The Secret Power Of Music
"All music, based upon melody & rhythm, is the earthly representative of heavenly music" – Plotinus (AD 205 – 269)
"Hear, & your soul shall live" – Isiah 55:3
INTRODUCTION
Music as an organisation of sound is known to have existed for over 3000 years, & writings from the ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia, India & China suggest there was such an artform at least 1000 years previous to
this. In our so – called ‘scientific age’ it is often easy to forget this; & music as it was taught in English schools until very recently even served to implicate a denial of this fact, by its labelling of our mediaeval music as ‘primitive’, its
concentration on the theory of music apparent in the ‘common practice’ period, & by completely failing to mention the existence of methods of making music outside of the traditional Western art music mould.
Along with the increase in interest in the study of the theory & practise of other musical cultures on an equal footing to our own, there has been an upsurge of interest in what some people like to describe as the spiritual side of music – a
side of musical philosophy that has had an important (almost to the point of becoming religious in nature) influence on every musical culture on the planet at some point during their histories, even our own. Contemporarytheorists,
composers, & performers such as David Tame, Joscelyn Godwin, Terry Riley, Peter Michel Hamel, Joachim-Ernst Berendt, & Dane Rudhyar have all made studies in this area & published their findings & opinions. Even medical science has come to formulate the opinion that music has some kind of power beyond mere soothing & relaxation with the science of Music Therapy – in 1984 David Tame (Tame 1984: p 157) noted that music therapy was not in wide use
save for a few private practitioners, yet 16 years on in 1996 respected colleges such as the Roehampton Institute, & the Guildhall School of Music have courses in the subject, & local education & health authorities in places such as
Birmingham employ peripatetic music therapists to visit patients inhospitals & special schools. New technology has been developed in order to assist
practitioners, devices such as the EMS Soundbeam (a modern day
development of the Theramin) & its associated peripherals enable the
physically disadvantaged to benefit from sharing in the music making
experience, & some hospitals have specially designed ‘sense rooms’,
containing a myriad of coloured lights & fascinating sounds, in which
even
profoundly blind & deaf children experience the wonder & magic of the
environment around them.
MICROCOSM & MACROCOSM – MICROSOUND & MACROSOUND ?
The further back in time we go, the greater emphasis was placed on
the
concept of music, & even sound in general, as inextricably connected
to
spirituality, & even the act of Creation itself. Just as Rennaissance
philosophers
such as Robert Fludd (1574 – 1637) had their ideas of Microcosm &
Macrocosm (ideas which in themselves were strongly influenced by the
views
of Pythagoras (6th C. BCE) & Boethius (480 – 525)), with the
microcosm as the
physical world here on Earth (the Temporal Universe) being a
reflection of the
macrocosm of Heaven, or the Spiritual Universe, so the Ancients
believed that
audible sound (& thus music) was a reflection of a kind of ‘Primal’
sound or
vibration, which was taking place in the spiritual universe. This
inaudible sound
was thought to be the basis of all matter & energy in the temporal
universe, & in
its fundamental form was known to the ancient Hindu people as Om.
However,
just as pure white light can be differentiated with a prism into the
7 colours of
the rainbow, & as audible sound can be Fourier analysed into a series
of tones
of the Harmonic Series, so the primal scream was thought to have been
differentiated into a series of harmonics, or Cosmic Tones, which
were present
in varying combinations throughout the universe – in fact, these
tones, as the
most powerful force in the universe, were the universe. In ancient
Egypt these
cosmic tones were declared as the Words of the Gods, the Pythagoreans
of
ancient Greece knew them as the Music of the Spheres, & the ancient
Chinese
described them as the Celestial Energies of Perfect Harmony. With
this in
mind, to Christians, the words from the Gospel of St John ‘In the
beginning was
the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God’ could be
interpreted
literally in this manner to provoke thought as to the consequences of
more
sound upon the governance of the Universe; especially if one draws
parallels
with Hindu concepts: it is possible to equate the Hindu Om with the
Word, for
each are associated in scripture with the process of Creation, & each
are
associated with the ‘Son’ (Vishnu & Christ) in the respective
Trinity.
So, if one chooses to believe i: that there is such a thing as
Microcosm &
Macrocosm, & ii: the concept of Om (or whatever one might wish to
call it – the
Word, or the Primal Vibration) as the maintainance of Creation, then
it is not
such a great leap of faith to consider the possibility that audible
sound as we
hear it in the temporal universe is the same reflection of the
inaudible sound
that governs the spiritual universe – we have here the concept of
Microsound &
Macrosound. Furthermore, it is possible to take this belief further,
& assume
that, since the microsound is a reflection of the macrosound (& vice
versa),
whatever happens in the microsound also affects the macrosound –
ultimately
extrapolated, this means that audible sound, & therefore music,
affects the
spiritual universe; since according to this belief, the spiritual
universe affects
the temporal one, audible sound, & therefore music, affects the
physical world
around us.
MUSIC & PHILOSOPHY IN ANCIENT CHINA
One of the earliest people to have implemented these ideas in their
philosophy
to the extreme were the ancient Chinese. To them, each piece of music
was
more than a mere entertainment, or even a worshipful act, it was an
energy-formula which realised the sacred power of sound in its own
unique
way; each composition had its own effects on people, civilisation, &
the world. It
was this belief which influenced Chinese philosophers into directing
more than
an insignificant portion of their attention to the music of the
nation – if the people
were
to be protected from the ‘dangers’ of the misuse of the power of
music, &
if they were to bask in its optimally beneficial use, then it had to
be ensured that
only the ‘correct’ music was allowed to be sounded. For them all
music should
convey eternal truths, & influence the peoples’ character for the
better; it is no
accident therefore that the word for music (y