“You must be deaf,” replied Karlheinz Stockhausen when, some twenty years ago, I asked him about the influence of the Sun Ra cosmic art on the aesthetics and mythology of German composers. Since then, I have been wondering about the accuracy of his diagnosis. Does my inability to recognise intervals by ear make me deaf? Does the proud owner of perfect pitch experience sounds to a greater degree than someone affected by amusia? And do you have to hear music in order to listen to it, create it and perform it?

“Listening is not the same as hearing, and hearing is not the same as listening”: another outstanding composer, Pauline Oliveros, who died nine years ago, came to my aid. The distinction between the physiological process of hearing and the act of consciously giving meaning to music appears fundamental to any discussion of what music really is. Hearing is not enough for it to exist. Moreover, it may not be necessary to hear it at all in order to listen to it.

What is the difference between an accordionist and a terrorist? The latter has supporters. According to an old joke, Pauline Oliveros should rather be considered a terrorist, albeit one with a specifically pacifist agenda of deep listening. Nonetheless, she became as seminal to the accordion in America as Andrzej Krzanowski was in Poland. Oliveros left behind many unconventional but also fairly classic scores for this instrument. The Wanderer belongs to both categories: written in an almost classical style, but intended for an eccentric orchestra consisting exclusively of accordions and percussion. This is the lesser-known, playful, semi-entertaining and quasi-dance side of Oliveros.

Much better known and decidedly less conventional are her Sonic Meditations. They are essentially a collection of exercises in listening, sound communication (including telepathic), self-discovery, and building a sense of agency. This condensed course in composition and improvisation was taken by the Warsaw-based Głucha Orkiestra Perkusyjna (Deaf Percussion Orchestra). In many respects, the project ended in failure. Or success, if we consider the piece Bye, Bye Butterfly, which was born in the process, to be a success.

Michał Mendyk