"something inherent in the composer himself"
"The success of MacDowell, in contrast to his contemporaries, lends credence to the idea that something inherent in the composer himself, rather than his training, historical epoch, attitudes or specific professional activities, makes the difference between quality and mediocrity." (J. W. Struble: The History of American Classical Music. p.39) 作者透過這一段話來點出十九世紀美國作曲家Edward MacDowell (1861-1908)之所以能脫穎而出的理由，引發我對於超‧領域的一些思索。 超‧領域之所以引發我的嚮往，其中一個理由就是它的雋永特質。它那超越時空的存在，總能使得某些認出它並與它聯結的人，也隨之超越肉身的限制，由同時代的人中脫穎而出。 然而這裡再次點出世俗的想法與超‧領域間的鴻溝(the difference between quality and mediocrity)："training, historical epoch, attitudes or specific professional activities . . . " 我們無法用這一切堆積出一個更超越的領域；然而 "something inherent in the composer himself" 卻是關鍵。 "something" －多麼不確定的字眼！然而相信熟悉超‧領域的人會知道，這是一個多麼帶著敬意的字眼，深怕一個我們言語中無法層次相當的用詞破壞了對它的敬意。而這個超越的世界，它雖然帶著深厚的傳承－或許我們知道、或許我們並未察覺－然而，它就在我們的裡面......