Can We Feel Music

Can We “Feel” Music? By Carol Geyer Can we “feel” music? Can the notes cool or warm us? Soothing like green aloe balm, or warm as flaming Yule logs, or as majestic as a fully leafed oak? Lovely and diverse as an overgrown garden, mysterious as a June evening, lustrous with silver moonbeams bathing a grove of fragrant pines and melancholy as a gray-brown, windswept plain. We are soothed by flowing water music, and comforted by gentle verses of a beloved hymn. We are emboldened by the compelling “one-two” of patriotic march and reassured by our revered national anthem. We can be stirred to piquant sympathy for a heart-broken soul, when we listen, heads bowed, to a mournful dirge or be inspired by a serene requiem. Music is more than ordered notes. Liquid arpeggios suggest endless yearning. Sparkling grace notes and playful triplets and laugh with us, witty and joyful. Rapid glissandos evoke memories of heartfelt sobbing. Countless ages of chanting voices, thrumming drums, mellow horns and glittering flutes have resonated in our ancient ancestors’ blood and eternal souls. Passionate architects of melody and harmony build sound-castles easily perceived by disciplined guides mounted on spotlighted podiums. Still-lipped figures grasp magic wands, speaking eloquently with eagle eyes and feathering fingers. True conductors of blazing energy, they are mystical connectors between centuries- deceased master composers, devoted musicians, and rapt audiences. This is the power of music Mind pictures, soundbites, retold legends gently remind us of our treasured past, deepest sorrows, and lost loved ones. Subtle reminders abound of fragrant roses climbing our mother’s trellises and sharp scents of waterlogged reeds banking a misty river. Joyful phrases take us gleefully back to Christmas morning -carefree children cascade down a spiral staircase. A passionate composer’s love for his magnum opus,a skilled conductor’s reverence for a symphony, abiding respect granted to both the creator and interpreter of a wondrous musical masterpiece -the wondrous components of creativity, dedication , understanding, courage and love. And the crowning touch- the anonymous listeners, huddling on chilly concrete bleachers, or nestled comfortably in burgundy-upholstered cushioned seats in grand symphony halls. We are listening, Amadeus, Johann, and Ludwig. We hear you, Lennon, Dylan and Guthrie. We hear, smell and taste what you wrote and sang of. We “feel” you, Always.