This musical initiative aims to engage the artistry and creativity of all the participants in nurturing an “ecosystem” of versions of the song material. Imagine a song that’s hundreds of years old, and which has spread throughout the world as cultures expand, travel, grow. There would be hundreds of different versions, each representing different musical values and cultural priorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Isaac Newton Project aspires to this level of diversity and variety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s how it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The original song material is a simple melodic setting of a quotation from Sir Isaac Newton. The great scientist’s words are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I don’t know what I may seem to the world, but as to myself I seem like a boy playing on the seashore; diverting myself, now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (As Sir Isaac’s collaborator, I changed “boy<\/em>” to “child<\/em>” in the interest of greater inclusivity.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n