Music is the soul of the universe
Fri, 21 Jun 2024
MUSIC - THE SOUL OF THE UNIVERSE
Yen
The famous Greek philosopher Plato said: Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. Music will always speak when words fail. It is the only tool with infinite power, which can reach the spaces between the heart and the soul, turning into a catalyst with the ability to create infinite, profound and ineffable joy.
Beethoven is known to have said that music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. His symphony No 5 in C minor is ample testimony to his words. Listen to Chopin’s piano masterpieces or a soulful cry of a violin, the fluttering whisper of a flute, the sargam of a Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, or the stratospheric high notes of Whitney Houston or Celine Dion, Kishori Amonkar, or Lata Mangeshkar, and one is instantly transported into an ethereal realm, not of this world. An urdu poet once said that music can impact matter so much that one can see a heart even inside a stone.
“Mausiqui’ an Arabic word which turned into the English ‘music’, is a universal language of serenity, which the cosmos uses to express itself. Nature communicates in the joyful abandon of sounds and song and colour. A flowing brook, the trance of sea waves, or the gentle rustle of the wind whispering through the willows - the chatter of raindrops, or the howling of a wolf, the mew of a kitten or the call of the koel, or the warble of the warbler - all music of the wondrous magic of nature and the world.
Music is to the soul what words are to the mind. Everything in the universe has a rhythm, and everything pirouettes and dances, like the pulsing of a pulsar or the incessant beat of a heart. Anything that is inexpressible can be best expressed either by silence or by music. After listening to “Moonlight Sonata’ or “Nocturne’, one might be tempted to say, “If there is heaven here on earth, it is here, it is here,it is here”.
Music has a humanising quality. It makes us both human and humane. It has a therapeutic effect on the mind and is a tool to express life. Rhythms are known to curb criminal tendencies. They are known to diminish feral instincts not only in humans but also in animals. In fact when we sing together in harmony our hearts start beating together.
Research has shown that playing music together releases oxytocin into the brain, which promotes trust, empathy, and the ability to infer the mental state of others. A song also has the power to arouse emotions, get you to cry or smile. Music has a great capacity to make us feel and romanticise love, it is also a factor that accompanies other types of love and feelings. All great love stories and films had historic musical themes accompanying it. Sometimes the musical score became more famous than the original story.
Imagine if we all started our day singing, how happy our lives would be. Empowered like this we could unite polarised people, bringing love, happiness and peace to the world.
Making and listening to music has been shown to activate the oxytocin system, which is also involved in parent-infant bonding in most mammals, and appears to have a wide range of social effects in humans. Listening to music we enjoy, has been scientifically proven to release dopamine — the same pleasurable neurotransmitter that is released in our brains when we fall in love or have intimacy.
As music increases our overall feelings of well-being, it is thought to decrease pain perception. Some scientists suspect that music's effect on the physical body, though, may be at least partially rooted in the fact that sound waves are ultimately vibrations.
This longest standing, self prescribed therapy in history, boosts dopamine, lowers cortisol and it makes us feel great. Our brain functions better, when primed on music. It is the best and cheapest mind altering drug in the world. It is better to be addicted to it than to any other substance.
The effect of music is much more powerful and penetrating than that of the other arts. Other arts speak only of the shadow, but music expresses the essence. It can heal wounds where medicines cannot reach or even touch.
Imagine if people spent all their time listening to or playing music, they would have no time to indulge in wars. Whatever life throws at us, music is bound to soften the blow. It lives forever - being stronger than death, stronger than time, and can hold us all together when nothing else can. It is like a powerful ray of moonlight amidst gloomy darkness.
Music is a great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common. Even the most tightly closed heart will open to its magic key. Beethoven once said that it is a higher revelation than all the wisdom and philosophy of the world. Words do make us think but music makes us feel. Thus a melodic rhythm makes us feel a thought. Nothing else in the world is capable of this.
The power of music is immense with a superbly positive healing effect. It is medicine for the mind and soul. Science has long concluded that humans are hard-wired to respond to good music. Louis Armstrong the American jazz trumpeter and vocaIist with the most iconic song of the sixties “What a wonderful world” said, “I'm not certain about many things but one thing I know for sure is that no matter where you are from, what culture you are in, what race you are, somewhere deep inside you, you crave and love music.” He said “Music is life itself.”
We can be united as one in music even in the midst of war or when we say we ‘hate’ one another. The Christmas Truce that happened more than a century ago in 1914 (WW 1), was started because of a Christmas Carol - ‘Silent Night’.
World Music day -The Fête de la Musique, is celebrated for its diversity and beauty around the world on 21st of June. Celebrated on the day of the summer solstice, was originated in Paris in 1982 by Jack Lang, then Minister of Culture of France, as well as by Maurice Fleuret. Ever since, the festival has become an international phenomenon, celebrated on the same day in more than 700 cities in 120 countries, including India, Germany, Italy, Greece, Russia, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Canada, the United States, the UK, and Japan.
In the Western English speaking world, the day has become known as ‘Music Day’, ‘Make Music Day’ and ‘World Music Day’.
‘Fête de la Musique's’ purpose is to promote music. Amateur and professional musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets, under the slogan "Faites de la musique" ("Make music"). Thousands of free concerts are staged throughout the day, making all genres of music accessible to the public.
