Experience, Beauty, and Classical Music

The experience of life is what it is. It is just experiencing. I have found that many of us get bogged down with our daily lives, our jobs, our responsibilities, and we forget to enjoy this experience. We forget to enjoy the little moments of every single day, of every single second, and realize that there has never been a single second exactly the same as this very one and there never will be again. There is just this, here now. It is beautiful. We forget to enjoy the life we are experiencing and get worried about things that are not here. However, there are ways we can learn to be present and in the moment and enjoy our experience of the world. One way is meditation, a practice I am learning more and more about. The other is listening to music.

I have always been a lover of music and have explored many facets of the great art of putting sounds together in clever arrangements. Rock music, hip hop, jazz, electronica, pop, folk, heavy metal, avant-garde, punk. There is so much to listen to and experience. Lately, however, I have been relentless in my exploration of the classics and seeing the world accompanied with the sweet strings of a symphony or a concerto.

From the epic tour de force of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto 1, to the quaint subtleties of Strauss's The Blue Danube, and Beethoven's fierce and unyielding Symphony No. 9, the music of the past is filled with wondrous and poignant insights into the human experience. More than any other music, the works of the great composers strikes a great chord in my heart. 

I typically enjoy listening to music while going on walks (an enjoyable activity without music) and often times the music I am listening to acts as a commentary on the scenes I witness. Listening to classical symphonies and overtures I feel so much more involved in the surrounding world. So much more present. I have been very interested in the concepts of mindfulness in the past year, whether it be from a scientific point-of-view or from a spiritual perspective through Eastern philosophy, and no music has ever made me feel more in touch with my awareness of the present moment (except perhaps for ambient works such as Aphex Twin or Brian Eno). Watching the little moments of the human race, society, the ever changing world around us becomes the most beautiful experience one can achieve while accompanied with the peaceful melodies of Mozart or Verdi. The small things we take for granted: the breeze rustling the leaves of a tree, the warmth of the sun on our heads, the delicate intricacies in the molecular make-up of the entire universe; it all becomes painstakingly beautiful with the commentary of the great composers. And, if one listens carefully, when the music is gone and we are left with silence, we can hear the beauty of the world singing without the need of distractions. Music can show us great beauty but when the music is gone, don`t forget those little moments. 

We live in a beautiful world. - Coldplay