that is well-rewarded. The song does not impose any specific emotional state or mood upon the listener, rather, it acts like a reflective catalyst. Allowing the listener to carelessly drift amongst the luminous soundscape without reservation or fear.

-Daniel R.