“Since music is the only language with the contradictory attributes of being at once intelligible and untranslatable, the musical creator is being comparable to the gods, and music itself the supreme mystery of the science of man.” (Levi-Strauss, 1970) |
Music. It is something which is like air, or the clothes you wear, or your nose. Easily forgotten. Tuned out by your brain. You don't realize how special it is until you need it. Or...bump it into a door.
Today music is everywhere; it is accessible and listening is easy and almost instantaneous. Music is a soul food, it always has been even before the advent of the radios, internet or Ipods. Its been around since before recorded history in some style or form, form all over the world. If you ask people, "what's the oldest type of music you can think of?" I bet you'll get a whole lot of 'classical-Beethoven' type answers. You might get a few 'tribal music', maybe. But the thing is its been around for a while. I always wanted to know why? Why does music...exist? Sure it probably did start as the human voice experimenting with mimicking the various sounds of nature, but when did the primitive "...shuuushhhhhshussssh..." of water evolve into opera or folksy tunes?
I don't know. That is a whole other crazy banana of its own, and I don't want to figure that out. But luckily some very cool people have... tried. Check out these links!
Today music is everywhere; it is accessible and listening is easy and almost instantaneous. Music is a soul food, it always has been even before the advent of the radios, internet or Ipods. Its been around since before recorded history in some style or form, form all over the world. If you ask people, "what's the oldest type of music you can think of?" I bet you'll get a whole lot of 'classical-Beethoven' type answers. You might get a few 'tribal music', maybe. But the thing is its been around for a while. I always wanted to know why? Why does music...exist? Sure it probably did start as the human voice experimenting with mimicking the various sounds of nature, but when did the primitive "...shuuushhhhhshussssh..." of water evolve into opera or folksy tunes?
I don't know. That is a whole other crazy banana of its own, and I don't want to figure that out. But luckily some very cool people have... tried. Check out these links!
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_19-6-2012-9-59-1
http://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk/dcrr/dcrr002.pdf
(that one is a bit of a read, about 200 pages. It's a research paper called the The Evolutionary Origins and Archaeology of Music)
http://www.questia.com/library/music-and-performing-arts/music/history-of-music/history-of-music
-More great links at that link above!
http://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk/dcrr/dcrr002.pdf
(that one is a bit of a read, about 200 pages. It's a research paper called the The Evolutionary Origins and Archaeology of Music)
http://www.questia.com/library/music-and-performing-arts/music/history-of-music/history-of-music
-More great links at that link above!
So why am I blabbing on about music? I was reading Othello in class and this one scene coupled with an interesting idea from my teacher got me thinking about this whole music origins thing.
Desdemona and Emilia her attendant are talking while Desdemona gets ready for bed. Desdemona is really emotional and so to sort of vent her anxieties, she breaks out in song. Othello isn't a musical. My teacher made a point of pointing that out to us. And I was like," oh yea, that's...noteworthy, that's cool that's cool. She sang to relieve her emotions, understandable." But then my teacher delved deeper into the significance of that scene. He said something along the lines of," wouldn't it be weird today if when you got emotional, you started to sing? Duh, imagine the weird looks you'd get. Of course it would, people just jam their ear buds in and turn on their smartphone. But they didn't have Ipods back then did they?"...etc. Of course my brain had a fart moment and went " Huh?...they didn't....?" Don't worry it was only a fleeting moment of stupidity, Iv'e recovered. Anyways, after that I had fun entertaining the question, "why music?"
So far I can only give my answer. Music to me is a profound emotional experience, an art of expressing our souls and of course a language untouched by the everlasting effects of the Tower of Babel. I cannot live without it.
~ Tina
Desdemona and Emilia her attendant are talking while Desdemona gets ready for bed. Desdemona is really emotional and so to sort of vent her anxieties, she breaks out in song. Othello isn't a musical. My teacher made a point of pointing that out to us. And I was like," oh yea, that's...noteworthy, that's cool that's cool. She sang to relieve her emotions, understandable." But then my teacher delved deeper into the significance of that scene. He said something along the lines of," wouldn't it be weird today if when you got emotional, you started to sing? Duh, imagine the weird looks you'd get. Of course it would, people just jam their ear buds in and turn on their smartphone. But they didn't have Ipods back then did they?"...etc. Of course my brain had a fart moment and went " Huh?...they didn't....?" Don't worry it was only a fleeting moment of stupidity, Iv'e recovered. Anyways, after that I had fun entertaining the question, "why music?"
So far I can only give my answer. Music to me is a profound emotional experience, an art of expressing our souls and of course a language untouched by the everlasting effects of the Tower of Babel. I cannot live without it.
~ Tina
One of my favorite songs. | just piano music by Brian Crain, I think it is beautiful. | I love the chills I get from this song. |