The Voice of Music

Does the mind listen or does it feel . . . not sensually . . . rather contemplatively when in deep thought?  Cosmically, if the mind has the ability to listen, with which sense does it perceive, the mind or the ear?  Who is doing the addressing, the composer or the source of that which is being composed?

Speaking deeply, on what does the mind focus its attention?  Does the true musician really hear when he composes or does the one musical note transcend from a place which manifests, arranges and rearranges the one element into that which we perceive as the many?  When the composer closes his eyes does he really concentrate on his ears or does he contemplate on the arrangement of the manifestation of what will become sound?  What of the person who is blind, deaf and does not possess the sense of smell?  Which of the senses would alert this person of the approach of the enemy? Would the relevance of space whether wide open or densely compact matter?  What can be said then of intuition or of vibration? Does music transcend space and time?  If it does then it would have gravity.  Suppose space and time are human made referential concepts; would then music and language have the property of gravity?  Is it possible that there be an existence of a kind of music which stands on its own . . .  rather un-intrusive, yet that which it conveys is felt rather than heard?  Does music really change or could it be that it is merely rearranged?  Is music really a source of change or rather transcendence?  If it is the latter, could change be possible?  Linguistically speaking did the origin of language begin from the many or could it have come from one source, and thus, be subject to rearrangement like that proposed of music mentioned earlier?

Is it possible that rather than music evolving in2 Earth music, it moves closer to the nature of its origin which is self-subsisting and stands alone?  In other words, is it moving closer to that which it has transcended or does it move away from its true home? Could it be possible that once our ears have become more sensitive and educated our mind recollects that which has been forgotten or could it be that, once the mind discovers it has recognized it then educates the ear?  It should be noted that all mystical experience is associated with some kind of belief.  If the composer has a mystical experience brought to him by the Muses does he have a belief in his music or does he have a belief in the concept of music, in and of itself, which stands alone and reflects?

If the soul is an antenna, where is the mind in the picture you are painting?  If the body is the instrument from where does the instrument get its information to which it can apply to the amplifier?  And, what is it that is being amplified a feeling or a sound or both?  If both, which comes first?  Could it be that mind communicates with a soul or does it communicate with the soul?  Is it (the soul) the simplest of simple or the most complex of the complex?

Like the Zen painter, would not the composer of music have some understanding that there is only being…?  Would the Zen painter take the position that music is a form which can be a path to eliminate that most natural to the Sensual Being . . . Desire?

It was asked of a painter the following questions:
If you were asked to paint a picture of love what would you paint?
His answer: I would paint my children.
If you were asked to paint a picture of hate what then would you paint?
His answer: The collision of the + & – energy.
If you were asked to paint a picture of Universal Truth what would you paint?
His answer: I could not paint that picture.  The concept is perceived differently for every being.  It is a universal subjective value judgment based upon one’s experience.

If the composer of music were asked to close his eyes and answer the same questions, how might he respond?  Could he, through music, convey the same or different?  In effect, what is being asked is, since there exists love, hate and indifference, two of which involve emotion and one which stands on its own and reflects, of the three, which do you suppose could be thought most closely in connexion with truth?  Is the concept of music one that can be considered meaningful?  If so, does it instruct or is it merely a form of entertainment?  What is being communicated in that instant when the composer of music is in the midst of creating?   Is there any sense of meaningful discourse that could be considered where the composition of music is concerned?  Of all the disciplines is music closest to the Nature of Truth?

Kay Lynn Gabaldon

– circa 1996