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Because
the voice expert has said: 'That is a soprano', this person can no
longer be anything else. Moreover, the composer has probably never heard
the voice of this particular singer and has written only for a
particular vocal pitch. Once a person has been handed over to the
composers, and therefore has to sing at a predetermined vocal pitch, he
loses the natural voice that he once possessed. But quite apart from
singing, one will find, even in speaking, only one person in a hundred
who speaks in his natural voice, and ninety-nine who are imitators. They
are imitating someone else, even though they perhaps do not know
it. . .
There is
nothing that can be of greater spiritual help than music. Meditation is
a preparation for perfection; but it is music that comes nearest to it.
I have seen the psychological power of music work such wonders (only in
congenial surroundings), with five or six people, by moonlight, in the
twilight or at sunset. It is as though nature itself were conducive to
the perfecting of music. Both work together; for they are one. . .
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Music is the
harmony of the universe in microcosm; for this harmony is life itself,
and in man, who is himself a microcosm of the universe, chords and
discords are to be found in his pulse, in his heartbeat, his vibration,
his rhythm and tone. His health or sickness, his joy or displeasure show
whether his life has Music or not.
What can music teach us? Music can train us in
harmony, and therein lies the secret or the magic of music. If one
listens to pleasant music, harmony is brought into one's life. That is
why man needs music, yearns for it. Many say that they have no time or
room for music, but these people have not yet listened to music. In
fact, if they had really listened to music, their soul would have been
touched, and they would have been quite incapable of doing anything
other than love music. . . In addition, music develops the faculty of
appreciating all that is good and beautiful in art and science, for in
music and poetic art beauty is revealed to one in every aspect. . .
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The wonderful
thing about music is that through it one can achieve concentration and
meditation independently of thought. In this sense, it bridges the gulf
between conscious and unconscious, between form and formlessness. If
there is one thing that can be grasped by the understanding and is
effective, yet at the same time has no form, that thing is music. Poetry
suggests form; line and colour suggest form; but not music. Rather does
it create a resonance which vibrates through the whole of the inner and
outer universe and transcends all notions of the denseness of matter.
Music can even transform matter into spirit, into its original state, by
touching every atom of a whole, living being, through the law of
harmonic vibration.
The beauty of
drawing and painting can go a long way; but it has its limits. The joy
of scents and perfumes goes even further. But music penetrates our
innermost depths and thus creates a new life-force, a breath of air that
lends joy to all existence and leads one's whole being to perfection.
Therein lies the fulfilment of human life.
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