Today is the birthday of Thomas Mann, the author of one of my top ten favorite novels: The Magic Mountain.
"Music awakens time, awakens us to our finest enjoyment of time."
-- Thomas Mann --
The Magic Mountain
I would add this: Music is the Voice of Time.
Indeed, and as a bonus, it soothes the savage breast. Human beings' greatest invention: music.
ReplyDeleteTim,
DeleteTruly an understatement.
In "Ainulinidale," Tolkien's version of Genesis, when Iluvatar (God) creates Middle Earth, we read:
"Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs, and like unto countless choirs singing with words, began to fashion the theme of Iluvatar to a great music: and a sound arose of endless interchange melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the heights, and the place of the dwelling of Iluvatar were filled to overflowing, and the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void."
Such is the act of Creation in "Ainulinidale." In Genesis, God says, "Let there be Light," while Iluvatar says, "Let there be Music."
Your posting and comment complicate my life with two reminders: I need to read Mann and Tolkien; I've neglected both.
DeleteTim,
DeleteWell, considering the authors you've added to my search list, turnabout is fair play, I should think.
my first career was as a musician; couldn't hack the politics, tho... still, music is permanently instilled in my mental circuits...
ReplyDeletephlogiston and the vibration of the ether... net...
i read TMM too early, i think... i should reread it...
Mudpuddle,
DeleteWhat instrument did you play?
TMM is not a fast or easy read. I've read it 3 or 4 or maybe 5 times, and I still can't race through it. I have to focus on it.
clarinet
DeleteMudpuddle,
DeleteDo you still play it?
no, i quit it when i had to actually work at a real job instead of doing something i loved... money trumps(pun intended) music...
DeleteMUdpuddle,
DeleteVery apt, indeed.
The Magic Mountain is one of the few quality books that I have started but never finished. It must have been almost twenty years ago that I attempted it. At the time I felt that I was not ready for it. I feel that I am ready for it now and I will soon try it again.
ReplyDeleteBrian,
DeleteLet me know what you thought of it.