“You know, music has colours, and if only we could hear the sound of this harmony of colour - it would make a perfect symphony --- it would be like the music of the spheres.” “Beautiful music is but the transposing of the music of the spheres, the expression of the great Divine Intelligence… “Music is the eternal rhythmic waves of the Infinite expressing Himself throughout His own creation, and mankind is the most perfected instrument for this purpose. Those rhythmic waves of light, sound and colour are always flowing in perfect harmony. Any discordant note does not come from the creative Source but through man’s inability to reflect the perfect rhythm.” “the song of the birds, the trees in the forest, the rivers, the mountains, all have their own perfect harmonious rhythm. I have often lingered in that harmony and felt that same creative rhythm within myself. In this way I became one with the rhythm of the Universal Forces of Nature and learned to control them because they were part of myself. “In this way, in the silence of these great mountains, I learned the magic of Nature’s Forces--- “When I was in tune with this rhythm I could sing with the birds, the wild animals were no longer wild, even the mountains could speak to me, and I could play my favourite instrument, the violin, to keep hundreds spellbound, because I never resisted this flow, no matter what happened about me; it was as if the rhythm was part of me.” “Just as thinking comes before asking or acting, so does the music of the spheres come before feeling and playing, and it is this feeling that inspires the expression. The music of the spheres plays upon the soul that is tuned to it. The soul is the harp upon which the Spirit within expresses Itself, and according to the fullness of your heart so will Its harmony be expressed in and through you. That is why you must learn to love everything,… “The more harmonious you are - the more receptive you will be… “what the inner is, so the outer must be.” “Rhythm and expression are the essential factors in music. Execution without rhythm has no colour-blending, but harmony and execution vitalised by rhythm are the perfect blending of all the colours, like the colours of the spectrum intermingling one with another in perfect unison. It is this blending of the colours that affects the souls of those who are listening.” “The perfect rhythm is like the ebb and flow of the tide---nothing can withstand its smooth and regular power. For the Infinite Creativeness is within the perfect rhythm. The Creator and His creation are ‘one,’ not separate, and we are in no way separated from the rhythm of the Divine Intelligence expressing Itself.” “This perfect rhythm, is flowing through and over the earth from north to south and is polarised by the sun and the moon, rising in the east and setting in the west This force now becomes electro-magnetic; it keeps the earth on its axis and holds everything on it by the power of its magnetic attraction. Should this electro-magnetic force cease to be, other magnetic currents would draw the earth towards it at such a terrific speed that it would break up into the cosmic dust out of which it arose. In this electro-magnetic force lies the secret of great discoveries.” “The perfect rhythm,” he said, “is rejuvenation: it makes the mind alert, the body firm. That is why we use music in healing; the mind is then freed from distractions which cause tension, and Nature is given an opportunity to harmonise every cell in the body. Mind and body then become electro-magnetic, in perfect harmony.” “The music of the spheres, can be said to be the rhythm of the Eternal Heart of God, moving outwards and returning like the bloodstream, circulating to every cell in the body and returning to the heart to be renewed continuously. So does the pulse of the one Life move through every living soul. According to our mental and emotional freedom so is the rhythm expressed.” “If the mechanism is in a state of confusion, so will the rhythm be confused. Your thoughts and feelings fly through the body cells and then out into the atmosphere and beyond.” “Here we are on the roof of the world, the hub as you may call it, and with our thought strongly impregnated with the Love of God we can help the world as we tune-in to the rhythm of the Universe which comes from the Heart of God.” “Practice is necessary so that you can control your instrument, but do not limit yourself to your instrument. I have heard music played badly on a good instrument and have heard beautiful expression from a very indifferent instrument, and this applies to individuals as well---the Love of God is Eternal and Everpresent and no one is separated from it. “No two people play alike because of the many shades in feeling. While some see the notes on the score, others feel the music in their soul. There is one saving grace for bad music,” he said with a touch of humour, “and that is that it does not last. The predominating harmonious rhythm makes it fade away into nothingness whence it arose, because it is not Real. Like an error in a sum, where does it go when the sum is corrected? It fades into nothingness, simply because there is no law upon which it can rest. The law of mathematics, only, exists, likewise the law of harmony. “The blending of colour,” he explained, “is the secret of harmony. Have you ever seen an inharmonious blending of colour in Nature? No, there is no such thing. So is it with sound, for sound is colour and colour is sound, and Nature is expressing herself in light, colour and sound continuously. “While practising, you should know what the sound should be. Do not force it; something inside you will tell you when it is right. Make your execution as perfect as possible, then gradually increase the tempo till you play with speed and accuracy, without strain. Remember, rhythm and expression must not be sacrificed for speed.” “There is also such a thing as over-practice,” he pointed out, “the fresher you are the better your movements will be. The mind repeats what is done, and therefore a wrong habit is difficult to correct. A rest period is good because it gives the mind time to re-arrange the consciously-made movements. Accuracy is therefore essential. Actually you are learning to play when you are not playing, for the mind takes up the work when you give it the opportunity. “You have found that after a rest you can play a piece easily, a piece you found difficult before. This is because the mind has been making the adjustments while you rested the mechanism. It is like a problem you try to solve, one which for a time eludes you. You go to sleep and when you awake you have the solution. The mind has worked it out when you gave it the opportunity. “In making your movements you must hear and feel as well as lose yourself in music. “Self-consciousness confuses the mechanism. The mind can think of only one thing at a time. Thus when you are thinking of yourself, and then the music, you are moving backwards and forwards, from one to the other. The easiest way to overcome this habit is to lose yourself in the rhythm. You will soon find that the rhythm takes up the space between the two conscious mental activities, and then the inner mind begins to work with freedom, for it is from there that you really play. Is is all within, and, as you practise, your movements, your music, your rhythm are all merged into one as you play. Be as calm as the depth of the ocean---then you will reflect God’s perfect harmony.” “The Eternal looks out through humanity,” he went on, “and through humanity He spins the weave and web---the rhythm of Life. Never imitate anybody. You must express your own individuality; then you will have the originality that amounts to genius. “The blending of the notes is very important. Emphasis should be made at the beginning of the phrase, a little more value should be given to the first note in the bar, and listen carefully to the overtones, blending them into a perfect phrase. “In legato melodies do not cut off a note with a hard edge before the next one comes in; listen to the overtones, and let the timbre or quality sound until such time as it reaches the point where the progression must go on. Then smoothly flow into the next note without a break, so that you cannot tell where one ends and the other begins. The perfect blending of the overtone carries the body of the music in harmonious rhythm.” “Watch the progression and shape of your phrase so that you can move naturally to the point of climax, and then fall back again into the next phrase, with ease and smoothness; this gives a sense of rhythm that you seldom hear, unless it is from a great artist.” “The point of climax may be treated in different ways according to the inner feeling and interpretation. “For instance, in an appassionata passage you may gradually accelerate tempo and strengthen tone, giving more stress to each succeeding emphasis up to the point of climax, or you may broaden successive chords, holding back the final accent for a breathless moment to increase intensity. “A device used by Beethoven is to pile up a chord passage, strength upon strength, with increasing accent, but the expected crash on the final emphasis does not eventuate. Instead, we get a chord played suddenly pianissimo, surprising the ear with unexpected beauty and the realisation of a depth of inner mystery. “Mozart, when asked what he thought the most effective device in music, said, ‘No music.’ “Used with artistry the complete silence of a pause in music, or the moment of poise at the height of a phrase, can be fraught with the greater sense of inner meaning and beauty. “You may move your audience on the wings of a soaring phrase, then hold them suspended at the height, revealing in a moment of time the Eternity of Spirit, then drop back on the descent of the phrase to the light of common day.” “Or you may move through a legato melody and, with a slight hesitation, lingeringly delay the moment of beauty, increasing the anticipation so that when the sound strikes the ear it comes with exquisite relief, satisfying the longed-for fulfillment of beauty.” “Again, you may reach the point of climax and linger on it lovingly with a caressing touch, but this freedom must be obtained within the law---that is, the realisation of the rhythmic flow---the balance of one phrase with the other and the co-ordination of the whole into perfect unity. It is like the perfect union between two souls in the bliss of a perfect love, two souls that become one in that complete and final ecstasy. “Chopin had a wonderful airy grace with which his fingers glided, almost flew, over the keyboard, producing a tone like velvet, a slightly veiled yet silvery sonorousness. Qualities which Chopin regarded as paramount were delicacy of touch, intelligence of conception, purity of feeling. To Chopin the worst sin was a dull mechanical dexterity.” “Throughout the whole of his playing Chopin employed a certain rocking movement with a most enchanting effect, the undulation of the melody being like a skiff upon the bosom of the tossing waves. This peculiar style of execution was his idiosyncrasy, his sign manual so to speak. It set the seal upon all his compositions in which it is indicated by the term tempo rubato. This apparent disregard for time was with him a charming originality of manner, a flexible fluctuating languorous movement, a measured rhythm balance and sway best comprehended by his own countrymen who, having an innate, intuitive understanding of his meaning, were able to follow the fluctuation of the aerial and spiritual blue which it represented.” “Purity of expression can result only when you are true to youself, that is, when you express your own inner depth according to the clarity of your thought, interpretation and execution. So will your hearers receive the message and meaning which you wish to convey, and this message and meaning will correspond to the degree in which you open youself to the flow of the Infinite Intelligence---the degree in which you realise that there is no separation in the one Life that binds us all together.” “that in the playing of an instrument, you must be one with it, and he who cannot play ‘with’ it cannot play at all.” “The reason for many failures with those of great promise, is that they do not know that the Creator and His creation are one, not separate. It makes all the difference when this is understood, not merely as an idea, by experiencing the fact that Spirit alone has voice, that God expresses Himself through the voice, through harmony, through light, sound, colour and form. He is harmony, love, wisdom, power. In this lies the power of God in man, for God is man, ‘I and the Father are one.’ “Those who would express themselves in music, should remember that God made the perfect instrument for His own self-expression. ‘Be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.’ The soul receives, and the mind and brain direct the mechanism. If in your mind you have an idea that the mechanism is defective, that thought tends to express itself, and the more you try to get pefect expression the more active will be the reverse thought. This is what induces many failures. Remember it is continuous practice with rest periods for assimilation, with conscious awareness of the perfect rhythm, that makes a genius. One must practise slowly to master the execution of the composition. Do not slur over a diffcult part; take it slowly at first and increase the tempo, but with accuracy. “Understand the impersonal unity in all things, disregard personal separation, live in the conscious relisation of your oneness with the Creator of all mankind. Love your neighbour as yourself. “Play and sing with your heart full of love, let it be a harp of exquisite melody and beauty --- and those in Heaven above will rejoice as they feel your oneness with them.”
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:51:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015