RSS Harvesting Creative Genius in Music

  • Releasing stress through the power of music January 21, 2013
    So what type of music reduces stress the best? A bit surprising is that Native American, Celtic, Indian stringed-instruments, drums, and flutes are very effective at relaxing the mind even when played ...

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Move #5
Harvesting Creative Genius in Music

 

 

Since ancient times many cultures have recognized that certain frequencies of sound, embodied in chants, chorales, sutras and mantras, have special healing effects or enable us to enter states of empowerment and expanded awareness. The Greek philosopher Pythagoras, for example, was among the first to see the close connection of the “harmonies of the spheres,” mathematics, and healing. The energy field of the heart is fine-tuned to receiving and transmitting the special qualities of sound.

You might therefore find the following experiment interesting. Select any musical piece that particularly moves you at the level of mind and heart. Listen intently and ask yourself, “What is happening here? How does it feel inside your body?”

I have had the fancy for many years— perhaps only a fancy and nothing more– when listening especially to the works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Handel that their musical genius was flowing directly into my cells, like a magical herb, transforming everything it touches. Have you ever had this experience? Please send us your ideas after listening to the excerpts recorded in this Move # 5.

If, for example, it is really possible to “step down” the promethean creative energy encoded in Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, to where would you want to direct your newly discovered power? Just go to the next Move#6 and have some fun with the Explorers Wheel. (1)

Downloading Mozart’s, Beethoven’s, and Handel’s Life Force Directly into Your Cells!

Listen intently and ask yourself, “What is happening here? How does it feel inside my body?”

Jupiter Symphony Toscanini conductor

Kreutzer Sonata

Allison Bascom

The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff)

How Does It Feel? (Bob Dylan)

Sean Rowe – To Leave Something Behind – Live at McCabe’s

Author’s commentary

 

Emotive Reaction Range? Hints: tender, generosity, flow, stately, poignant, noble, sparkling, authenticity, dramatic, epic

  2. Julian Gresser

    We can cultivate Laughing Heart and exuberant vitality by learning to listen and to hear in a new way, through the inter-mediation of heart and faculties of sense and perception. Here are two masters. The first is Dame Evelyn Glennie, one of the world’s great percussionists who is fundamentally deaf. The other is Nobuyui Tsuji, winner of the Van Cliburn international piano competition, who has been blind from birth.
    • How to truly listen | Dame Evelyn Glennie
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU3V6zNER4g&vl=en
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIlfxNHBGE8
    • Nobuyuki Tsujii – Liszt – Liebestraum No 3 in A-flat major, Love Dream
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5hZEtB7qdg

  3. Julian Gresser

    I awoke this morning in a dream-like reverie in which I heard the voice of Salieri in the scene from the movie Amadeus. He is an old man in an insane asylum and is describing to a young priest his first experience of Mozart’s music, when he himself was young and ambitious and setting out in life.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxgZcMGmkkI
    Murray Abraham as Salieri describes the scene thus:
    “On the page, it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse. Bassoons and basset horns, like a rusty squeezebox. And then suddenly, high above it, an oboe. A single note, hanging there, unwavering. Until a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I’d never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God.”
    …………………………………………………………………………………………………….
    And in my morning reverie I too heard the oboe, high above and an idea came to me: What if the all the world might, for a single moment, put aside its fear and hatred and cruelty, and we were all to go to that high place where that oboe lives, and allow its serenity and beauty to enter our hearts, and we might love one another? What if WHIS* would convene this moment and invite millions to join and celebrate our common humanity of heart?
    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
    References:
    World Health Innovation Summit: http://www.worldhealthinnovationsummit.com
    Mozart oboe Serenade— Amadeus (Movie/Soundtrack) – Mozart: Serenade #10 In B Flat, K 361 Gran Partita

  4. Julian Gresser

    Harvesting Creative Genius in Music in the Quest for the Divine–The Sufi Tradition

    A very different tradition clearly embodying the principle of connecting with, “downloading”, and transmitting the generative powers of qi and love through music is Sufism.
    See:“The Sufi Soul: Mystic Music of Islam” narrated by the British music historian, William Dalrymple:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4s-6HCpr1U
    https://www.netflix.com/watch/70105236?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2Ce2da8af3a05c6d6214a3cc21af0f7a3b84481a9d%3Af6c3a722b97f96679480372ef2d65673b732a308

    A fascinating avenue for explorers is the influence of Islamic geniuses of the Islamic Golden Age such as Avincena (Ibn Sina/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicenna )on the Italian Renaissance. In Avincena we discover a perfect synthesis, anticipating Big Heart Intelligence, of logic and rationalism with Neoplatonic thinking, Sufism, and the Islamic perspective of love.

    http://www.islamawareness.net/Europe/Italy/rennaissance.html
    http://zoya-thewayofasufi.blogspot.com/2011/11/avicenna-vision-of-sufism.html
    http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/sina/works/avicenna-love.pdf

  5. Julian Gresser

    The Art and Poetry of Sean Rowe

    (Lyrics to “Leave Something Behind)
    https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Sean-Rowe/To-Leave-Something-Behind

    I cannot say that I know you well
    But you can’t lie to me with all these books that you sell
    I’m not trying to follow you to the end of the world
    I’m just trying to leave something behind

    Words have come from men and mouse
    But I can’t help thinking that I’ve heard the wrong crowd
    When all the water is gone my job will be too
    And I’m trying to leave something behind

    Oh money is free but love costs more than our bread
    And the ceiling is hard to reach
    Oh the future ahead is broken and red
    But I’m trying to leave something behind

    This whole world is a foreign land
    We swallow the moon but we don’t know our own hand
    We’re running with the case but we ain’t got the gold
    Yet we’re trying to leave something behind

    My friends I believe we are at the wrong fight
    And I cannot read what I did not write
    I’ve been to His house, but the master is gone
    But I’d like to leave something behind

    There is a beast who has taken my blame
    You can put me to bed but you can’t feel my pain
    When the machine has taken the soul from the man
    It’s time to leave something behind

    Oh money is free but love costs more than our bread
    And the ceiling is hard to reach
    Oh the future ahead is already dead
    And I’m trying to leave something behind

    I got this feeling that I’m still at the shore
    And pockets don’t know what it means to be poor
    I can get through the wall if you give me a door
    So I can leave something behind

    Oh wisdom is lost in the trees somewhere
    You’re not going to find it in some mental gray hair
    It’s locked up from those who hurry ahead
    And it’s time to leave something behind

    Oh money is free but love costs more than our bread
    And the ceiling is hard to reach
    When my son is a man he will know what I meant
    I was just trying to leave something behind
    I was just trying to leave something behind

  6. Julian Gresser

    Music, the Brain & the Secret Language of the Heart—A New Frontier in Treating Neurodegenerative Disease

    I had a marvelous meeting in NYC earlier in July to learn more about the remarkable work of Professor Stephen G. Post, Ph.D. Director of the Center for Medical Humanities Compassionate Care, and Bioethics at Stony Brook University.

    http://www.stonybrook.edu/bioethics/post.shtml

    The Center is focused on the “intertidal” connections among the following five areas as they pertain to the three central domains in the Center’s title:

    History of Bioethics
    Geriatrics
    Dementia
    Religion and Health Care
    Compassion and Altruisim

    I asked Professor Post what are some of the areas in which he feels most passionately, where tangible progress is being made. He immediately cited his collaboration with Dan Cohen and the Music and Memory Initiative.

    https://musicandmemory.org/
    https://musicandmemory.org/about/leadership/

    And just a day later I received this fine article from the Daily Good by Barry Goldstein:

    http://www.dailygood.org/story/1613/music-and-the-brain-the-fascinating-ways-music-affects-your-mood-and-mind-barry-goldstein/

    The global network of collaborating local communities under the auspices of the World Health Innovation Summit (WHIS) seems a marvelous channel for communities around the world to learn together about the regenerative potentialities of music which may aid over 1 billion people worldwide who are suffering and dying today from some form of neurodegenerative illness. Music also seems a universal medium for connecting these communities by the intelligent Collaborative Innovation/ IT platform and data bases we are currently designing with the WHIS.

    http://www.worldhealthinnovationsummit.com

  7. Julian Gresser

    95-Year-Old Jazz Pianist with Dementia Gets the Band Back Together

    Part of the AGING WELL THROUGH ARTS SPECIAL REPORT
    Bryce Kirchoff January 7, 2016 writes:

    “We know that there are lifelong benefits to music. Researchers are finding that playing instruments helps the brain age well and hearing a selection of favorite songs can reawaken the brains of dementia patients. Then there’s the benefit of community that emerges when groups of people make and enjoy music together.

    Edward Hardy had played with a jazz quartet for nearly 40 years when dementia took hold. Then he moved into a care facility and lost touch with his ensemble. But now the 95-year-old jazz pianist is reliving his musical heyday in his retirement community (see the video below).

    With the help of workers at the UK facility where he lives, Hardy was able to post an online ad looking for volunteers to visit him and jam. The response was remarkable. More than 80 people replied to the ad, including the three former bandmates with whom Hardy had lost touch..”

    http://www.dailygood.org/story/1721/spotlight-on-seniors-who-are-changing-the-world-shari-swanson/

    http://www.nextavenue.org/95-year-old-jazz-pianist-gets-the-band-back-together/

    http://www.nextavenue.org/95-year-old-jazz-pianist-gets-the-band-back-together/

  8. Julian Gresser

    Healing and the Music of Gustav Mahler

    I am indebted to Dr. Ruth Perry for drawing my attention to the healing energy in the music of Gustav Mahler, in particular Symphonies # 1 (The Titan) and # 2 (The Resurrection) and the Songs of the Wayfarer.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypClfhEwwCw
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2KcsjA_PEQ
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez8_VWcu-vY
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylfWo2DoFyo

    Many commentaries support Dr. Perry’s insight.
    https://www.amazon.com/Life-Energy-Music-Notes-Sound/dp/0915628201
    http://www.pressherald.com/2013/05/01/pso-closes-season-with-especially-healing-music_2013-05-02/
    http://www.germanmedicine.net/en/musicmahler.html

    And Netflix has just released a special on Mahler and healing:

    https://www.netflix.com/title/70068900
    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
    Gustav Mahler in His Own Words:
    “That which draws us by its mystical force; what every created thing, even the very stones, feels with absolute certainty as the center of its being… is the force of love. Christians call this “eternal blessedness.” It is a necessity of man for growth and joy.”

  9. Ruth E. Perry, MD

    Another great resource on Gustav Mahler and the healing power of Music is the PBS documentary entitled “A Wayfarers Journey: Listening to the Music of Gustav Mahler”. The video may be in Netflix’s and/or can be purchased on Amazon. I watched the documentary when it was broadcast on PBS and found it to be very powerful.

  10. julian gresser

    Fireflies

    Sometimes a little joy comes to us as fireflies from nowhere. On our first evening in Florence at a café tributary to the Duomo we encountered Vasilica Stingaciu and his accompanying bass, street musicians, playing the Allegro Fiocco of J. Hector Fiocco, a composer I must confess I had never heard of. I was hooked, and asked him to play it again, and again.

    I now understand that the Fiocco is a virtuoso piece for violinists. Here it is played by four masters (one of whom must be around eleven!)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QosO7n7VQU4 (Yehudi Menuhin)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4KLosVvEFo (Itzhak Perlman)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkxXe9SfQWI (Edward H Asiain)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTQVe-CdAk0 (Danilo (Dacha) Thurber)

    I am trying to reach Vasilica to see if he will permit me to post his recording. In the meantime, see which of these lights the brightest sparkles for you. Vasilica will also probably welcome (paying forward) your interest and support. (E-mail:Cristine_modroi@hotmail.com)

  11. julian gresser

    Fairport Convention–Matty Groves– 17th Century English Ballad
    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

    I was just introduced by chance to the 17th century English ballad, Matty Groves, performed by Sandy Denny and her friends of the Fairport Convention.
    What is relevant here is the vital energy and power of the music and its lyrics in protest against a brewing injustice, anticipating by four hundred years the Me Too Movement of today.
    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QUSp0-UArA
    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
    “A holiday, a holiday, and the first one of the year
    Lord Donald’s wife came into the church, the gospel for to hear
    And when the meeting it was done, she cast her eyes about
    And there she saw little Matty Groves, walking in the crowd
    “Come home with me, little Matty Groves, come home with me tonight
    Come home with me, little Matty Groves, and sleep with me till light”
    “Oh, I can’t come home, I won’t come home and sleep with you tonight
    By the rings on your fingers I can tell you are my master’s wife”
    “But if I am Lord Donald’s wife, Lord Donald’s not at home
    He is out in the far cornfields bringing the yearlings home”
    And a servant who was standing by and hearing what was said
    He swore Lord Donald he would know before the sun would set
    And…”

  13. Julian Gresser

    Alive Inside

    I just watched the prize-winning video, Alive Inside, which shows how the energy, power, and beauty of music can invoke ancient memories and a latent life force among elderly residents in nursing homes, many of whom are suffering from late stage Alzheimer’s and dementia.

    https://musicandmemory.org/
    http://www.aliveinside.us/#land
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2593392/videoplayer/vi2662247449?ref_=tt_ov_vi

    Alive Inside combines many of the principles of Laughing Heart (Big Heart Intelligence) in one specific application: Quieting the Heart, Finding Your Power, Discovering Beauty, Harvesting Creative Genius in Music, Explorers Wheel, Love and Immunity, and Paying Forward, even the magic of Creating Your Own Luck. Music nourishes a sustainable resilience in everyone it touches.

  16. Julian Gresser

    Art Thou Troubled? (Handel–Rodelinda)
    https://www.opera-arias.com/handel/rodelinda/art-thou-troubled/

    Art thou troubled?
    Music will calm thee,
    Art thou weary?
    Rest shall be thine.
    Music, source of all gladness,
    Heals thy sadness at her shrine,
    Music ever divine,
    Music calleth with voice divine.
    When the welcome spring is smiling,
    All the earth with flowers beguiling,
    After winter’s dreary rain,
    Sweetest music doth attend her,
    Heavenly harmonies doth lend her,
    Chanting praises in her train.

  17. Julian Gresser

    The Phenomenon of Lang Lang—Kindness, Humor, Play, Mystery, and Love
    Performances
    Bach Partita # 1–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGMbBZky-gA
    Mozart–t Sonata in B flat Major, K.333–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbAF0tWX53Q

    Carnegie Hall Concert with father–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyJemf8hwkU

    And what an amazing teacher who can rekindle our Sense of Wonder!

    Master Classes:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1NkbwoC5MI
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pllB5sZ_Wxc
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1-uuSpf9Z8&list=RD7Hdr4TSdtjk&index=2

  19. Julian Gresser

    Harvesting Creative Genius by enjoying the wonder of Emi Ferguson and Ruckus:
    *J.S. Bach – Sonata in E Minor, BWV 1034: II. Allegro / Emi Ferguson & Ruckus
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dkf_bicdOw
    *J.S. Bach – G Major Prelude (After BWV 884), LIVE / Emi Ferguson & Ruckus
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1subeNPTbBk
    *J.S. Bach: Sonata for Flute and Continuo in E Minor, BWV 1034: III. Andante | Emi Ferguson & Ruckus
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcQluBuRCys

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