The Power of Music – Sunday, February 17, 1980
The sound of this great Choir reminds us that music is one of the simple pleasures of life. It affects everyone. It moves and motivates. . . releases emotional tensions. . . keeps sensitivities alive. . . and helps exercise imaginations—not as an escape, but as a meaningful addition to life. For ages music has been used to heal the sick and comfort the distressed.
Music knows no limitations of language. It is a pleasure as easily pursued at 70 as at 17. The better we understand music, the more we are able to appreciate it. But as an emotional . experience, we can respond to music and enjoy it intensely without knowing the first thing about it. It doesn’t matter if we know what a fugue is. . . if we can tell an oboe from a clarinet. . . or if we can carry a tune. It’s far more important to feel the music than to understand it.
Exploring music helps us become more conscious of the beauty of all kinds of sound.
Of course, we’ve long been told about the value of singing. . . of music in the home. Many families haven’t experienced this activity because they believe singing should be done only by musicians rich with talent and training. But enthusiasm counts for more than a good voice, and unaccompanied singing makes the loveliest music of all.
Parents can teach their children the joy that comes from music. They can teach by example. Perhaps children who don’t sing in the home have never heard their parents sing or have never had music treated as a necessary part of family life. Some might argue that families sing because they are happy. On the other hand, a family is often happy because it sings.
Music is also unsurpassed as a means of religious expression. No religious movement has ever been started without the aid of religious song—it is the handmaiden of religion. As one spiritual leader said, “Music is truly the universal language, and when it is excellently expressed, how deeply it moves our souls.”1
Yes, music lifts and enriches our perceptions of ourselves and of humanity. It brings people closer together—as families, as neighbors, and as nations of the world. It is the most universal language known to man.
1 David 0. McKay, “The Spirit of the Work in the Modern Church,” Gospel Ideals, Improvement Era, 1953, p. 256.
“The Spoken Word” heard over KSL and CBS from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah, February 17, 1980, 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Eastern Time Copyright 1980 Bonneville Productions
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February 17, 1980
Broadcast Number 2,635