An Die Musik

An die Musik

Du holde Kunst, in wieviel grauen Stunden,

Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt,

Hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb entzunden,

Hast mich in eine beßre Welt entrückt!
Oft hat ein Seufzer, deiner Harf' entflossen,

Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir

Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschlossen,

Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür!

To Music

Oh sacred art, how oft in hours blighted,

While into life's untamed cycle hurled,

Hast thou my heart to warm love reignited

To transport me into a better world!

So often has a sigh from thy harp drifted,

A sweeter chord from thee, holy and full of bliss,

A glimpse of better times from heaven lifted

Thou sacred art, my thanks to thee for this.

3 hrs of sitting at the piano, going through the dreadfully slow process of learning new arias. As frustration began to settle in I noticed my Schubert Lieder book sitting off in the corner on the shelf. I haven't touched that book in years. I decided to flip through the book for fun and began to sing through some of the lieder that I had sung in my early singing days. I soon came across the very first art song that I ever learned, An die Musik. Singing through the piece brought back so many memories. I remember trying at the naive age of 15 to desperately learn the German, listening to my teacher speak the words on a tape and repeating after her over and over. And then there were the technical voice issues, always listening to myself and trying my hardest to sound "pretty". It was so important that I did justice to this song because it seemed like an opportunity to prove myself. The poetry was moving but expressing the true meaning behind it didn't concern me all that much.

12 years later as I sang through the piece last night, this time it was the poetry that caught my attention. The poetry used in the lied expresses in many ways how music has so often changed me. Music has really permeated my life to a degree where it has transformed me into the person that I am. How many times have I been shaped by not only the music I'm studying or performing but by the music I listen to - on the radio, on a Cd, at a concert, at church?

Music is indeed a "sacred" art - a gift given from God, and although An Die Musik poetically thanks "music" itself, I can do nothing but thank the One who created music. I thank the one who gave it to the world. I thank the One who has used music to abundantly bless my life. My God has used the language of music to speak to me; to teach me about Himself, myself and others; to lift me up when I am down; to show me my weaknesses; to challenge me; to ultimately provide a means of self expression. Who would I be if He hadn't used the art of music to profoundly change me? I just can't imagine my life without music, it is an incessant part of who I am.

Funny how singing through a simple Schubert lied about music can even cause change, somehow three hours of tedious note bashing doesn't seem as frustrating anymore.