How Music Works

The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky.

Intimacy and grandeur: both are woven into the prehistory of music, both have survived through its history. All this affects our listening now at the far end of that history.

Musical tone can boil thoughts away. This is the open secret of making music. Set the string to vibrating again, lock your hearing onto its energy and be absorbed into its disappearance.

I often use intense, rhythmic African drumming and Aboriginal didgeridoo, as well as schmaltzy, beautiful, heart-opening music.