Concerning Music

Part II: Worlds of Music

There exists a wide disparity within musical genres and styles. Many of these differences are centered solely around different cultures, but even within the same culture there are major dissimilarities. I think it can be deduced from this fact that people listen to and enjoy music for a variety of different reasons. While the decision to listen to a certain genre of music is in part determined by the individual's familiarity with it (nostalgic attachment), one also listens to a particular genre for the sake of the feelings and thoughts that it inspires. It is important to observe that these two reasons are very much related.

I will begin by describing two musical styles or genres that appear exceedingly different and nearly present a kind of musical dichotomy. Because of the many sub-genres and various categorizations related to each of them, I will, for the sake of simplicity, refer to them as they are commonly categorized: art music and popular music. There is a third category, folk music, which, also for simplicity, I will group with popular music. Although my definitions of these categories are loosely applied and may be too rudimentary, they will serve well the intent of this essay. Once again, I will analyze music independent of all human vocals, which will be discussed in detail in part three.

Popular music is characterized, among other things, by an easily discernible and often dominant rhythm or beat. This rhythm is usually marked by percussive instruments. One may find it easy to imagine our primeval ancestors discovering that beating on various instruments to accompany dance or song was very satisfying. This rhythmic and percussive music appeals to our very nature as physical beings. The beat of our hearts, the circulation of our blood, our breathing; these natural and physical markers of life are represented in rhythmic music at a fundamental level. This is possibly the most basic explanation as to why human beings are innately attracted to popular music. Observe the response that most people have to a popular song; their body almost naturally begins to move in time with the beat, often culminating in some kind of dance or similar carefree activity. The happiness that can be gained through the enjoyment of popular music is real, but because it is normally just a physical emotion, it is fleeting. This explains why the popular music genre is growing so rapidly; why there is a constant demand for new music, and why there are very few popular songs that are "timeless."

Art music is commonly referred to as classical music, although art music encompasses a much broader spectrum of music than classical, which is actually a sub-genre. It can be very loosely characterized by the absence of a dominant rhythm and by its skill-based artistic origin. Many art music pieces are written to showcase the skill of a particular musician or composer. There is something about the absence of a dominant beat that requires the listener to transcend physical human instincts. The appreciation for art music becomes much more intellectual; we can often find our minds hard at work to match the music with something that is familiar to us. This makes sense when one considers that this kind of music is often associated with intellectuals. Observe someone listening to a piece of beautiful art music; the eyes are closed and a slight smile will sometimes appear. There is a kind of peace and tranquility about raising the mind above visible realities. Although we may not be able to relate physically to what we hear, we somehow know that there is great beauty in it; that it hearkens to something beyond the human condition. Many composers of classical music understand this and they often attribute or dedicate their music to some kind of spiritual reality.

When God created our universe he created order out of chaos. He designed human beings to desire order and beauty. There is something within an ordered rhythm that appeals to our nature as God created it. Music that represents the order within creation is truly beautiful. Keeping this in mind, a perversion of popular music arises in a disordered and chaotic rhythm, as is perhaps exemplified by the dubstep genre, as well as other rising genres. Sounds and tone patterns that would, taken by themselves, be naturally displeasing to the human ear, as in the heavy metal genre, are another example of disorder in music. Art music too is subject to this corruption of rhythm and melody. Experimental and cacophonous melodies or sounds have become more prevalent within the art music world and show a frightful disregard for order and natural beauty. This represents the very "modern" idea that ugliness and disorder can be made into art, and it exemplifies a perversion of the nature of art and beauty itself. It is the "enjoyment" of disordered music that leads to negative thoughts and emotions; indeed, some music is actually formulated for this very purpose, and it is only out of great ignorance or a desire to satisfy human concupiscence that these disordered musical styles can be enjoyed.

An important phenomenon to consider is that people develop nostalgic attachments to certain types of music. These attachments are, to a certain extent, independent from the objective nature of the music. Memories associated with a certain musical piece can, for the individual, completely change the effect that may be commonly perceived or that the artist or composer had originally intended. Children who grow up with certain musical genres have a greater appreciation for them as adults. It is this learned bias towards music that could explain why a person who loves beauty and order can enjoy what may be categorized as disordered music. One must always remember that attachments and biases often cloud clear thinking, and that we must learn to judge art objectively as well as subjectively.

Because of technological advancements, the skill required to produce music has been greatly minimized. This accounts for a sharp increase in mediocrity, especially in popular music, although art music is by no means exempted. The very real fact that almost anyone can compose music which will appeal to many, regardless of skill, and the fact that a general appreciation for genuine quality and skill has all but disappeared, has given rise to the music industry. It is an industry which churns out mediocre art for profit, and one which many sadly uneducated people have been drawn into. This point brings us back to the first part of this essay concerning music as art. Mediocre "art" created simply to make money is not art.

A final note concerning the appeal of art music. I am speaking primarily about most orchestral, film, and incidental compositions. I mentioned that our minds naturally seek to match what we hear to something which is familiar to us. The difficulty with the music I have just mentioned is that they do not easily coincide with life as we normally see it. This is one of the reasons it is often used to accompany a story, a story which may often be so fantastic that, if experienced in our everyday life, would be called miraculous. When I listen to beautiful orchestral music, my mind is drawn into the worlds of Narnia, Middle Earth, or Perelandra, the worlds of mythology and fantasy, worlds that are, in a sense, more real than ours, as G.K. Chesterton has observed. The contemplation of worlds where beauty does not wear a mask, where truth is not locked in churches and where goodness is not a mental construct is where the listener often finds peace. Of course, these worlds would be incomplete and even meaningless without the absolutely true, constant, immediate, and dare I say, fantastic reality of the story of our salvation. No story is more true and real than the story that is true and real for all the universe, unbound by culture or by history, free from the limits of time and space. For me, music has always been there to point the way to this world. To those heights we must all go, and we should not dismiss the guiding power of music.