Welcome to the 5th Words That Encourage newsletter. This week’s words explore freedom and relationships through the metaphor of music. Please share this message with a friend if you enjoy reading it.
i) Freedom For A Person
A flowing instrumental solo played by a classical musician is a helpful metaphor for the human experience of freedom. The journey across notes, tempo, and dynamics reflects the path across thought, energy, and emotion.
Yo-Yo Ma toured the world performing the Bach Cello Suites in 2019
There are passages in life when we are overcome with a virtuoso joy that must be proclaimed. There are other passages when we want to privately name our pain and fear. There are phases in life when we produce a loud fortissimo seeking to be heard, and others when we are pianissimo quiet seeking after stillness within and silence without.
The tempo of our lives can go between semibreve slow and rests while on a break to semi-quaver fast in the heat of the city’s battles. We also live through unsettled periods of staccato-like disconnection when we yearn for a transition back to smooth legato movements into peace and joy.
Hilary Hahn’s Solo Bach Album
However, the metaphor of the classical musician and her instrumental solo only goes so far. So much of our freedom is lived out in relationships. Therefore the metaphor of a chamber group of musicians is more apt.
ii) It’s All About Relationships
Our personal freedom is enriched by relationships of mutual love and attention, mirroring the approach of string quartet players. In a quartet, the musicians are committed to mutual care for each other, as the violins join the viola and cello in shaping music together.
A journey across notes, tempo, and dynamics is here based on an attentive dialogue between musicians, instruments, and intentions. There is no attachment to the others, but rather a responsiveness which allows each one to be fully present in sharing their gift.
Meccore String Quartet
In Pachelbel’s Canon in D, the cello provides both a baseline and a steady beat, making space for the violins to sing to each other like a pair of larks at dawn. Each musician must attend to the others, listening closely for when to enter the song, when to harmonise the melody, and when to step into a rest beat as required.
Your freedom to pour your heart out is backed up by a steady listening friend with whom you resonate. Our freedom to collaborate in life is found in mutual exchange, harmonising beyond creative discord.
The Australian Chamber Orchestra play ‘The Lark Ascending’
In and through playing together, reciprocity is at the heart of chamber music. Similarly, the mutuality of relating with each other is the site of discovering our greatest freedom.
iii) Chamber Music
Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending played by the Australian Chamber Orchestra via YouTube (a live video recording), Spotify, or Apple Music. This singular piece of music will lift your spirit. Enjoy.
Have a great weekend,James
