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Music and the Imagination
Music can spark our imagination. My sixth grade music teacher once came in with a recording of some symphonic Rachmaninoff and instructed us to take out our notebooks or looseleaf paper and write whatever came into our heads as we listened. I wasn’t sure what to expect since she didn’t tell us in advance what we were about to hear, but I remember feeling shocked as the sound crashed into me and then I began to write, and words flowed from my pen onto the paper as the music swept me away.
Music can also create emotion in the listener. We all can think of the power of a favorite song or classical recording. Have you ever been watching a television show or movie when you realized the only sense of suspense or excitement was coming, not from the plot or the scene or the actors, but from the music? The composer attempts to use this instant link to our brains to convey something to us, often successfully, even when the rest of the input does not support that idea.
As a musician, there are certain pieces or parts that I find incredibly satisfying. I am a decent instrumentalist but a very good singer, and sometimes I am transported when I feel the music flowing through me. I am connecting in a very deep way to the central power of the universe, the Creator God, and his entangled universe in which we are all connected in some quantum way. I breathe better, I sing more true, I shape the words in a way that is different. The sound waves pour out of my body and slam into the ears of my listeners, and they are changed by my music.
Is it my imagination, or does music really have this power?
Published in Group Writing
And of course the soundtrack that stole from Saint-Saens shamelessly:
Yes, exactly the kind of Irish songs I’m talking about. I recorded that song 15 years ago. Message me your address and I’ll send you the CD.
I’m out of that phase myself. Music has a kind of fashion sense. I was into blues as a late teenager, then tired of it. Now I like playing it again on fiddle (as opposed to guitar) as long as it’s not jamming endlessly on the I,IV,V progression. I’m liking prog-rock these days and recently discovered what I call “happy music” which is from games. Here’s a sample to wipe that Killkelly sadness away!
The recording engineers are absolutely amazing, with each section (strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion, and organ) balanced perfectly, along with the excellent performance as noted. The Royal Albert Hall was traditionally known for its bad acoustics:
I get the beauty of instruments. But I am most touched by the sung voice – and I think this is because it is the rawest expression of the soul, the emission of the divine spirit that is blown into each of us.
Since we are sharing examples… here is a piece of secular music that just grabs me – hypnotic.
And a Christian song and performance that blows my mind.
That’s a beautiful performance, but . . . I wouldn’t call that a “Christian song.” In spite of the repeated religious language, the whole thing is an extended metaphor.
The imagery invoked is alien to Judaism, and I heard what I guess I wanted to hear – when I looked up the lyrics I realized I was mis-hearing it! I found the performance so compelling I missed the actual words.
oops.
I’m not sure how I feel about the use of such strong religious imagery in this song. But as you say, the performance is beautiful.
And I frequently encounter that tension — music that I find absolutely astonishing and moving applied to a completely incongruous subject matter.
Ya, I have no use at all for the use of the religious metaphor.
Songs generally fit in one of three categories, important to understand before you set out to learn them: rhythm songs, melody songs or message songs. One of the three will be dominant, the other two supporting the one. It’s easiest to spot words that are not message songs – as you actually pay attention to the lyrics they make no sense at all. They’re merely vehicles for the melody or the rhythm. Have you ever paid attention to the lyrics of “Londonderry Air” (“Danny Boy”)? Or try Toto’s “Africa.”
Indeed! Music is power. I grew up in a home with a lot of music of all kinds. My Papa played the piano (Prelude in C#minor came to mind when you mentioned Rachmaninoff). He played classical, jazz, blues, pop and hymns, once in a while I would sing. Music has a way of lifting the spirits – even the saddest of songs (especially blues) brings a smile to the soul. Music is a gift straight from God, and in that alone, is great power. ;-)
Every artist “borrows.” The trick is to not get caught.:)
Related to these comments on film music – Film music has become our new classical music. For decades now, going back to 1940s at least, Hollywood has been a major employer of serious composers.
@drewinwisconsin beat me to it. But – yeah – that song is quite far from “Christian.” Despite it’s use of religious imagery, it would be considered by many Christians to be sacrilegious.
My little daughter and I were just commenting on “Maxwell Silver Hammer;” how jolly it sounds and how it is actually so horrible.
I remember a flash Hallelujah chorus in a Macy’s in New York a few years back . . . nope, it was Philly, and was called “A Random Act of Culture”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU
One of the best parts of these videos is the expressions on the faces of the people confronted with this unexpected spectacle. Audicle. Whatever!
December 20, 2010, a flash mob performance of the Hallelujah Chorus was planned for the Westwood Galleria Mall in Roseville, a suburb of Sacramento. Our chorus was invited to participate, but I don’t recall if any of them made it inside. Somebody put it on the internet, and it went viral. The Chorus didn’t happen, and thankfully the event turned out to be less spectacular than it might have, because…
https://www.kqed.org/news/9794/roseville-galleria-mall-flash-mob
Wow.
That’s a cautionary tale for sure!
Very interesting, thanks so much for sharing that.
Last night I recalled something that happened a year or so ago. We had just seen Yo-Yo Ma’s “The Silk Road.” One of the questions he explores is, “why do we make music?” I recommend the movie highly.
Soon after I was describing the movie to our church choir director, herself a PhD, in the music department of the local university. As I posed the question to her, she took on a sort of shocked, quizzical look, and responded instantly, “because we have to!” How can we not make music?
BTW do not miss the movie, “Itzhak,” now in theaters. You may have to look to find it. Do it. You’re welcome.
https://youtu.be/kWePUF1lFL4?t=4s
Yes, people were stunned. But look at how many folks stopped shopping and listened. Yes, a lot of them took pictures and videos on their cells, but why not?
There are other “Random Acts of Culture” videos available. I still like the Philly one best, but I’m open to recommendations . . .
Here is one of my favorites: