The Significance of Music: The Universal Language

I am truly fortunate. I have found the one thing that makes life significant. It is one of the most abstract and mathematical of the arts requiring not only the utmost concentration and articulation, yet divine expression. It is the one thing that incorporates science, mathematics, language, history, physical education, insight, research and art in order to create expression. It is most universal yet inexpressible. It is none other than music. Music has required me to be specific with exact control, instantaneously subdivide time, learn a shorthand notation, reflect the times of its creation, and coordinate muscle movements while at the same time using emotive force to express what the music is trying to convey. Music is the most prominent element in our lives and at the same time, most indescribable.

Perhaps the mystification behind the origin of music would account for the inability to describe it.
Confucius once said that “music is born of emotion.” Music may even predate human speech. It has been viewed both literally and figuratively as a form of language or speech less specific than the spoken word, but possessing subtler shades of meaning and more emotive force. Robert Schumann once noted “perhaps it’s precisely the mystery of her origin which accounts for the charm of her beauty.” Music has also been perceived as inherently mystical or occult force, able to unlock elemental truths or principles that cannot otherwise be translated into written or graphic form. Certain branches of psychology and sociology consider the association of music to mental processes and social change. Many do not realize the profound effect that music has on our lives.

Music has the ability to provoke emotions. If one were to take the element of music out of a motion picture the audience would be left with a mere two-dimensional film. Due to the inherently soothing properties of music, Music Therapy is a current study offered at most colleges, and is considered a legitimate profession. Most business establishments strategically use different music at different times of the day to conform with the predicted mood of the consumer. The effects music has on the emotions is often used tactfully without anyone actually realizing it.

I have come to realize the significance of music in my life. The piano allows me to individually relish great music. Accompanying other instruments has allowed me to contribute to a piece of music while playing a vital, yet not single, role. Playing the violin in an orchestra has allowed me to experience aesthetic moments in which I cannot describe how elated the music has left me. Being in a string quartet, I know the required intimacy involved between the players in order to execute the music, leaving you hanging by a thread. Music is excitement, music is the most indulgent of chocolates, music is dangerous and requires utmost concentration and precision. Music is an eternal element, which was always here and always will be.