Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
~Berthold Auerbach~
Once I heard the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra perform in Centennial Park in Batavia. This was the latest in a series of concerts I had the pleasure of attending. I got to thinking about the place of music in our lives. Eventually I began to consider the contribution of music to civilization throughout history and across civilizations.
In college I attended Kabuki and Noh theater performances and also saw Chinese Opera. I found the music foreign to my ear and difficult to comprehend although I saw others in the audience who appeared quite comfortable with it.
Opera, symphony, folk and rap aficionados inhabit worlds which seldom intersect. Yet they all find rapture in their own forms of music. It may be difficult for devotees to find anything in common with other forms of music. Some music speaks to us in words while others rely on melody and rhythm.
What does music mean to us? Since lyrics can be secondary to music or lacking altogether, it can be hard to find words to express what music means to us. We might be left with only the emotions which music suggests and portrays.
Most of us can appreciate musical expression of joy, happiness and anticipation even if the music’s form is foreign to us. More difficult is learning to appreciate expression of pain, anger and hurt in unfamiliar music. Music often expresses emotions shared by the people of the culture in which it develops. We use music to celebrate, express our desires and grieve. We listen to lullabies when we are born. Dirges punctuate our funerals.
Archeological findings tell us that music was present in the earliest civilizations in one form or another, beginning with primitive drums. Throughout the centuries musical instruments have taken on increasingly complex forms. Have you ever considered the workings of a pipe organ? Despite the complexity of instruments, a recent concert at the Eastman Theater during the Rochester International Jazz Festival featured instruments constructed and played by musicians from Mali.
It’s easy for us to misinterpret the meaning of each others’ words, even when we have a common language. We assume that we know what others are saying, jump to conclusions about our differences from them and even see ourselves as superior to them. Words sometimes trip us and make it difficult for us to understand each other. What if we look at each other from another perspective and if we try to understand the place of music in each others’ lives, attempting to see and hear the feelings music expresses? Maybe such an approach would help us appreciate each other a little better without becoming lost in words.
Action Steps
- Listen to the music you like and consider why you like it.
- What emotions or life outlook does your music express?
- Are you comfortable with the emotions or life outlook?
- Listen to others’ music and see if you can tell what it means to them.
- If you can’t, try asking them.
Selection from my book, Navigating Life: Commonsense Reflections for the Voyage, available from Amazon