The Essentiality of Music

Confucius, the famous Chinese philosopher, noted, “Music produces a kind of pleasure which human
nature cannot do without.” Music is everywhere. We experience the thrill of hearing an orchestra play
the opening theme of

Star Wars

or play Beethoven’s unapologetic

Symphony No. 9

. When “that song” comes on, everyone abandons their duties to make way for dancing, karaoke-style
singing, and bonding. Since the beginning, music and people have been inseparable; almost every
activity is paired with ambiences, anthems, or songs. But there begs a question: though we know music
is synonymous with our humanity, what is it about music that makes it

essential

? What aspects of music make it impossible for us human beings to separate ourselves from its
seductive, all-encompassing powers? To unravel this mystery, we must understand the human body’s
unique reaction to music; from there, we can contemplate music’s essentiality to the emotional, social,
and spiritual.To begin, the power that music has over the human body is unparalleled to its hold over
animals’ bodies. A wide variety of animals can exhibit traits similar to those of human beings, a few
traits being the ability to recognize a reflection, to mourn over their dead, to paint, and to have a sense
of humor. However, a human’s connection – more directly, reaction – to music is unseen in any other
animal that exists on the planet. The authors of

Resonances: Engaging Music in Its Cultural Context

describe the human brain’s complexity and its unique aptitude for