The Whole Music Experience

Wikipedia image (Here is another excerpt from my book Whole Music (Soul Food for the Mind Body Spirit ), the chapter on classical music). Date with Immortals: Western Classical Music European classical composers represent the stuff of legends.  These immortal musicians traipsed through the centuries landing in the digital age.  Would classical composers capture our imagination if movie makers had not recreated their lives?  Would we have fallen in love with the classics if Mozart had not landed on the big screen played by quirky Tom Hulse or if Gary Oldman had not rendered our beloved Beethoven and unraveled the German composer’s mysterious romantic life? We knew that the biographical pictures gazed mainly at the personalities behind the music, while tossing sound bites of the composers’ music at viewers.  Lush eye-candy grabbed our attention while we learned little about the actual music.  What is classical music? Why have we add...

Face it, many of us are feeling like we're a high wire act these days so staying balanced and grounded feels challenging.  When we feel stress, tension, or too much chaos in the world we need to take time out and retreat either into silence or with relaxing classical music. You could even listen to new age or other types of music, but I choose classical music specifically because we know the key of each piece.  Also with classical music, you can bet that the second movement of a concerto or even a symphony will slow down and provide a respite, but more so with the concertos.  I feel that chamber music provides the most relaxation since the brain doesn't go into overdrive keeping up with several musical themes.  Solo instruments provide the most relaxation, especially instruments playing low tones--the low end of the piano, a prominent bass ostinato, cello, bassoon, etc... I'm providing you with a list of composers, compositions and 2nd movements (or whole piece...

photo by Patricia Herlevi, Happy Flowers Consider how music affects our moods.  When we listen to songs from our formative years, we wax nostalgia, but this can have therapeutic effects too.  We hear of people listening to romantic music to get them in the "mood" and marches and political anthems often accompany rallies.  But how conscious are we of shifting or creating moods with music? I've already mentioned rhythmic entrainment and resonance on this blog so we're not heading in that direction today.  Hopefully, you have kept a music journal where you have tracked emotional and physical responses to music and sound exposure.  I would even go as far as asking you to listen to music you heard as a child, even if this music was the favorite of a sibling or parent.  Then track your emotions, feelings, and thoughts. Where does your mind wander to, which memory surfaces? How does this memory cause you to feel? Do you feel angry, sad, or elated? And ac...

Javier Perianes (Piano) Beethoven Moto perpetuo (perpetual motion) Harmonia Mundi When I desire to hear the softer side of Beethoven, I listen to his piano sonatas.   Think Moonlight Sonata which these days, ends up on new age and relaxation CDs.   Spanish pianist Javier Perianes performs four of Beethoven’s sonatas and the musician focuses on the perpetual motion implied in these compositions.   Yet, the opener Sonata no. 12 (Marcia Funebre), first movement, pauses and reflects or at least it sounds that way coming through my laptop speakers.   The liner notes cite that the compositions all end with moto perpetuo (a rapid succession of notes).   If you want to hear an example, listen to the fourth movement, Allegro of Sonata no. 12 . However, my concern revolves around the relaxing qualities of the sonatas, and even with the rapid succession of notes that end each composition, calmness envelopes, even with the most rapid passages. ...

Maurice Ravel 1. Prokofiev, Piano Concerto 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKJm3Wre1iU 2. Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto 3 (Olga Kern) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAoQoZBTqLs 3. Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7b1FkZYarU 4. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT7_IZPHHb0 5. Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (Dance of the Swans) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd4VsbM4fOo&feature=related 6. Mozart's Clarinet Concerto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOxX0xGTOyE 7. Mozart's Magic Flute (Queen of the Night Aria) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJJW0dE5GF0 8. Bach's Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64Xb3qiXR9Y 9. Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez (Yepes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxwceLlaODM 10. Ravel Piano Concerto in G (Grimaud performing 2nd movement) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRTWLQ4nI6Q This list of pieces runs...

So many times I have read studies about depression lowering immune responses and happiness boosting immunity.  I believe this is true and I believe that the pleasure of listening to delightful music enhances are immunity.  I know when I feel rundown with a cold or other infections, I bring out my favorite classical pieces.  Here is a list of 10 I highly recommend. Try them, and I guarantee you will shorten your recovery time. 1. Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun--Claude Debussy (French) 2. Clarinet Concerto in A major--W.A. Mozart (Austrian) 3. Exsultate Jubilate--Mozart 4. Rhapsody in Blue--George Gershwin (American) 5. The Grand Canyon Suites--Ferde Grofe (American) 6. Appalachian Spring--Aaron Copeland (American) 7. Six Brandenberg Concertos--J. S. Bach (German) 8. Piano Concerto in G major--Maurice Ravel (France) 9. The Fountains of Rome--Ottorino Respighi (Italy) 10. The Swan of Tuonela--Jean Sibelius (Finland) If you need a huge ...

San Francisco Symphony Michael Tilson Thomas Emanuel Ax (piano) Beethoven Symphony No. 5 and Piano Concerto No. 4 SFS Media/Harmonia Mundi If I had the chance to interview the late Joseph Campbell, I would have asked him about Beethoven’s 5th Symphony . After all, fate knocking at the door followed by a quest into darkness with the eventual emergence into triumph is what Campbell would have labeled, “a hero’s journey.” For Beethoven fate came knocking at the door alright. During the four years it took to write this short and powerful symphony, his hearing deteriorated, he suffered from a finger infection that could have destroyed his career (antibiotics weren’t discovered yet, infections could turn into gangrene…), the woman he loved married another man, and Napoleon occupied Vienna. And yet, the first movement that swayed under the weight of its anger and frustration, also supplies listeners with a few angelic interludes. But the strings burst in anger, the horns rant, a...

Wikipedia Not all Beethoven compositions are created equal, ditto for Chopin’s repertoire and fill in the blank with a composer’s name. To say that all of Mozart’s music increases IQ levels is an overstatement and a false assumption. I feel sad for anyone who only listens to Mozart to increase their IQ because then they miss out on the holistic experience of Mozart’s music. And I doubt any of these composers with the exception of Mozart (after he joined his local chapter of the Freemasons), composed with any healing or energetic intentions. Most classical composers during their time, composed for commissions from the church or an elite patron. After music publishing arrived, the composers earned money through publication of their compositions, which in order to earn their keep, had to appeal to music audiences, as well as, amateur and professional musicians. So we need to keep this in mind when working with music for healing purposes. Classical music goes a long way in heali...

Paul Lewis, Jiřì Bêlohlàvek and BBC Symphony Orchestra Beethoven Complete Piano Concertos Harmonia Mundi For many listeners, hearing Beethoven’s music could feel triumphant, victorious, and invigorating. For other listeners, the German composer’s work might feel fraught with anger, frustration, and darker emotions that they would rather not address. But for all of us, Beethoven can lead us into our darkest places where we can heal our wounds and emerge triumphant. That’s the journey that most of Beethoven’s music represents, bordering on shamanic, raising the dead parts of ourselves, and liberating ourselves from our oppressors, both inner and outer. Beethoven’s 5 piano concertos prove no exception to this concept. Our musical shaman in this case is pianist (I’m assuming he’s English) Paul Lewis who in the realm of Beethoven, takes charge of this domain and plays the concertos with a sense of authority and mastership. You can feel the triumphant moments as well as the sen...