How is it that we have such a playground of sound to create with? An infinite array of music can be created with just 12 tones-
If you stop and really think about it, it really is quite a miracle.
It makes me think of the words written by Francis Chan in his book "Crazy Love"--something he calls the "Awe Factor":
"Did you know that a caterpillar has 228 separate and distinct muscles in its head? That's quite a few, for a bug. The average elm tree has approximately 6 million leaves on it. And your own heart generates enough pressure as it pumps blood throughout your body that it could squirt blood up to 30 feet. (I've never tried this, and I don't recommend it.)...The God of the universe is the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor".
These words inspired me to explore the connection between God and music which is a fascinating and very rich topic. We all know that composers harnessed their creative potential from God and used it to glorify Him. For instance, JS Bach spent his whole life and under difficult circumstances (without much money and hardly any acknowledgement) writing all his music as a gift from God to God. He signed all of his compositions "To God be the Glory". Today it would take someone nearly 50 years just to copy by hand all the music he wrote--and that's just a fraction of it, since a great deal of it was lost after Bach's death in 1750. That type of selfless dedication and discipline is simply jaw dropping. Add to it the factor that this music is so breathtakingly exquisite, intricate and nearly 300 years after the time it was written fresh and utterly modern, well that is really something to marvel at!!
If we can say that this music originates from God, how does the experience of hearing or playing it affect us? Wouldn't this be some sort of transcendent act?
I had a pretty revelatory experience when I was a kid that led me to truly believe that all great classical music from Bach and beyond was simply not of this earth, but from heaven.
When I was 8 years old I received a gift of a recording of Artur Rubinstein playing Chopin--I didn't know much about music yet and was just learning to play the piano, but it had a very strange effect on me. Each time I would listen to it, I became literally immobilized from the beauty of it--It was like a arrow of beauty that pierced the heart. I couldn't move or do anything, just listen and let it wash over me. Inevitably I would always find myself moved to tears and a weird sensation came over me, sort of like someone was rearranging the pieces of my heart.
As I got older the hypnotizing effect of classical music continued its hold on me, and I never stopped to question the connection between God and music. In fact, the more I studied classical music, the more I became convinced that the composers didn't write the music, but God did, whispering the notes that got translated through their pens. Certainly the the phenomenon of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a shining example of this fact. As he dazzled crowds with his genius at the tender age of 7, his father Leopold boldly declared that "Wolfgang's gifts come from God, so that all may see that His work." Surely, the incredible music that Mozart wrote reflect the Divinity that was planted within. Maybe Mozart was God's 'ghost-writer'?
Are classical composers messengers of God communicating power, hope and otherworldly beauty? Their message is a shrouded one, coded in sound, pattern and rhythm. It is a secret message that when listened to allows you to have a private moment of awe with the Divine.
Bearing this in mind, I think it is no coincidence that people receive not only pleasure from music, but also healing. Studies done on cardiac patients have shown that their recovery time is faster and more complete when classical music is played in their hospital rooms. On a more fantastic level, the vibration of certain notes have even been shown to eradicate certain cancers. Surely, this is potent stuff!!
Like all languages, music is one that also needs to be explained and understood, especially classical music, which is lies on the outskirts of our modern world. To access the Divine within it, we need certain tools:
"If you honor and give thanks to God with your spirit in sounds nobody understands, how can others honor and give thanks also if they do not know what you are saying?" (I Corinthians 14:16)
When we apply a little study, focus and open our heart to it, the rewards are plentiful. Classical music is back, baby!
I will be starting a series of postings on my blog beginning next week specifically about composers and the miracles of their music--going beyond the notes to the core. I will be calling it "Getting to the Core of the 'Score'." What will be revealed is that we all share in the same struggles, hope and passion of humanity and that this music reflects all that we are, all we hope to be--
...and it is AWEsome!!
No comments:
Post a Comment