‘My Love lay sleeping, where birds music made”- G. Fletcher
If somebody asks someone about the cause of the expansion of the universe, its manifestation, and the factors regulating it, the answer would unanimously have its foundation in ‘music’.
Scientifically metaphoric, the very creation of our galaxy and the universe beyond had begun with an enigmatic rhythm.
This apparent harmony is probably the progressive symphony; the sequential cycle of the world manifesting itself. According to the Oxford English lexicon – ‘Music is the art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds either or alone, with a view to beauty or coherence of form and expression of emotion’.
It surpasses every notion of pre-conceived ideas about life and its nuances. The sheer inevitability of music, when coupled by lyrics, is rapturous.
The whole experience of having our psyche attuning to this veritable delight is somewhat surreal, even incredible. Perhaps, being the most intellectual animal on Earth has its perks when it comes to decipher the finer elements of emotions.
Music is omnipresent. If we can diversify our perception, we can identify the opera of storms, the metal grunge of thunder, reggae of fire, the rapping of rain; so on and so forth. In a conceptual dogma, there is musical pattern even in our dreams.
If the reverie is a good one, it’s like progressive rock; nightmare- heavy metal. Every stage of human life has its own music that begins since the very moment of formation of zygote in mother’s womb to the time when one kicks the bucket, not forgetting the influx that happens between.
Thus, music is as discrete a subject as it’s a part of life. Music soothes our life, refreshes our mind, imparts relief at the time of grief, kindles spirituality and boosts us to be an ideal person, for us, our family, society and of course, our motherland.
Some trivia related to music:
1. The first World Music Day was celebrated on 21 June, 1982, in Paris as ‘Fete de la Musique’.
2. Presently, over 700 cities across 120 and more countries such as Germany, Russia, USA and Latin American countries celebrates the occasion enthusiastically.
3. A true music can change a sociopolitical shape of the country. There is nothing contradiction to the fact that our national anthem, Jana Gana Mana portrays the shape of India, literally and figuratively.
4. The Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016, was awarded to the legendary Bob Dylan “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”
5. Homer’s epic poem, Odyssey in Greek, Haridutta’s Manashamangal in Bengali, was of the oral tradition; used to memorise as music.
6. In fabrications, probably there was an esoteric branch of medical science which involved music. Before Hippocrates, music was used as one of the tools in medical processes.
On an ending ‘note’, the allusion of Tansen bringing about rain with his musical prowess is the progenitor of the fact that music is all about belief. Music creates unexpected spaces, the rest is beyond imagination.
Coordinator, Class X, Kalyani University Experimental High School, Kalyani