It can make you feel powerful emotions when you listen to it. Music can be dark and fearsome, or light and happy. It can make you laugh, cry, or even think. It can help you release pent-up frustrations, or make you relive a fond memory. And nothing in the world brings the Spirit as strongly as a hymn.
I feel blessed that I have musical abilities. I sing, and I'm not a terrible pianist. That means that I can sit down at the piano with a piece of music, and accompany my own singing.
Performing a piece of music, even just for yourself in the comfort of your own home, can be as powerful as listening to it.
Doctrine and Covenants 25:12 says, "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads."
When we sing songs that glorify God, it's a kind of prayer. He loves music, and delights in it just as we do. And music being the powerful tool it is when it comes to stirring souls and evoking emotions, it brings a whole new level to hymns of praise. Without the music, they're nice poems and prayers. When you add the music, though, they become something incredibly powerful.
Why else do you suppose radio stations start playing Christmas music in October? It makes people happy. It reminds them of the joys of the holiday season, and calls to mind memories of happy Christmases past. Hearing Christmas music makes people feel joyful, because they associate it with all of their Christmas memories and traditions, and gets them excited about the upcoming season.
Then consider movies. If it were just people on a screen, with dialogue and sharp editing, it might draw you in a little bit. But it's the music playing underneath the action on the screen that makes you feel connected to the movie. The soundtrack lets you know when something scary is about to happen, or when you should be expecting something exciting, or romantic.
Who can forget those two slow bass notes underscoring the movie Jaws? Every time they play, you know the shark is near. Your heart begins to beat a little faster, and you find yourself holding your significant other's hand in a death grip.
Music is powerful.
I'm fortunate to be the choir director at my church. With Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, I want to make sure the program is especially wonderful. As I said before, nothing brings the Spirit as quickly as music does. In my mind, there are few better ways to celebrate the birth of the Savior than with joyous hymns of praise. And because I'm the choir director, I've been able to immerse myself in Christmas music for several weeks now. It's a little stressful at times, trying to teach everyone their parts and make the music sound beautiful, but I know that if we do a good job, we'll be able to touch the hearts of everyone in the congregation on Christmas Day.
I'm also trying to put together an Easter program for next year. I haven't started it yet, but I want to get it going after the new year. I'd like to put on a production of The Garden by Michael McLean. It's about the Savior's atonement. There's not a lot of "acting" in it. It's more or less all music. But it shares a message much more poignantly than any mere play could do. Every time I listen to the music from The Garden, I find myself weeping. The power is in the music.
I'm grateful for music. I can't imagine a world without it. And I'm grateful that I've been blessed with the ability to contribute a music of my own, that doesn't make other people cringe and plug their ears.
Much. ;)
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