I’m often asked by my non-musical friends, and even by of my some musical friends, what it is about music that so captivates me. This is a good question to ask any musician: essentially, “What is it about music that makes you wish to devote your whole being to it rather than to one of the other arts?” Most musicians in the classical field, for lack of a better term, are very intellectually capable and could easily be successful in many other fields, artistic or otherwise.
If a serious musician cannot give an adequate answer to this question of purpose, perhaps they should reconsider their efforts in the field, or do some serious thinking. To me, the answer to this question lies in the very media of music. The literary arts work with language as well as auditory reactions to certain words. Also, writers sometimes work with the visual perception of the placement of the words on the page. Both visual art and dance deal with visual media – the difference being that dance combines auditory and visual perception into a cohesive whole. In the theatre, the media is visual and auditory, sometimes even combined with music. This makes dance and theatre highly elevated and extremely touching art forms – but that’s another story. The media of music however, is entirely auditory.
The point I am trying to make is that all of the fields of art in some way seem to involve using sound. Even in visual art, we react to different colors because of the vibrations of light, and vibration is the essence of sound. To me, this makes music the most interesting form of art. Music plays with vibration itself. And when you really look at things, vibration is the core of life. Everything in the universe, all living and nonliving things, are made up of atoms vibrating. This means that music is an art form that works with the manipulation of the foundation of life – vibration.
To add to this point, I would like the share an idea put forth recently by esteemed conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim. In his essay, "In the Beginning, There Was Sound;" Barenboim shares with us the work of neuro-biologist and neuro-scientist, Antonio Damasio. Damasio tells us that the auditory system is closer in the brain to the parts of the brain that regulate life. Barenboim then points out that this “means that they are the basis for the sense of pain, pleasure, motivation - in other words, basic emotions.”
This is what makes music so deeply moving to society. There are many people that do not read in their spare time, and just as many people that could care less about dance or what is going on in the visual art world, but nearly every person in the world listens to music. Regardless of your place in society, chances are you enjoy listening to music at the end of the day to relax, or listening with friends. Music is an overwhelming part of our everyday lives, more so than nearly any other art form.
Taking all of these things into consideration, it would seem to me that music is at the core of the other fields of art, due to the simple fact that it works with vibration itself. The strength of the vibration of sound from music has the ability to affect a person both physically and emotionally with vigor that I have not felt any other art compare. Music is the most elevated form of vibration, and vibration is the essence of life.
