There is Something About Music

There is definitely something divine about music.

There is even an entire book in the Bible (or five depending on how you look at it) that is composed for/to music. Clearly God created everything; yet there is something special about music.
If you listen to the radio, most of the music is about love or at least some form of it. I believe that humans have such an attachment to love because we were created in love, in the image of Love, by Love, to love. Simply put: God, who is Love, created us to love and be loved by Him. That is why we have such an attachment to it. Sadly, the image of love has been distorted by the fallen world so that, so many people chase after what they think is Love, blindly. We were created to chase God (Love) but instead we chase what this world tells us love is.

Love is such a crazy thing that it cannot be fully expressed in words - it is above speech. We do not have the capacity to fully understand God and since God is Love how could we possibly begin to describe something that we do not fully understand. However, there is something about music that gives us the ability to express it more fully. There is something in the sharps and flats, chord progressions, crescendo and decrescendo, minor falls and major lifts or a ritenuto assai that speaks from the soul. Emotions so great that they can only be expressed through music.

Today I took my finals. I had one final exam covering stagecraft tools as well as painting; and the other, vocal performance. Unfortunately, i have been really struggling with my health these past few weeks so that i haven't had the energy to properly study. Praise God that i have been around painting, tools and construction long enough that i'm pretty well versed in stagecraft. As for my vocal jury (final), I have been a musician since i was eleven, however; I have just begun my vocal training. Regardless, when i am in pain music is soothing. Listening to my repertoire not only calmed me but also allowed me to "study", so today I was well prepared. Yet something happened when i got on stage. I had two songs to sing, O Cessate di Piagarmi by Alessandro Scarlatti and Evensong by Morgan and Lehmann.

I started with the Italian piece and did fairly well. Translated to English, the lyrics are basically pleading; oh no longer seek to pain me, give over and let me die...ect. It is composed to a lullaby tune so it is almost soothing as it is crying out. Musically i understood what i was saying; yet lyrically as i was singing, i only really understood that piagarmi means pain, martir means cry and morir means die. For this reason i really like Italian. I am able to express the emotion without choking on the words. Plus the language is more desirable for pure vowels.
On the second song, because i knew exactly what i was saying, i got choked up. Some of the lyrics are: fold your white wings, dear angels, across the lawn lie shadows, so still, so deep. Dear loving angels pass not by, hush me to sleep. Fold your white wings, dear angels, fold them round me. In the midst of what i'm going through, those are very hard words to say, let alone sing. Coupled with the score (and the musicality of my pianist) it was pretty gut wrenching.

So this is what I think. In the English language 'cry', 'pain', and 'death' are not joyful things, yet the Bible teaches us the opposite. Jesus, for the joy set before him endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). Suffering is a gift (Philippians 1:29), and death brings us face to face with our Creator where there are no more tears or sorrow (Isaiah 25:8). This fallen world has deceivingly driven into our bodies an emotional reaction attached to a word. To a worldly person, death is to be avoided. To a Christian, death is to be celebrated. Because we are in this world but not of it, we are stuck in a crazy juxtaposition. This makes our language confusing and deceiving, whereas music is a more pure form communication. This is also why I adore dancing so much. I am able to take my physical body, of which God perfectly crafted the way He intended, and use it in a worshipful manner. Dancing alone is splendid, yet when aided by music (perhaps some Vivaldi, Brahms, or Mozart) it is divine.
I think King David and i would have been good friends.