Through Music To The Self

Peter Michael Hamel

Germany 1976 (English 1978)

There are not a whole lot of books that discuss music to the incredible detail that this one does.

I have had this book for some 30 years, and when I first read it, I wasn't ready for it, and its intense description and detail of music around the world and its history is one of those things that you hope to find one day, that helps make sense of a lot of things.

When I first read it, I thought it was something that was way too academic and beyond our ability to grasp and appreciate. Reading it today, I am astounded of its grasp of details and information about so much of the history of music and its development from the very first days, when music, performance, voice and dance were all one, and a part of the daily life of most folks. Today, music is something that we listen to in the edges of our minds, some "musak" at work, or occasionally as you drive by, some car playing out loud the pounding sounds of something or other, that you can only hope that it has the depth and meaning to the person that this books would likely state that it should and could.

I'm not sure that folks think that way. In most cases, and the book discusses it, in the western world we get caught up into a part of the music that we like, and we rarely, if ever, take a look at it in detail and find out what it is in it that attracts us ... I just like it, and that's that!

The book goes into the detail of a lot of history, and specially the movement in Germany in the late 60's and early 70's of the 20th Century and how it discussed and showed so much music from a lot of places around the world and how it was being studied, and it was not just something that was a bit of this and that ... it was intense and strong, and it was well defined, given the amazing list of lecturers, and professors and modern day composers that also participated and showed a lot about how their music came about, and in some cases, it also showed how the synthesizer developed from the early days, and was an instrument of value, that these days is laughed at and not discussed unless it is in some kind of Universitarian advanced course, where many of these arts are discussed.

From this point the book goes on to discuss in grand detail how a lot of the meditating processes used through out the East all brought out some voice work, and singing, and helped develop along the way, what became considered music and its incredible variations that Western Music is not capable of conceiving or understanding, and often thinks its not "music".

The cultural detail, here is amazing. From Bali, to Africa, to Japan, to India, to Tibet ... you name it ... is amazing and the differences are even more interesting when you end up understanding where it comes from and what its intent it. We do not consider this anymore when we listen to music, and how important and valuable it is, up to and including healing and other valuable bits and pieces.

And if that is not enough, he spends time giving us a whole bunch of exercises that we can do as a single person or within a group, also allowing us to know and understanding that some of these were done by various music and theater groups in that time and space. 

The historical story, from the early 60's for the next 20 years (when the book was published) gives us a wonderful over view of things that we could not otherwise see, if we were in America. A lot of the "electronic" materials and music in had a very nice amount of work when one considers the likes of Terry Riley and many others, however, in most cases, your local symphony does not think it is music and that people will never enjoy it!

If I have anything better to say about this, I will add it, but the writer's main concern is the story and development of what became known as meditative and inner personal music, and as such, he has the tendency to leave behind what is popular music and a lot of the Western Tradition that has become so commercialized and has helped detract people from their own inner mind and life. However, this could be considered a personal comment on my part and not a reality, and I will accept that.

One of the best books on "music" I have ever read, and something I am not sure that many folks can get their hands and minds on ... the book gets so detailed as wonder how does one get so far and into this stuff, and though the exercises mentioned might be simplified, the suggestion is that to be able to take all this further would take years and concentration that is literally impossible these days with work, family and everything else.

Great book. Worth it for any "musicologist" out there.