Pausing on a Sunday

Happy Sunday!
I've started out my morning communing at the church of music.

Sondheim's "Sunday" never fails to put a lump in my throat, and this concert version is a musically exquisite offering. It's a treat to hear this music performed with such a large orchestra and chorus. Great music can lead to a transformative experience for everyone in the room. You can clearly see how moved the performers are after delivering this song to the audience.

Musically, "Sunday" is so successful in capturing the feeling of rapture that all artists yearn for: that rare occurrence when the vision is finally realized and all is right with the world. Could words alone do justice to that moment when all of the bits and pieces come together and everything clicks into place and the sum actually is greater than the parts? If you are lucky enough to get to that place, it is something akin to a religious experience.

Music has always been used by human beings to communicating that moment when the Spirit arrives and agony becomes ectasy.



With advancements in today's technology, one can literally see Your Brain on Music, and neuroscientists are looking carefully at the power of music. Neurologist Dr. Oliver Saks speaks of "the miraculous power of music to heal a damaged brain. Remembering music, listening to it or playing it, is entirely in the present, and, while it lasts, it can bridge even the abyss of extreme amnesia or dementia. Music can be more powerful than any drugs.”

Big business and advertisers have exploited the power of music for ages.



Music is still being used to harness the consumer to work on a corporation's behalf. What is different is the speed and reach of the social networks that are used to transmit content. Those who are not aware of the snake-charmer potency of music unwittingly become tools for big business. Audiences are targeted and used to spread messages expressly created with the intent to hypnotize in order to sell products. The feel-good drug of music is passed instantly with the tap of a finger and the consumer is complicit in spreading ideas and emotions, sometimes without knowing.

Two recent viral examples come to mind, both for phone companies. Touchwood uses Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, while T-mobile taps the feelings that are tied to John Lennon's "Hey Jude."





We have to ask ourselves why music programs are at risk when critical listening and music education are even more essential to the health of our society today.

Remember to listen carefully to the music that you encounter in your daily life, and be sure to ask yourself the question, "Is this the Real Thing?