Why listen to music without words?

As a jazz trumpet player, I have a personal stake in this question. Recently I proposed to a local coffee shop to host some Jazz concerts. They responded positively, but insisted that I include a singer in my group (which I don’t normally do). They think people “get” Jazz better when there are words. I “get” where they are coming from, but took this conversation as an opportunity to try to broaden and deepen their horizons (in the end, I had to hire a singer, but that’s beyond the point).

Apart from the issues connected to my personal jazz bookings, I am an enthusiastic advocate for music without words on philosophical grounds. It was Classical composer Felix Mendelssohn who once said, “Music expresses feelings too specific for words.” Like Jazz, Classical music has been dominated by the instrumental compositions of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, and others, whose wordless songs expressed the inexpressible. Each one also wrote for voices, but in every case, their instrumental work was primary.

My impression is that few people, however, either young or old, spend much time these days listening to music without words. Obviously “pop” music has, for the last fifty years, been dominated by vocals, largely for commercial reasons. It’s kind of like selling fast food—give me a shot of meaning, and tell me what it is, right now! Many listeners have little experience with instrumental music. Perhaps it feels abstract to folks. But just as 20th visual artists moved towards abstraction out of a desire to elicit deeper meanings, rather than obscure them, we instrumental musicians have the same intention.

I recently came across an interesting, unfamiliar word, coined by French philosopher Jacques Derrida, that could be helpful to consider. The word is logocentrism. Logo(s) is the greek prefix for “word.” I’m no expert on Derrida’s thought, but what I gleaned from him is this: human beings have a tendency to rely too much on words. Logocentrism reduces our perception of reality. The basic problem is that much of human experience defies verbal description.

As I reflect on my own life story, the words and the phrases I have often used to tell it, I realize how flat language can fall, compared to the multicolored, multi-dimensional nature of  simply being. I realize that I’ve inherited many scripts that are gross oversimplifications or misrepresentations of what I truly meet in myself, others, and the world. I still recognize the importance of voicing my experience so that they can be looked at, shared, and learned from. But a greater awareness of the limitations of logos helps me be more open to wonder and mystery, to take my take on things, with a grain of salt. To stop talking. To look. To listen. To feel. Words can wear us out. We all need wordless spaces where our minds can slow down, our bodies unwind, where our shy souls can show up in stillness.

And so, I make a regular practice of listening to music without words. What follows is a short list of wordless works that I have enjoyed over the past few months—recommended for your existential survival and pleasure. They are best felt through focused listening, with screens put away. They can also make suggestive soundtracks for other wordless human activities. All of the pieces listed can be located on Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube.

A few final bits of listening advice 

Get somewhere you can be alone, sit down, take your shoes off, and with the help of a good pair of headphones or speakers, enjoy your own personal vacation from words for 30-60 minutes. A glass of wine may help. Put down your problems for awhile (they’ll be waiting for you). In approaching the recordings, postpone judgment. Give these works some repeated listens, and you’ll be glad you did. They invite you to meet them in a place you, perhaps, have not yet visited. Let words and thoughts pass through you, as you get quiet. Embrace silence. Just be.

Here you go…

Old Jazz music favourites I keep returning to:

• Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
  (if you’re still getting to know Jazz, start here)
• Miles Davis & Gil Evans – Sketches of Spain
  (luscious orchestrations around Miles’ lustrous tone)
• Thelonious Monk – Brilliant Corners
  (Monk’s wondrous world breaks upon the universe)
• John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
  (uncontained groove and worship)
• Kenny Wheeler – Angel Song
  (a contemporary recording that will stand the test of time)

New Jazz music discoveries 

• Marilyn Mazur & Jan Garbarek – Elixir
  (sounds from the world for a global community)
• Ambrose Akinmusire – A Rift in Decorum
  (a new trumpet voice blazing a new trail)
• Ben Wendel – The Seasons
  (fresh electronic and acoustic fusion)
• Wolfgang Muthspiel – Rising Grace
  (21st century improv to lift your spirit)
• Stefano Battaglia Trio – In the Morning
  (three of my Italian brothers wax poetic)

Traditional and contemporary Classical music compositions:

• Sviatoslav Richter – J.S. Bach: The Well Tempered Clavier
  (if eternity exists, we’ll be hearing more of this, might as well check it out)
• The Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan (conductor) – Brahms: The Four Symphonies
  (perfection in form)
• Martha Argerich & The Berlin Philharmonic – Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
  (transcendent beauty in sound)
• The Chicago Symphony, Pierre Boulez (conductor) – Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
  (Bela stretches boundaries)
• Arvo Part – Spiegel im Spiegel
  (I can’t imagine a better way to spend 10 minutes collecting yourself)

Other new stuff:

• Max Richter – Sleep
  (fantastic for inner-life slow down, and you can sleep to it)

p.s. An upcoming article will collect some more thoughts about how to listen to music without words …

Peace

JKG, Feb 2019

Photo by Kenny Luo on Unsplash

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