One thing mentioned in the Bible several times in the Psalms as well as a couple other places including Revelation is the description of or command to sing a “new song.” I take that as a promise that in heaven our endless quest to find truly new music will finally be satisfied.
Did we long ago imagine these sounds from the other world and try to replicate them by creating the instruments we use now, trying in some way to get just a little closer to whatever we imagine it sounds like there? Are people on the other side listening to the vibrations from music here? Vibrations and frequencies are everywhere and anywhere we can touch and imagine.
I read this piece while listening to Sonny Rollins’ “Saxophone Colossus”…and I’m clearly not in heaven, but it can’t be better there, unless Max Roach is on drums. Is heaven a place where the singer is eager to do a tune in my key? I really like the here-and-now because there are so many treasures waiting to be found, and still to come.
Excellent and very thought-provoking post. I fully agree with the remark that "...Two different visions of music have battled with each other since the beginning of human culture. Some societies focus on rhythm and drumming. That’s because they want to nurture the power of ecstasy and trance. Other societies celebrate the well-tuned music of string instruments, which reach for a kind of Pythagorean perfection. The latter communities have different social priorities, seeking harmony and order in all spheres of public and private life." To my mind (or to my ears if you will) only the jazz idiom has achieved the ideal bonding of Pythagorean perfection with the ecstasy and trance experienced when one is subjected to really powerful, driving rhythm so it will come as no surprise that jazz is equally welcome both in Heaven and in Hell.
I've been reading about the musical implications of Kabbalah and Merkabah mysticism recently. Don't be surprised if I publish something about it here sometime in the next year.
May I put in my two cents in support of the clarinet? It's the instrument that drives Klezmer music to its spiritual heights, and it's the instrument that leads the jazz funeral to the gravesite with its haunting Closer Walk--and then leads it away, with full band support, rousing the crowd to second line to the Saints as they march in and celebrate the life past and the life of the future. I want Sidney Bechet and Naftule Brandwein to escort me, wherever I end up.
The closest I came to hearing music in Heaven is when a shape-note ("fa-sol-la") group came to George Peabody College in Nashville, TN where I was a graduate student, and I was lucky enough to actually sit in with them. I can still remember how the hackles went up on the back of my neck due to the almighty roar that we made. What a glorious racket it was! And I've been around . . .
Something about the strong convictions those folks held . . . things about which I didn't even have an inkling . . . and still don't.
Is music the "language of the soul"? We often feel emotions at the turn of a note. As we are "entranced" by the beat of the drum, we are moved to action by those emotions summoned by the tone and melody. As with may things in life, what we do as a result of those emotions determines our lives, I struggle, as most do for the good life here on earth and seek heaven, indeed, music is a big part of my "good life", I pray it is a big part of my afterlife. As always, thanks for making me think.
"The fact that there is a highway to hell, and only a stairway to heaven, say a lot about the anticipated traffic."
Ted, I've been on the bizz professionally for over 30 years, and it is a pleasure to read your insights.
Music is Life, we need it like we need water.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Greetings from Brazil.
One thing mentioned in the Bible several times in the Psalms as well as a couple other places including Revelation is the description of or command to sing a “new song.” I take that as a promise that in heaven our endless quest to find truly new music will finally be satisfied.
Did we long ago imagine these sounds from the other world and try to replicate them by creating the instruments we use now, trying in some way to get just a little closer to whatever we imagine it sounds like there? Are people on the other side listening to the vibrations from music here? Vibrations and frequencies are everywhere and anywhere we can touch and imagine.
You may not want to work and bang on your drum all day but as for me, I'm going to Guitar Town. I hear the G string never breaks in heaven.
Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis / 18 mins/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6pEIHtffqQ
I read this piece while listening to Sonny Rollins’ “Saxophone Colossus”…and I’m clearly not in heaven, but it can’t be better there, unless Max Roach is on drums. Is heaven a place where the singer is eager to do a tune in my key? I really like the here-and-now because there are so many treasures waiting to be found, and still to come.
Ted, my good man. How do you do it?? Always with the enlightening and inspiring and no-short-cut taking!! Enjoyable Sunday morning read!
Excellent and very thought-provoking post. I fully agree with the remark that "...Two different visions of music have battled with each other since the beginning of human culture. Some societies focus on rhythm and drumming. That’s because they want to nurture the power of ecstasy and trance. Other societies celebrate the well-tuned music of string instruments, which reach for a kind of Pythagorean perfection. The latter communities have different social priorities, seeking harmony and order in all spheres of public and private life." To my mind (or to my ears if you will) only the jazz idiom has achieved the ideal bonding of Pythagorean perfection with the ecstasy and trance experienced when one is subjected to really powerful, driving rhythm so it will come as no surprise that jazz is equally welcome both in Heaven and in Hell.
That's a lovely perspective.
So: strings/melody are Apollonian, drums/rhythm are Dionysian. Nietzsche made this distinction in "The Birth of Tragedy"
Nietzsche was spot on, as a Greek I concur
The Kabbalistic (Jewish mystical) take is fascinating on this topic. Check out the ten-stringed harp (for The World to Come) in this article: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/5175330/jewish/What-Is-the-Significance-of-King-Davids-Harp.htm
I've been reading about the musical implications of Kabbalah and Merkabah mysticism recently. Don't be surprised if I publish something about it here sometime in the next year.
Great post. Thank you! I’ve always been taken with that reference from Revelation and the angels with their harps.
May I put in my two cents in support of the clarinet? It's the instrument that drives Klezmer music to its spiritual heights, and it's the instrument that leads the jazz funeral to the gravesite with its haunting Closer Walk--and then leads it away, with full band support, rousing the crowd to second line to the Saints as they march in and celebrate the life past and the life of the future. I want Sidney Bechet and Naftule Brandwein to escort me, wherever I end up.
The closest I came to hearing music in Heaven is when a shape-note ("fa-sol-la") group came to George Peabody College in Nashville, TN where I was a graduate student, and I was lucky enough to actually sit in with them. I can still remember how the hackles went up on the back of my neck due to the almighty roar that we made. What a glorious racket it was! And I've been around . . .
Something about the strong convictions those folks held . . . things about which I didn't even have an inkling . . . and still don't.
Once past the pearly gates, wd be happy to hear Alice Coltrane's harp at least some of the time...!
there can be only one true answer: "The Number One Song in Heaven," by Sparks.
Is music the "language of the soul"? We often feel emotions at the turn of a note. As we are "entranced" by the beat of the drum, we are moved to action by those emotions summoned by the tone and melody. As with may things in life, what we do as a result of those emotions determines our lives, I struggle, as most do for the good life here on earth and seek heaven, indeed, music is a big part of my "good life", I pray it is a big part of my afterlife. As always, thanks for making me think.