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A Brief Discussion and Recommendation Concerning Music
and Nature
by Ou, WenWei
I wish to
take this opportunity to discuss my understanding of music and offer a
recommendation.
I believe the oldest and most basic music is
natural music: the sounds coming from nature. They are the most natural
and direct. For example: the sounds of a child laughing, a child
crying; sounds of the wind, rain, thunder, ocean waves; in addition, all
sounds made by animals, such as beasts, birds, and insects.
All of these sounds are the spontaneous
expression of things in nature under certain conditions, revealing their
hidden meaning and feelings. Therefore, they seem to be the most
truthful and the purest and to convey the strongest feelings. Some of
these sounds are very nice, comfortable, enjoyable to the ear; whereas
others are shocking and frightening when you hear them.
If you are sitting near a small, peaceful
stream, listening to the running water, every now and then hearing also
the singing of a bird or some other noisemaker, you will probably feel
very peaceful yourself, comfortable, relaxed, enjoying yourself. This
is because you know that these happy and harmonious sounds are
transmitting a message of kindness and benevolence. The objects
producing these sounds are definitely not harming any life but only
composing a living environment of harmony and beauty.
When you hear the sounds from an
earthquake—an avalanche, tidal waves—you will be terrified. This is
because these sounds are transmitting a message of evil; the objects
making the sounds can devour all life.
It can be said that all different sounds in
nature can give people corresponding inspirations. They influence
everyone’s emotions and physical bodies.
In great nature, there exists one common
phenomenon. Different environments will form different types of sound.
Therefore, people living in different regions will create distinctive
music. The music that people create was originally learned from
nature. In other words, when ancient people created music, they were
beginning to form an understanding of the meaning of great nature’s
sounds; they worked hard to imitate these meanings during their
performances. This is the origin of mankind’s music.
From this we can see that the soul, or
essence, of music is based on presenting the inner meaning. Let’s put
it in language that we can understand: the emphasis is on presenting the
meaning of inner feelings and profound sentiments.
Ancient people said, “People have seven
emotions and six kinds of desire. The seven are: happiness, anger,
sorrow, joy, love, hate, and fear.”
I believe: People’s complex emotions can be
present in their sounds or present in music. Different emotions yield
different results. The expression of divine love, benevolence,
happiness, and joy will definitely make oneself happy and entertain
others. Hate, anger, sorrow, fear only harm oneself and others.
Therefore, I recommend musical melodies that make oneself happy and
entertain others. All the songs I compose are based on calmness and
peacefulness, with “have more love, less hate” as the theme, emphasizing
the expression of the love of great nature and the love of humanity.
A sound wave is energy. It is
also an intelligible message. Sound waves based on kindness and
benevolence naturally include the energy of kindness and benevolence and
messages of kindness and benevolence. Transmitting an intelligible
message of kindness and benevolence to other people definitely bestows
positive benefits on their bodies and their hearts.
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