Track by Track: Shani Diluka on Pulse

Track by Track is a dynamic way for an artist to guide you through one of their albums. Exclusive audio commentary features personal insights and invaluable context, bringing you closer than ever to the music. For Shani Diluka, making music is as much a spiritual practice as meditation. In Pulse, which takes its title from the rhythmic repetitions and hypnotic patterns of minimalist music, the pianist and poet uncovers subtle shades of meaning beneath the surface of pieces by, among others, Philip Glass, Moondog, John Adams, Meredith Monk and John Cage. Yet Pulse also speaks of the force that sustains life itself, the beat of the heart, the rise and fall of the breath, the ceaseless ebb and flow of the natural world, the frenetic energy of cities. “This is the paradox of humanity,” Diluka tells Apple Music Classical. “We’re connected to nature but are also able to be in this crazy city rhythm.” Pulse, she notes, is also about unity in diversity, an idea as central to quantum physics as it is to the world’s store of ancient wisdom. “I have friends in France who are famous astrophysicists, one of whom worked with Stephen Hawking. They tell me that we all come from the explosion of stars, that we are all stardust. Everything has this common point, which means we are all connected to the universe. The album contains these different voices with different ideas, diverse ways of looking at the world, but there’s something in each that connects them.” In this exclusive Track by Track, hear Shani Diluka take us on a personal journey through Pulse.