Something Jason said about Mozart in his post on The Digital Karl Barth Library reminded me of a comment Martyn Lloyd-Jones made on the benefit of music to ministers starting their day of studying. Lloyd-Jones is dealing with the preparation of the preacher before the preparation of the sermon. In this discussion he uses Barth's delight in Mozart as an illustration.Someone recently said to me that he was astonished when reading the obituary notices at the time of the death of Karl Barth to find that Barth used to start the morning by listening to a record of music by Mozart. He said that he could not understand this. I said, 'What is your difficulty?' 'Well,' he replied, 'I am surprised that a thinker like Karl Barth went to Mozart; I would have expected him to go to Beethoven or Wagner or perhaps Bach.' He was astonished. My feeling about this man was that he evidently did not know the real value of music, or how to use it. 'I can tell you why Karl Barth went to Mozart' I said, 'He did not go to him for thoughts or ideas, he went to Mozart because Mozart did something to him in a general sense. Mozart put him into a good mood, and made him feel happy in his spirit. He released him, and set him free to do his own thinking.' A general stimulus in that way is often more helpful than a more particular intellectual one. The man himself is bigger than his intellect. Is not that the reason why the prophets of old had music played to them on the harp or some other instrument? . . . Anything that does you good, puts you into a good mood or condition, anything that pleases you or releases tensions and relaxes you is of inestimable value. Music does this to some in a wonderful way. . . . So put on your gramophone record, or whatever it is -- anything you know that will help you.
(Preaching and Preachers, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1972. p. 183)
Maybe it really is true that Mozart Makes You Smarter. I love Mozart, so I'm holding out hope.
Thanks for digging up that quote! That is great advise. I heard it said once that, in general, classical music aids the mind as one reads and studies. I think that this depends upon the tempo. I love to study with calm, meditative, classical music playing. My first classical CD was a selection of some of Mozart's piano concertos. It's one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI find that other, more upbeat and energetic music (even classical) is better suited for exercising. I just did a quick Google search and came up with this page that confirms this and suggests different classical pieces for different activities (reading and studying, home office, daily chores, afternoon job, building muscle). Check it out.
Amazon.com has a dedicated page called Great Classical Music for Studying. What I especially like about this is that you can sample a lot of the music. Check it out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for those links. I've bookmarked them and will use them in the future.
ReplyDeleteI've used different types of classical music for various purposes. Mozart is good for just about anything. Rachmaninoff makes good music for relaxation. For reading and studying I sometimes like to listen to one of the "Adagio" CDs or "Beethoven for Booklovers." Back when I did production work, I frequently got behind schedule. When that happened, it always sped me up to hum or whistle something fast and frantic like "Sabre Dance" by Adam Khachaturian.
Music definitely isn't neutral. It has an effect on us, and it behooves us to use it wisely.
"Music definitely isn't neutral. It has an effect on us, and it behooves us to use it wisely."
ReplyDeleteVery true!
BTW, this afternoon Asa was looking for something to watch on TV and he came upon a Tom & Jerry episode. We watched it for a bit and I was reminded of the fantastic classical pieces used for this cartoon. I remember watching tons (maybe too much :|) of Tom & Jerry when I was a kid. It was hilarious to see how they interpreted the music with the story line in the show. I believe that many other cartoons also did this.
Come to think of it, I can't think of any contemporary cartoons that use classical music like the older ones did. What a shame!
I think Bugs Bunny is the master (or is that maestro?) when it comes to great use of classical music in cartoons. Remember the Barber of Seville? Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely!
ReplyDelete