orchestra

Portals of Intent, composed in 1993, is in one movement but has sections as follows:

• Shades of Realization
• Silent Knowledge
• The Dreamer
• Assemblage Points of Luminosity
• The Gait of Power

In reading the books of Carlos Castaneda over the years, I have developed an interest in exploring musical parallels to certain aspects of sorcery as investigated by the author through his mentor, a Yaqui Indian named Juan Matus. I have been intrigued by the sorcerer’s notion of “intent” as a universal, immeasurable, indescribable force linked with everything that exists in the cosmos. Sorcerers claim that through “unbending intent” (single-mindedness), one can turn music, objects, etc., into vehicles for new perceptions and meanings. “Intent” (a richer word for “will” or “spirit”) is a focus on what is being intended. Sorcerers say that heightened awareness is the portal of “intent”. “Intent” is to be felt and used but not explained. Furthermore, the natural knowledge of “intent” is available to anyone, but the command of it belongs to those who probe it. Music is often equally inexplicable and bears many relationships to “intent” in dealing with perception, the modality of time, feelings, awareness, universality and, last but not least, single-mindedness — something that is needed to create or experience music profoundly. It is these matters that I explore in Portals of Intent.

Alex Pauk