Re-discovering Classical Music
by Sofia Galli
In a fast-changing and increasingly technological world, music keeps evolving and adapting to its new surroundings. As access to knowledge becomes quicker, more simplified, and more electronically-based, our will to apprehend complex information often diminishes. The music that mostly circulates on the large scale emulates the precepts of this new understanding of reality: it makes use of sophisticated technologies, it has fairly simple beats and it nearly fully relies on computers, rather than on actual instruments. In this framework, the will to listen to classical music tends to fade away.
Yet, engaging with classical music is one of the most mind-opening activities out there. Both playing and listening to classical music spawns the establishment of a connection with the past, whilst allowing us to refine our hearing and our sensibility. Since our world is mostly based upon scientific methods, it might as well be coherent to embrace the benefits that classical music has been proved to provide. Among the main effects that listening to classical music can generate, there is the reduction of blood pressure, symptoms of anxiety and stress levels. Meanwhile, it enhances individuals’ creativity and increases productivity. In the end, however, the intricate dynamics behind many classical pieces eventually condense in one core objective: emotion. If we would agree with ourselves to refrain for a moment and just focus on sounds, it would be possible to come to understand how multifaceted our sensations can be when listening to classical music.
Unfortunately, classical music is often consigned in one small bubble, when truly its centuries-old path left us with pieces that are incredibly different from one another, and can therefore accommodate the tastes of any kind of listener. The versatility of music originates from a many-sided past, where historical events and societal patterns determined the typology of classical music which was more predisposed to be composed, performed and cherished. It follows that the music pieces that we can still listen to are embedded with memories and narratives that illustrate the motion of the past, and thus tell us the story of how we disclosed our creativity and evolved through time and space.
For these reasons, it is of extreme importance to maintain a tie with the appreciation of artistic heritage. Art is an extraordinary tool: it keeps memory vivid, heart and mind open. However, it can only be treasured when there is a desire to remember, a will to feel deeper emotions, to keep learning. To achieve such motivation, society as a whole needs to unite, offering increasing means to get in touch with the classic world. In this vein, classical music has the power of connecting individuals through the shared experience of powerful melodies. And this must be apprised, for ourselves and for the future, because in a world that is changing so fast, some things need to make us pause, listen and think.
