Manuel Hermia, composer, improviser, and saxophonist-flutist, received funding in 2023 from Recherche en Art (FRArt, a department of the FNRS) for “The Theory of Rajazz, a Musical Geometry.”
The “theory of rajazz” proposes a new way of structuring musical material. It is the result of a combination of elements of modal music inspired by India and elements of tonal music. This has given rise to different techniques of composition and improvisation that open up new possibilities for expression.
Although it falls within the field of pure music theory, this theory does not imply any particular aesthetic and is intended for composers of all types of music. To demonstrate and explore this open field, during the second year of research on Rajazz, Manuel Hermia launched a call for scores, inviting composers who wished to do so to create new works based on this material and these ways of organizing it.
With this impetus, which is both theoretical in its presentation and collective in its call for projects, the system helps to open up a field that is both aesthetic and human, where three styles with invisible boundaries intersect: jazz, contemporary music, and world music (known as global music).
The final presentation of this research, in the form of a lecture on November 18 at 5 p.m. at the Conservatoire de Bruxelles (rue du Chène, 1000 Brussels), will attempt a cross-disciplinary approach that is accessible to both musicians and non-musicians, touching on music, mathematics, and the power of symbolism in art.