At the Marlboro Music School and Festival this summer, my fellow musicians and I spent an evening listening to historical recordings, an annual tradition. We ended with the slow movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet (Op. 127), performed by the Busch Quartet, refugees from Hitler’s Germany.
This music is as profound as can be. From the first notes, I was in tears. Time was suspended, and nothing else existed. When it ended, I quietly left the room. Making polite conversation would have brought me back to earth; I wasn’t ready.
What I had experienced was complete immersion into music.
Most of life’s great moments are like this. We give our full attention to one thing, and marvel at its beauty and strangeness and specificity. Past disappointments and future worries evanesce, allowing us to take in the present in its totality.
But in today’s frenetic world, such moments are increasingly hard to come by. We should consider how rare and treasurable this kind of immersion is. […]
All sorts of people more qualified than I — sociologists, political scientists and media critics — have addressed the pernicious effects of social media and algorithmic marketing on our society and psyches. But I can testify that music is uniquely well positioned to provide an antidote to this avalanche of stimulus.
You may prefer literature or painting as art forms, but they do not have music’s magnificent, peculiar abstraction. Novels use words; even an abstract expressionist painter relies on colors and shapes that exist in nature and our lives. But instrumental music is not “about” anything. It stirs the emotions despite — or maybe because of — its inability to reference our lived experience in any literal way. A great performance of a great piece of music simultaneously takes us out of our heads and puts us in touch with our deepest, most inaccessible selves. That is the magic of music. […]
As I listened to this astonishing music in the Marlboro dining hall, I never opened my eyes. This was an instinct. I sensed an opportunity to be connected to something profound and beautiful and in no way ordinary, and I did not want to let my other senses intrude on the experience. In our splintered, combustible world, this immersion is the path of most resistance, and a gift beyond words.
— Jonathan Bliss, from “Too Many Dings and Beeps? Try Beethoven” (NY Times, Sept 28, 2025)
Mr. Biss is a concert pianist and co-artistic director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival
Portrait: OC87 Recovery Diaries. Photographer: Benjamin Ealovega
Dave, this just popped up the minute I turned my computer on – and how special is that?! Did you post this just for me? 😉 This is how I enjoy those very special moments in my life – and happy me, I have quite a number of those experiences! I find a deep inner peace, I calm down and put all worries and cares to one side for the duration. One of the beautiful ‘things’ is that you meet with like-minded people, friends, and you get drawn into interesting discussions, the general happiness just takes you in. So, give me some Bach, Händel, Italian or South American Baroque music, surround me with friends and let the wonder begin.
It was especially for you Kiki. For being such an awesome friend and follower!
Music does indeed have some magic abilities to it, but so does the written word, and this post is proof of that.
this sounds so intense and all encompassing . I have been moved by music in my life and it has a universal power like nothing else.
With you on this Beth…
Exquisite impact on a weary soul. It offers a glimmer of beauty and a moment of peace
Exactly.
Oh how wonderful. Music does soothe the soul.
Agree!!!!!
I like this.
I’m so glad!
Music has such a powerful impact on emotions. The right music is very healing, and there is science to back this up (though I have not studied it, only heard about it).
Personally, I find music very healing as I try to cope with the current insanity in the world… But I do not use it nearly enough. Working on that…
Wonderful post Dave. Thank you for sharing.
So agree with you Paul.