MUSIC AGAINST VIOLENCE |
On the surface of things, these are two very disparate elements: music and violence. How can music, which is, by its very nature, ephemeral, have anything concrete to say about violence, which is physical and forceful? In answering this question, let’s first see if there is any precedent for them coexisting. When we look at periods of national turbulence and warfare throughout global history, we invariably see that very little great art comes during times of warfare. But, lest we think that art represents only purity and turn art into an idol, it is important to note that we find the greatest artistic statements originating in opulent cultures where there is a superfluity of wealth. Look at Reneaissance Italy, Renaissance Holland, Tudor England, the German baroque (after the 30 years war), 19th century Vienna, 19th century Germany, Great Britain during the years of the Empire, America in the latter half of the 20th century, etc. – these were all times of great prosperity and a great flowering of the Arts. From the opposite perspective, we can also see how classical music is often used as a tool to eliminate crime and violence in public meeting spaces (the “Mozart effect” and many other studies having to do with neuroesthetics). So, while music may not have the physical forcefulness of violence, it clearly has considerable power to tap into something in our psyches that affects the good of common humanity. From a Spiral Dynamics point of view, violence represents the third level of development, that which is defined by anger originating from feeling trapped, and is devoid of conscience, and more significantly, devoid of structure. Classical music actually begins at the fourth level of development, structure and rules – without which it could not exist, then incorporates the sixth, seventh, and eighth levels as it integrates working together in equal partnerships (sixth), integration of creativity and individual expression (seventh), and integration of mind, Spirit, and heart for the aim of communication and betterment of humanity (eighth). (For more information about Spiral Dynamics, see spiraldynamics.net.) But while music seems to trump violence, we clearly find, again and again, how violence can overpower and destroy the Arts, one of the things which history holds most sacred. Avoiding the political debate about how Western tolerance may have been overly naïve as to the seriousness of militant Islam, we find violence everywhere around us in our own lives: violence in our communities of faith, violence in the workplace, violence in our homes, and most significantly, violence within ourselves. Buckminster Fuller said “you can never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” Or in common parlance: no prizes for forecasting the rain; only prizes for building the ark! To fight the violence within ourselves (the best place to begin), we must learn stillness and the ability to look within. Ego (“Original Sin” for Christians, “Maya” for Hindus, “Dukkha” for Buddhists, and “Sin” for Jews) causes suffering, creates a veil of delusion. Left unchecked, it will enter every situation. Enlightenment (Buddhism & Hinduism), Salvation (Christianity), and Tikkun Olam (Judaism) represent the end of suffering, total awakening, liberation, transformation. This is not an ideal for the next world (sorry, fundamentalist Muslims and Christians), but very much a necessity for the here and now. It is our responsibility to help create this world by starting with ourselves, then doing what we can to create a culture of peace and harmony around us. As a musician, I attempt to do this in my spiritual practice and in my musical work. I find that, not only is music about peace, it is about finding comfort and ease in moving back and forth between chaos and order. In a metaphysical sense, it’s about finding order within the chaos, indeed, finding cosmos within chaos. I do not believe that violence permits us to find this cosmos, as it puts us into a survival mode that precludes the freedom to explore cosmos. Music is not intended as a bandaid to keep us from looking at the open wound that is festering beneath. It is intended as nothing less than a mirror to the soul, a opportunity to sit and explore who we are on the inside, a discovery of ways that our ego creates suffering for ourselves and others, a possibility of being open to the Spirit’s grace entering our lives, and ultimately, an uplifting of the heart to a new vision of a new earth, starting with each one of us. Music models harmony on two levels: Harmony of individuals working together and expressing their uniqueness within the structure of form; and harmony of notes (or tones) which excite our minds beyond the music of the spheres to cosmic possibilities of love. Jonathan Dimmock |