Introduction

Summary

The origin of this volume is found in the “Esoteric Music, Music Performance and Music Research Symposium” we organized and held at Nazareth College, Rochester, New York, from February 22 to 24, 2020. The chapters in this book are based on papers shared at the symposium. We hope the present work serves as a complement to the only other full-length scholarly anthology on the topic: Music and Esotericism, edited by Laurence Wuidar and published in 2010. Wuidar's tome mainly featured European contributors, whereas ours is weighted (by circumstance, not design) toward scholars from North America. Esotericism is a concept with global application, so the domain of music and esotericism is too vast to be scoped by any finite text. This book is a sampler, not an encyclopedia. As relevant fields of research swell and intersect, future projects will fill the gaps.

What Is Esotericism?

Right away we face a conundrum. Neither scholars nor practitioners agree on a definition. A new field of study could stall right here. But in this case, the flaw might show a vital side of the subject. Whatever “esoteric” refers to, it is allusive and elusive, inherently hard to map. Esotericism has to do with aspects of world and self that are liminal, neither obvious nor fully occulted. We are reminded of a statement by Václav Havel: “We have totally forgotten what all previous civilizations knew: that nothing is self-evident.”

In this sense, the “esoteric” is part of everyone's life. We all have moments that hint of “more to it” than appearance gives us—something seems to be going on beyond, below or behind the face of things. These glimmers can dawn as vertigo, cryptic presence, the rustle of unseen life, a tinge of nostalgia, déjà vu or presque vu, and in more imaginal guises—visitations and voyages, in dream or awake, or an utter melting into the unutterable. Most of us ignore these flashes of depth, most of the time. But glimpsing transcendence can unsettle, and even uproot. We are beckoned and find ourselves on a quest to understand, even if path and goal are veiled. Such inquiries are a prime source of novelty, for individuals and groups. This pattern is found not only within and across societies. It is a basis of life.