I think I’ve always felt the need to seek out silence, particularly in the more emotionally demanding times in my life. I take great solace and reassurance from taking myself to somewhere that is naturally quiet, maybe somewhere rural away from traffic or in a small parish church and being able to be still, to hold myself as quietly as possible. These experiences seem to re-energise me, to let the peace of the exterior soak into my interior and generate space and calm in order to approach the next week, day or moment.
However, sound isn’t something that is very easy to escape from. Unlike other senses, we aren’t able to restrict what we hear in the way that we can close our eyes in order to restrict our sense of sight. Man and nature are energised living entities that by their very nature, through heartbeats and vibrations, machinery and song make sound (I’m all the more aware of this as I write this from my studio which is currently surrounded by a building site!).
The ways in which we engage with sound, particularly as a musician and someone who loves spending time in nature has always fascinated me, so I was excited to read David George Haskell’s new book ‘Sounds Wild and Broken’. The book is a scientific exploration of sound, which over millennia of evolution has developed from bacterial vibrations through the wilderness of the animal kingdom to music, allowing us to experience beauty and forge deep connections with one another.
The attention we pay to the world around us is hugely influenced by our ability to stop and listen, actively, deeply listen, and appreciate the myriad of lifeforms making sound. Our daily experiences can be embellished through sound, if only we stop to filter out the distractions, pay attention and David does a wonderful job of inviting the reader to tune in to the world around us.
“...an experience of beauty can be a great truth teller and motivator, more powerful than senses, memory, reason, or emotion acting alone.”
For me, that beauty can be natural, but so often it is music which enlivens me. We use music to mark the most important moments in our lives as it crystallises our thoughts, emotions and relationships into unspoken resonance which moves us to feel more complete, more alive. Having read David’s book, I’m hoping I’ll be able to engage more deeply with a world of natural sounds as well, to experience the abundance of beautiful sounds it has to offer.
This article is taken from my September Mailout which also features some of my latest news and cultural highlights.
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