Many a colleague did not take me seriously then because they thought I was looking for something in music that simply did not exist. On his return to his native country Balan had to encounter much criticism and oppression because of his unusual attitude to music and his progressive ways of thinking. He was persecuted to the point where living and working in Romania was becoming impossible, and in 1977 he fled to Germany where he could finally begin to establish his ideas. Sound depends on a completely different culture, a culture that most of us have not learnt to handle. A particular kind of awareness is necessary in relation to music.
Many philosophers are more or less deaf to music.
They are able to solve all the problems in the world but they cannot pick out the lead theme of a piece of music. They are sensitive to intellectual ideas but not to musical ideas. All of us are almost like children when it comes to understanding music. There is practically no end to this process. With every effort you make, each time you earnestly try, you don't just get a sense but become convinced that you have gone deeper.