Friday, December 7, 2007

There is a day, created by a musician, called No Music Day. It is on 21st November, the eve of St Cecilias Day, the patron Saint of music and the idea is to, well, have a day of no music. A Guardian Columnist who observed the day this year wrote
"What is it about silence that scares us? Why do so many people only feel able to face the world clad in tinny iPod armour? Why put our feet at the mercy of others' rhythms, and pay so little heed to our own? We've been making music for millennia, but we've only been able to store it and broadcast it for a tiny fraction of that time. The excitement of attending a Haydn premiere in London in the 1790s, certain that this sound had never before entered a human ear, can now hardly be imagined. With our MP3 players and our silent discos, we are masters and mistresses of music as never before; perhaps, the inventor of No Music Day seems to be saying, we are getting a bit blasé."

In this paragraph he portrays the major themes of No Music Day and makes two beautiful points;

Silence shouldn't be scary
and
Sound should be special.

We, probably can't take a whole day, but how about taking a little time to be quiet. Plug your ears with your fingers or earplugs/ some loo roll (it works fine.) Use this silence fast to recapture the wonder of sound and to set your pace to Gods rhythm...

"How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him,still
The dear Christ enters in."