What's the Sound of Colour? Kandinsky and Music

* In this latest episode of ‘Listening in’, I look at the work of Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky and how his paintings were influenced by music. Kandinsky had synesthesia, which meant that when he heard sounds, he saw colour and when he saw colour, he heard music. In this essay, I consider how he thought about colour and form (including what he thought some colours sounded like), as well as considering how his push towards abstraction was to achieve the freedom of expression he felt music had already attained. In particularly, I focus on his 10 ‘Compositions’, which seem to be the pinnacle of his abstract work, and possibly the closest he ever got to music in art.

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FURTHER READING/RESEARCH

[paulbu]

This is probably one of the most underrated art channels on youtube!

[l.t.renaud]

This is the only good video about Kandinsky on the internet. Thoughtful, creative, and without the misinformation that routinely circulates about him. Bravo many times over and many thanks.

[JoeyGirardin]

Words cannot describe how vastly underrated this channel is

[Lamadesbois]

I remember sitting on a bench in the Strasbourg museum of modern and contemporary arts. In front of me was the Salon de Musique designed by Kandinsky. At first, there was the color of the walls. One was made of anise tiles, another was deeply dark. Not much happened.
But then, after nearly a minute, the abstract figures started to produce sounds in my mind. Some squiggles turned into a violin section, parallel lines became busy percussions, and soon there was a whole symphony of timbre dialoguing before my eyes. The imagined volume of these sounds left me in a state of oceanic awe that carried me around the museum, open to every piece and profoundly enchanted.
Your video made me think again about this experience and realise that it was what Kandinsky intended. How inspiring. Thank you.

[raneanubis]

I’m so so happy you’ve made this, it’s almost brought a tear to my eye. I remember a friend of mine years ago told me about Kandinsky when I told her I saw patterns when I hear sounds. I immediately looked up his work and I could not BELIEVE my eyes, he painted EXACTLY what I saw. I was heavily convinced he saw music the same way I do, this video really drove it home. Thank you.

[lionofjudah]

Synesthesia is a fascinating phenomenon, and I'm so happy that someone like you has now talked about it! Beautiful work once again.

[finnianmurphy]

Barnaby, watching this essay was an emotionally intense experience. I felt my heart racing when you illuminated the chords in the last geometric work. Tasteful pace, riveting content and impressive composition mate.

[petsounds]

How amazingly meta to have a video on art in which not only the subject of the video is beautiful, but also the video in and of itself. Like the art of Kandinsky, your videos are creatively inspired, masterfully arranged, and, most importantly, emotionally poignant. Thank you Listening In for your hard work!

[enidhorowitz]

As a musician and budding artist, I found this fascinating. Without having synesthesia, it's hard to understand exactly what Kandinsky experienced. Synesthesia could be considered a seventh or eighth sense, one that not everyone has. Thank you for this video!

[rafystfvids]

who else is watching this for art class, thought it was gonna be boring and ended up liking

[monicacall]

As a professional cellist (mid-blue and madder red) I was totally inspired by this video. I’ve always felt a deep connection to Kandinsky’s work because of the colors and now I know why. It’s speaking the language that I know best. Many many thanks to you for this wonderful and enlightening video!

[WeltgeistYT]

Beautiful video, loved the sound editing in this one. You also explained Kandinsky in a way that is understandable and relatable to people who might not be well-versed in the aesthetic theories behind it all. Content like this is truly valuable.

[georgekirazian]

One of the most exciting 10 minutes on YouTube.... And I enjoyed the "Im Abendrot" passage. Thank you.

[baileycharlesworth]

I happen to have synaesthesia and very often assign colours to letters, numbers, days of the week, months of the year, words and especially sounds but I have never seen a colour and heard a particular instrument which is truly fascinating. As a musician and composer, I often feel and see the colours of the music I am creating but never the other way around. I have never seen a painting or colour and instantly been struck by inspiration. When listening to my cello concerto, I see Movement 1 as black, movement 2 as red and movement 3 as blue, which is subject to the key signatures (G, Eb and B - In that order) and the colours of the letters but also the way the music is shaped and how it makes me feel. Truly an extraordinary phenomenon.

[DNRG]

I was privileged to experience the crossing of my senses once (for several hours) when I was 16 years old... could hear colors and see sound. 💙🌹🧡🌼💚 forever memorable.

[asterius]

Such a well made video, extremely fascinating. I'm absolutely shocked at the size of your channel. I really hope the hard work pays off for you eventually!

[Vanitasmortedigital]

A brilliant and informative video on a lesser known aspect of Kandinsky's art. As someone who also has synesthesia myself, I have laerned to embrace it's effect on my life and on my work as an artist, I don't think of it as a condition, more of another compomant of my creativity, after I had a stroke the effects of it became more pronunced.I love looking at abstract art as I can also haer what I'm looking at and it makes viewing art a really unique experience.Kandinsky's paintings have a realy lyrical quality, a sense of his capuring the sounds of colour as he painted them.

[Char_T-ve]

Bravo! Thank you for posting this. It struck many chords within me, and left me breathless at various points. You've put together an excellent summary that gives me a much broader appreciation of his work.. much more than I ever could have imagined. Loved this one❣

[darjeeling]

At first glance, Kandinsky's compositions are just shapes on a canvas, but this is abstract, a representation of Kandinsky's soul. Thank you, your videos teach me a lot.

[Idfkwhyy]

You helped me discover a new artist and a new form of viewing and experiencing art, you are clearly the best art YouTuber I've seen and I really love your work.