What

Makes Music So Wonderful?

By

EM Ariza

Before you begin reading what follows, I have to inform you that one of its
main purposes is to invite you to share an experience that I will describe in
detail further below.
But for now, let’s get onto the subject announced in the title. As you’re no
doubt aware, human beings use all their senses for the purposes of
communication with others of their species and interaction with their
environment. Among those senses is the perception of sounds, which have the
quality of provoking a range of reactions depending on the type of sound in
question.
Another is the sense of sight, which we tend to think of as the most
important one for the perception of our environment. However, in reality, it
has considerable limitations because it tends to induce us to make extremely
subjective observations. For example, if we are spoken to by an attractive
young woman, our mental disposition toward accepting her message will be
quite different than if the same message were spoken by a disagreeable
looking old man. It is the image that constructs an opinion in our minds that
has little to do with the content of the message we receive. This is a point that
is understood very well by advertising executives, which is why beautiful
young models find work easily in that sector. A similar case is a novel turned
into a movie. We have all had the experience, probably more than once, of
disappointment with a film adaptation because the image created by our mind
of a book that we’ve read doesn’t match the image we see on the screen. This
is logical, because the film shows us what the scriptwriter and director “saw”
in the novel, which usually doesn’t match the vision of other readers. Hence
the disenchantment.
This happens because images—our sense of sight—constitute a system of
information for our brain with a lot of limitations. Indeed, a very common
mistake is the tendency to intellectually accept only what we see, as if it were
effectively the absolute truth, when in fact it is not. An example is air, which is
essential for us to live, but which we cannot see despite the fact it allows us to
breathe and to keep heavy machinery like airplanes aloft. Nor can we see
sound waves, numerous ranges of colors, microorganisms… All these things,
though fundamental to human existence, are imperceptible to our sense of
sight for one reason or another. The senses of touch, taste, and smell are even
more limited. So I will focus here on the sense of hearing.
We know that people react intellectually and emotionally to sounds. A
baby crying makes us feel pity and arouses our protective instinct. The sound
of thunder inspires fear. The breaking of waves on the shore of a peaceful sea
can calm us. And there are a thousand other examples.
 Of all these sounds there is one created by human inventiveness, which we
refer to as music. And given that music is my subject here, I will begin by
defining it as I understand it.
Music is a combination of noises ordered by means of a rhythm, melody, and
harmonies, which can transmit and communicate messages between two or
more human individuals, without the need of words, organized in a way that
engages with the structure of our brains and senses. In fact, good music can be
a direct call from one heart to another, without filters or artifice.
However, just like they do with reading or painting (other forms of human
communication), people need first to acquire the habit of listening to music in
order to enjoy it, and a minimum level of learning can help us develop a full
appreciation for it. Such an appreciation is acquired when we are able to
distinguish and feel—especially in works of high quality—the different
simultaneous melodies made up of the noises that reach our ears in an
explosive barrage of notes which, without our noticing, penetrate our minds
like a torrent of cosmic rays and arouse our emotions.
Initially, to learn how to listen to music, which has nothing to do with
reading musical scores (I am referring simply to listening), it would be useful
to have a guide who has undergone the process previously. Further below I
will offer my services to this end, as you may just end up discovering a new
field of enjoyment in your life that you never even knew existed before. It
would be very much like the wonderment of a person who, due to some
strange pathology, only ever saw objects in black and white, but who is
suddenly cured of this condition by a physician friend and begins to see the
world with its full range of brilliant colors. No doubt such a person would
experience an explosion of sensations that he would never have been capable
of imagining before. Well, the same thing happens when you learn to listen to
the best music that the human race has been capable of creating. It is a
wonderful, emotional experience.
In my opinion, music is the most direct medium of communication
between two souls, because it establishes a relationship between two
individuals without the need of signs, words, or images that might condition or
limit the exchange. And the amazing part is that it does this exclusively by
means of a combination of noises.
As I noted above, when a noise penetrates our mind through our ears it
always produces a certain kind of effect, which can have different meanings
for different listeners. But when it is a combination of interconnected noises
that penetrate our minds, the effects are powerfully amplified. And if those
noises are ordered in a specific way, into what we call harmony, they establish
a deep connection with our brain and emotions. We are then experiencing the
kind of timeless music that is a language common to all human beings
regardless of the century you happen to live in.
But as I mentioned above, like anything in life, a little education is needed
to be able to enjoy music in all its fullness, just as to enjoy a good book you
first need to learn to read.
In my case, I have had a close association with music since I was young.
There is always a song or a melody linked to my memories, as I am sure
happens to many people. Also like most people, I have always liked and
continue to like the best contemporary music. My older brother, on the other
hand, listened almost exclusively to classical music, and I would hear it in the
background but not give it much attention, as I was more interested in modern
songs than in a type of music that I didn’t understand.
But the first experience I had that began to make me think that there was
something special about classical music was in the garden of a chalet in the
country where I used to spend summers with my family, when I was around
fourteen years old. That evening I sat down in a comfortable rocking chair to
watch the setting sun cast a thousand hues of color across the horizon.
Someone, I suppose my older brother, put Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony on the
stereo at full volume. My first reaction was to get up and complain, but I
stopped myself because, little by little, I began sensing that torrent of musical
notes, powerful, sad, joyful, passionate, and lively, and without knowing how,
they made me feel that I formed part of the natural world that surrounded me
that evening. The symphony ended when the sun had set completely.
Later, I felt compelled to ponder a while in an effort to understand what
had happened with this involuntary experience, an experience I had not even
looked for. I recognized that it constituted one of the most powerful and
intense spiritual sensations I have ever felt. At the time I could not come up
with an explanation, but some time later I understood that classical music has
a profound relationship with the world that surrounds us and with our own
human nature.
At this point, allow me to recommend that if you are ever invited to listen
to a good performance of Beethoven’s Fifth on the beach or in the countryside
at sunset, accept that invitation. Believe me, you won’t regret it.
I suppose that it is due to that experience that my curiosity was piqued, and
I began trying to comprehend what music is, and why this type of music in
particular has the capacity to elicit such powerful emotions, while at the same
time transmitting such a wide variety of sensations, such as affection, love,
sadness, energy, joy, or serenity, when in reality it is no more than a collection
of noises organized in a specific way, without a single word.
 For example, if we listen to a march, it lifts up our hearts. If we listen to a
waltz, we dance. In short, I came to understand that the immense power of
music can transport the listener beyond time and space, directly into the
emotional state of the composer as if it were a direct line from one soul to
another.
However, I also realized that not all music produces the same effects. For
example, if we listen to traditional Chinese music, we will find many pieces
that use a monophonic structure. This means that the piece consists of a series
of individual notes, played one after the other. This simple structure has, in
my view, a more limited capacity to arouse powerful emotions, except in the
context of ambient music.
Some might argue that this type of music in fact has the same capacity to
communicate as the works of Mozart, but I would not agree. By virtue of its
structure as described above, monophonic music simply cannot convey the
same degree of emotion, and therefore cannot be enjoyed on the same level as
the complex polyphonic structures composed by Mozart and Beethoven. Other
examples of monophonic structures can be found in Indian classical music and
the Gregorian plainsong of medieval Europe. In a way, all monophonic music
resembles those flat medieval paintings with no depth of field because they
were painted in a very two-dimensional way. As painting techniques
developed, pictorial images developed with them and began to appear more
three-dimensional. Monophonic music is rather like painting prior to this
development and is thus quite lacking as an element of human communication.
The definitive development of music as an art form in Europe occurred
after the Renaissance. It was then that the suitable instruments for playing
classical music were perfected, especially the piano, which is the most
complete and polyphonic instrument of all, representing a powerful tool for
composition for musicians of great talent. Indeed, it was from that moment
that the virtuosos began to create wonders. And as the very greatest of those
wondrous creators was Beethoven, I will use some of his works for the
experiment that I will propose below.
Let me begin by stating the obvious: Beethoven has improved humankind.
His compositions, which nobody has managed to equal, are noises transformed
into human passion. This point brings to mind a very revealing anecdote. A
journalist once asked Wagner who in his opinion was the greatest musician of
all time. He responded without hesitation: “I am.” Upon receiving this terse
reply, the journalist asked: “In that case, where would you place Beethoven?”
Wagner scowled at him, and after a moment of silence he replied acidly:
“Idiot, Beethoven is not a musician. Beethoven is Music!”
And this may well be true. But the supreme irony is that the greatest
musician that human genetics has been capable of creating composed much of
his work while deaf, which would be rather like the world’s greatest painter
being blind. Although the suggestion may seem cruel, it is possible that the
deafness that caused him so much suffering throughout his life was a blessing
for the rest of humanity, because it forced him to immerse himself in the
greatest depths of his emotions, cutting him off from the world and all its little
miseries and pettiness. This gave him a timeless connection with profound
emotions shared by all human beings because, essentially, those emotions are
always the same. We only change on the surface, but in substance we are all
the same, however many centuries may separate us.
Beethoven had serious problems relating to others in everyday life, as he was a
surly, passionate and even violent man. Yet he managed to communicate to
people all over the world with his music, which will continue to be listened to
as long as there are human ears to hear it, because it possesses a huge
emotional intensity that makes it immortal. Beethoven is not just the most
popular composer of all time; he has even become a symbol of music itself.
Someone once said: “Talent is what a man possesses. Genius is what possesses
a man.” That was Beethoven, a man possessed by genius.
No other human being ever made so much magic with noises, connecting
them in an invisible thread that communicates the tempestuous and varied
emotions of the composer to anyone who has the good fortune to hear them,
because good music is like a kind of hotline that connects two spirits, and
which, in turn, connects us with nature, making us feel that we form a part of
it, while at the same time taking us away from life’s little frustrations.
And now, in fulfillment of my promise to offer myself as a guide for
beginners in this experiment to introduce classical music, I am going to
propose a plan for your consideration.
Turn on your computer and connect it to your TV if the latter has no
internet connection, to be able to watch and listen to it more fully than you
would on the computer. Enter YouTube and look for Valentina Litsar, a
magnificent pianist. Choose her performance of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata 17,
“The Tempest.” An initial clarification: Sonatas are generally divided into
three movements. I recommend you choose the Third Movement, as it is
especially relevant to what I seek to demonstrate, although this composer has a
vast quantity of works with the same capacity, such as the Third Movement of
Piano Sonata 23, “Appassionata,” and so many superb symphonies. But we
have to choose one specific piece to begin this experience.
Sit down to listen to it with the most powerful volume that your
circumstances allow, and watch the pianist’s performance of this composition,
which lasts only around eight to ten minutes. But it must be done without
distractions, sitting in a relaxed position. If this is not possible, or you’re not in
the mood, leave it for another occasion. But when you find the right moment
to enjoy this experience, begin by surrendering to the thousands of sounds and
colors of the intertwining melodies that envelope you. Some will come to you
in the form of explosions of energy, while others will be full of slow, gentle
notes, always as a prelude to another explosion of sound and color. You fill
find that after each sonic explosion the composer seems to recognize that a
breath is needed—no doubt because he himself needed to take one while he
was composing it—before letting himself be drawn again over another cascade
of harmonic notes with powerful sounds. Don’t think. Just feel, and try to
discover the different melodies intersecting simultaneously and the
improvisations the composer makes with each of them, while attempting to
perceive all the colors of a beautiful image.
When, after some practice, you have learned to allow yourself to be
seduced, no doubt you will be able to see that this music communicates with
the most intimate levels of your being. You will see that Beethoven
simultaneously makes forceful use of all sound frequencies that humans can
hear: Low, medium, and high notes, with incredible interlaced melodies that
are repeated in different variations. Even silence becomes musical, creating an
expectant mood in the listener in anticipation of what is to come. Sometimes
he creates sudden moments of rest, before returning once again to a storm of
sounds that penetrate our spirit with the whole spectrum of auditory
perceptions. It is a monumental sensory experience that is well worth
discovering.
But everything was probably different for the German composer.
Beethoven lived entirely through and for music. He has outshone Haydn and
Mozart in the memory of subsequent generations. He gave all while receiving
almost nothing in return for the wonders he bequeathed to us, and he lived a
solitary life because he never found anyone like him. Exceptional people
inevitably tend to isolate themselves from their fellow men because their inner
world is different from that of others.
Many people foolishly expect a true genius to have a moral universe like
the rest of us, but this is not the case. In Beethoven’s case, probably if he
hadn’t been so different and with such an intense inner world, he might have
been incapable of giving us the music that he has left behind as a heritage to
all mankind, helping us to rise above our own petty little troubles.
In conclusion, good music is possibly the fullest and most complete system
of human communication that exists in the private emotional universe of
individuals, as there are no filters conditioning our hearing like we have for
the other human senses. Thus, if we learn to enjoy the great musical works that
human beings have been capable of composing, we can enjoy extraordinary
experiences of emotional plenitude.

EM Ariza