Music is such an uplifting experience


At 5.07 pm on Friday August 15th 1969 Richie Havens started playing the first set at the Woodstock Festival. Two hours later Sri Swami Satchidanacha marked the Festival's opening with this blessing:
Music is the celestial sound, and it is sound that controls the whole universe, not atomic vibrations. Sound energy, sound power is much, much greater than any other power in this world.
That vibrating energy has entranced many including the composers Jonathan Harvey and Karlheinz Stockhausen, the Sufi master musician Hazrat Inayat Khan, and all the diverse musicians and music therapists who have harnessed the power of sound. Of course wrongs must be made right. But instead of indulging in prolonged bouts of self-harm, why can't Western classical music simply sell itself as a truly uplifting experience?

That header artwork is from the album Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland by the Goan trance duo Shpongle which includes classically-trained flautist Raja Ram. And yes, on my CD there is no album title text marring the imagery although it appears on other releases. The artwork was created by Storm Thorgerson who also produced album artwork for Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon), Led Zeppelin (Houses of the Holy), and many others. New Overgrown Path posts are available via RSS/email by entering your email address in the right-hand sidebar. Copyrighted material is included for critical analysis, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).

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