Bridge of Waves: What Music Is and How Listening to It Changes the World

Description

Music is, in one sense, merely a series of fleeting vibrations that arise and subside. How could it be that something so insubstantial fills us, and calms us, and makes us weep? Because, says W. A. Mathieu, music bridges mind and heart, self and other, and affirms our place in the world. Everyone uses the bridge of music, from casual listeners to devoted professionals. Mathieu's delightful and trenchant prose asks you to question what music is, how it works, and how to understand its value in your life, in the life of your community, and in the evolution of the cosmos.

William Allaudin Mathieu is a composer pianist whose long and varied career ranges from his early work with the Stan Kenton band and The Second City Theater, to his extensive catalogue of song cycles, works for choir, and instrumental concert music. He has recorded extensively, and is the author of The Listening Book, The Musical Life, and Harmonic Experience- Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origin to Its Modern Expression.

"[An] erudite and thought-provoking collection of essays. Mathieu more than accomplishes his goal of showing us many different ways of appreciating and listening to music."-Spirituality & Practice "Like his previous two books, Bridge of Waves is written in an informal, chatty style that makes clear the dynamics of music and the transformative power it has on the individual as listener or as performer."-New Age Retailer "Mathieu's lively and delightful essays lead you to question what music is, how it works, and what it's for."-Branches of Light