Below is a piece which I recently rediscovered. I wrote it a few years back now when I was applying to universities. I was required to write an essay for one institution on a musical subject in which I was passionate about, and I chose the topic of music having a therapeutic means.
My aspiration to become a qualified music therapist stems from my own struggles in life and the way music has helped me overcome these difficulties, for example, the simplicity of both practising and playing my violin during times when I have felt low in mood. I remember when I studied J.S. Bach’s Double Violin Concerto when I was about 13 or 14, and I looked at the Violin II part for a week or so but my teacher encouraged me to take a look at the Violin I part. A confidence within me began to grow.
These memories I have about musical experiences are sort of like a song which you remember from the past but have not listened to in a while: when you listen to it again after a long time, the memories come flooding back in your mind. I spoke about this the other day with a patient at the hospice where I volunteer, and she told me about how music is therapeutic for her. One of the things she spoke of was that she keeps her headphones in as she falls asleep due to her struggles of falling asleep without music playing. It seems that even for people with a progressive illness, music is an effective and communicative tool to deal with the difficulties and physical pain.
As well as physical pain, music is a useful medium for dealing with psychological pain and mental health problems as Emilie Autumn demonstrates through her album ‘Opheliac’. The song on the album called ‘Opheliac’ begins with a two-part harmony on the harpsichord in a Baroque style with its use of ornaments and a sequence. It then moves into a more dense texture involving a violin, electronic sounds, Autumn’s voice and the harpsichord again. I once heard in one of Autumn’s interviews that she wrote the album as a deal to herself that she would not kill herself at a time when she was emotionally in a dark place, and her frustration is clearly expressed as we hear the chorus when she sort of half sings and half screams at the same time: ‘You know the games I play And the words I say When I want my own way’.
When I took my grade 8 violin, my favourite piece was the first movement of the William Alwyn Sonatina for Violin and Piano as it had a special connection with me: a musical performance is like a means of communicating through sounds other than the words and sound we would use in everyday conversation, and I felt myself clearly communicating my interpretation of the piece as I performed. The character of the piece is happy, expressive (‘espress.’) and graceful (‘grazioso’) and I find it a very relaxing piece to play and almost feel as though I am flying as the melody has this sort of dimension to it. For me, it was also therapeutic to practice the music, technically and interpretively, as it took a great amount of thought and time to play in the particular style in which Alwyn has written the piece and how, I believe, he may have wanted it to sound. For example, in bars 33-8, the first part of the passage is stated to be played as ‘marcato’ (marked) and so it was necessary to practise using much weight of the bow, but when reaching bar 36, going pianissimo (as it is marked ‘pp’) and using pizzicato instead of the bow. This small passage therefore consists of extreme contrasts which I needed to consider when practising, and the absorption in practice like this tends to take my mind off everyday worries.
Music is a natural component of most people I think, and my thoughts on this are due to my experience of life so far as I can sense the huge impact it has on bringing people together, for example, the group of adults at the music therapy group I used to help out at. We all worked together as one; the music therapist qualified with her masters, myself at the time I was taking my GCSEs and the adults with special needs with their carers as they contributed their enthusiasm to the group. With music, it does not matter who you are, even if you are disabled like the people in the group or not musically qualified to a high level (as I was not at the time), as music is a language everyone can speak it seems. It is a language that comes from the heart; I believe it is something which is not learnt, but is present from birth and has the potential to be developed as we progress in life.
I feel so fortunate to have had opportunities to have been taught classically as a musician because so many people my age do not feel they have any reason to listen to classical music and believe there is nothing interesting about it when there is actually a lot to it. For example, Shostakovich used his avant-garde ideas as he wrote his fifth Symphony in 1937 at the time of the Soviet Union and Stalin’s ‘Great Terror’ (1, 2), and having played this piece with my youth orchestra, knowing this context now emphasises this underlying history in the music. There is something emotionally moving in this symphony; especially in the 3rd movement for me with some moments of expression through intensity and other passages so quiet and gentle, like at the end of the movement. I sit here wondering what it must have been like for Shostakovich at the time as he wrote the work. I am curious to know if there was a relief that ran through him as he completed the work; knowing that he had notated not merely a piece of music, but his very own experiences, emotions and surroundings all onto one symphonic score.
Not only does the act of practising, performing and composing music create a release of emotion and act as a therapy, but so does the simple act of listening to music. For example listening to ‘angry’ music at a time when one feels angry or frustrated can be a helpful way to deal with the emotions, and I know this from my own experience and experiences of friends which they have told me about. I think it is interesting and incredible that the power music can be used as a means of venting unwanted emotions and feelings. I have listened to various sub genres of metal and afterwards have felt able to deal with my negative emotions with much more ease and reassurance.
To bring this piece of writing to an end, I think it is exciting and mysterious to mention that there must be much more to music, both as a therapy and as an art, as there are so many elements which we do not know about yet, like why it is such a big part of our nature. From what I see from those around me, it subconsciously contributes to who we are as people, or we listen to particular genres because on a subconscious level, this is a result of who we are as people. It is interesting to think that music possibly impacts us all quite similarly, yet at the same time we use it in so many diverse ways and for different purposes. For example, on a basic level, you might just have your regular person listening to some songs on the radio on the way to work for entertainment, but then there was Shostakovich who composed his music in response to the political system.
References:
- http://www.shostakovich.org/symphony5.htm
- http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/shostakovich.php
