Between Music and Writing... 音乐与写作

We have been selected by nature to express. Since the Cognitive Revolution 70000 years ago, we have developed increasingly complex means to express our emotions and thoughts. Of all the different, fascinating ways people have experimented with expressing their feelings, writing and music are the most intriguing and impactful to me. For most people, writing and music are very much disconnected. One communicates via words and sentences, and the other expresses via notes and melodies. There seems to be no clear bridge connecting these two means of expression. But from my point of view, music and writing are intricately and subtly connected by four significant ties. If we, as humans, observe ourselves more when we write and when we listen to music, we can all perhaps discover the four ties, and possibly more, that have imperceptibly influenced our emotional behaviors for thousands of years.

Most obviously, music can sometimes, directly or indirectly, inspire writing. For me, this relationship works in two ways. First, music with strong emotional charges makes us feel a certain way. This feeling can directly be the inspiration for writing. For example, when we listen to some of Chopin's Nocturnes, we feel sorrow. The sorrow from Chopin's Nocturnes can directly be used as food for thought and words, expanded and elaborated upon. Second, especially when we listen to a musical composition with a lot of background stories or information or one that reveals a lot of the inspiration that gets the composer to compose, we naturally seek to learn about the background information or the inspiration. From the background information, we develop many potential topics. For instance, listening to the vigor and the deep feelings in Chopin's "Polonaise in A-flat major: Heroic" probe us to look into what was happening in his home country Poland when Chopin composed this piece. To compose a piece with such vigor and depth, there must be a strong, overwhelming feeling, probably even patriotic (seeing his country torn apart by warfare), that inspired Chopin. His piece motivates us as listeners to inquire into at least that certain period in Polish history, which provides countless inspirations for us to write about, such as the ramifications of the important historical events that occurred, or the feeling Chopin had for his country, and how they influenced Chopin's composition. Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F Major: "Pastoral" is another example. This symphony is shockingly beautiful and ripples through the listener's hearts in such a heartfelt way. But the beauty of the symphony motivates us to search more about the background of the composition. Beethoven was completely deaf when he finished the symphony in 1808, yet nature was so deeply planted in his heart that he picturesquely portrayed it in this complex symphony. This touching fact and possibly other ones are excellent inspirations for great writing. There is so much to write about when we draw from music.

More subtly, music nurtures a person's emotional sensitivity and the passion for observing the world with all their senses. I think the emotional complexity and the passion for keen observation are vital to writing an article with a soul, an article that is vivid and possesses uniqueness and depth. Music is the most flavored and strong instrument for the expression of sensation. If one truly loves the music they listen to, then the music and the emotions the music conveys leave marks in the person's mind, making them more sensitive. The next time the person experiences such feelings or ones that are similar, the person would detect them quicker and more profoundly feel the impact because the music leaves such a direct and deep mark. We can start with a simple example with Chopin's Nocturnes. In some of Chopin's Nocturnes, especially ones that use a minor tonality, the feeling of sadness or sorrow is extremely powerfully delivered into the listener's mind. The delivery of emotion is so powerful that the person now connects sorrow with Chopin's Nocturnes, strengthening their sensitivity to this feeling. The next time the person experiences something sorrowful or listens to another music with similar sentiments, they will feel the sorrow resonate more and have a stronger flavor. Imagine this process being repeated perhaps hundreds of times as a person listens to different pieces that deliver varying emotions. What would we end up with? We would get a person who is sensitive to countless sensations, a person who can detect the most minute details in emotional flows, a person who can deeply immerse themselves in these feelings, and a person who ultimately can imbue many of their writing with these rich, touching emotions.

To listen to music, and to become more sensitive to feelings, also make a person more passionate about observing the world. When you feel more emotions in more profound blows, the human world, which is to the basics connected with emotions, gradually turns more iridescent and intriguing. One would start to notice and understand the different perspectives to an issue or event or see the deeper reasons behind human decisions. Equipped with emotional sensitivity, one can learn to empathize and thus produce more sound, more truthful opinions. Moreover, since people are born to express, one would turn their head more actively and in all directions around the globe to find events or stories that can serve as the platform for expressing their enhanced emotions from listening to music. When a person is more passionate about the world and voicing their opinions, writing should become a necessary tool and platform for sharing. Music, in these senses, provides arguably the two other most important prerequisites for writing, alongside the inspiration, which are the sensitive soul and the passionate mind, eager to delve deep into the human world.

The previous two ties are about how music affects writing. The other side of the relationship, how writing affects music, is worth examining. Writing allows us to explore deeper into the music and maybe even shine some new light on the understanding of music. When we write, our minds are automatically performing critical and profound thinking. This critical and profound thinking usually results in something more organic, unique, and profound. When we write about music, thus, through the process of writing itself, we might discover deeper understandings about the elements of the music or the background behind it, we might decide to analyze the music from another approach or perspective, we might even find novel ways of interpretation that would impact how we listen to the music. In a nutshell, music becomes more complex, more meaningful, and more flexible (in the sense of interpretation) once a person writes. Take my example and the article I posted about Legends of the Fall a few days ago. Before writing about the film's theme music, I did not notice anything particular about the transitional phrases of the piece and did not produce any definitive interpretation for them. However, when I began to write about that music in the article, my mind started to think more thoroughly, and I eventually developed a unique understanding of the transitional phrases. This new understanding of the music could only occur because I decided to write about it. To write is crucial if we want to advance both broader and deeper into the realm of music.

Finally, as part of a positive feedback loop, writing nurtures the love for music. As stated above, since writing makes music more complex, meaningful, and flexible, we naturally would love to dig deeper into the world of music. For instance, after the theme music of Legends of the Fall turns even more beautiful and touching after the written analysis, I would like to listen to more theme music and look at how each composer uses different techniques and elements to convey emotions, in the process enjoying the impact of the notes and articulation. 

Overall, music and writing are two means of expression that are, in multiple ways, connected. Music inspires written content, fosters emotional sensitivity, and the passion for observing the world, two attributes an excellent writer must possess. On the other side of the loop, writing lets listeners explore more profoundly and uniquely the world of music and nurtures back the love for music. These ties are indispensable for understanding music and writing, as well as how humans have built this world with our instincts to express and share our thoughts and emotions in increasingly complex ways.

我们被大自然选定来做表达的动物。自从7万年前的认知革命以来，我们已经发展出越来越复杂的手段来表达我们的情感和思想。在人们尝试的所有不同的、迷人的表达情感的方式中，写作和音乐是最耐人寻味的，也是对我个人影响最大的。对大多数人来说，写作和音乐是非常不相干的，一个通过文字和句式来表达，一个通过音符和旋律来表达，似乎没有明确的桥梁可以连接这两种表达方式。但在我看来，音乐和写作是错综复杂地，由四条主要纽带微妙地联系在一起的。如果我们作为人类，在写作时和听音乐时更细心地观察自己，我们或许都能发现这四条纽带，甚至可能更多，并看到它们是如何几千年来一直不知不觉地影响着我们情感与行为的。

最明显的是，音乐有时可以直接或间接地提供给写作灵感。对我来说，这个纽带或关系以两种方式发挥作用。首先，带有强烈感情色彩的音乐使我们产生某种感觉。这种感觉可以直接成为写作的灵感。例如，当我们听一些肖邦的夜曲时，可以感到悲伤。肖邦的夜曲中的悲伤可以直接作为思想和文字的食粮，加以扩展和阐述。其次，特别是当我们听了一个有很多背景故事或信息的音乐作品，或者一个似乎揭示了很多作曲家创作灵感的音乐作品，我们自然会去寻求、了解这些背景信息或灵感。从背景信息中，我们可以开发出许多潜在的主题。例如，听了肖邦的“降A大调波罗奈兹-英雄”中的张力和深情，我们可以探究肖邦创作这首曲子时，他的祖国波兰正在发生什么。我们可以探究要创作出如此有张力和深度的作品，是怎样一种强烈的、爱国主义（即亲眼看到他的国家被战火撕裂）的情绪激发着肖邦。他的作品促使我们作为听众至少要探究波兰历史上的那个特定时期，这为我们提供了无数的写作灵感，如发生的重要历史事件的影响，或肖邦对他的国家的深情，以及它们如何影响肖邦的创作。再举个例子，贝多芬的F大调第六交响曲“田园”。这部交响曲美得令人震惊，以如此动人的方式在听众心中激起涟漪。但是，这部交响曲的美促使我们去寻找更多关于这部作品的背景。贝多芬在1808年完成这部交响曲时已经完全失聪，然而大自然却深深地植根于他的心中，他在这部复杂的交响曲中如诗如画地描绘了大自然。这个感人的事实，以及可能的其他事实，都是写作的灵感。我们可以从音乐中汲取很多东西，最终变成感人的写作作品。

更微妙的是，音乐培养了一个人的情感敏感性和用所有感官观察世界的热情。我认为情感的复杂性和敏锐观察的激情是写出有灵魂的文章、生动的文章、拥有独特性和深度的文章的关键。音乐是表达感情的最有味道和强烈的工具。如果一个人真正热爱他们所听的音乐，那么音乐和音乐所传达的情感就会在这个人的头脑中留下印记，使这个人更加敏感。下次这个人再经历这种情绪或类似的情绪时，就会更敏锐地发现它们，更深刻地感受到这种情感的影响，因为音乐留下了如此直接和深刻的标记。我们可以从肖邦的夜曲作为一个简单的例子开始。在肖邦的一些夜曲中，特别是那些使用小调的夜曲，悲伤或哀伤的感觉极其有力地传递到听众的脑海中。这种情感的传递是如此强大，以至于人们现在将悲伤与那些夜曲联系起来，加强了他们对这种情感的敏感性。下一次，当这个人经历一些悲伤的事情或听另一首有类似感情的音乐时，他们会感到悲伤的共鸣更强，味道更浓。现在，想象一下，一个人会听无数种不同的乐曲，乐曲都传递不同的情感，或者说上面这个过程可能会重复数百次。我们最终会得到什么？我们会得到一个对无数感觉敏感的人，一个能够发现情感流动中最幽微细节的人，一个能够深深沉浸在这些感觉中的人，以及一个最终能够将这些丰富、感人的情感注入他们的许多写作中的人。

听音乐，对感情更加敏感，也使人更有激情地观察世界。当你感受到更多更深刻的情感时，人类世界，一个由情感作为基本连接的世界，逐渐变得更加丰富多彩，耐人寻味。人们会开始注意和理解对一个问题或事件的不同观点，或看到人类决定背后的深层原因。具备了情感敏感度，就能学会换位思考，从而产生更合理、更符合事实的观点。既然人们生来就是为了表达，那么人们就会更积极地将自己的头脑转向全球各个方向，寻找可以作为表达平台的事件或故事，以表达自己从听音乐中增强的情感。当一个人对世界更有激情，对表达自己的观点更有激情时，写作应该成为一个必要的工具和分享途径。从这些意义上说，音乐可以说为写作提供了另外两个最重要的前提条件，除了灵感，还有一个敏感的灵魂和一个充满激情的头脑，渴望深入研究人类世界。

前面两条纽带是关于音乐如何影响写作。关系的另一面，即写作如何影响音乐，也是值得研究的。写作使我们能够更深入地探索音乐，甚至可能在对音乐的理解上闪现一些新的光芒。当我们写作时，我们的大脑会自动进行批判性和深刻的思考。这种批判性和深刻的思考通常会产生更有机、更独特、更深刻的内容。因此，当我们写关于音乐的内容时，通过写作这个过程，我们可能会发现对音乐元素或其背后的背景有更深的理解，我们可能会决定从另一种方法或角度来分析音乐，我们甚至可能找到新的元素、新的解释方法，这将影响我们如何聆听音乐。一言以蔽之，一旦一个人写作，音乐就会变得更复杂、更有意义、更灵活（在解释的意义上）。以我自己和我几天前发表的关于《燃情岁月》的文章为例。在写这部电影的主题音乐评论之前，我没有注意到关于音乐过渡句的任何特别之处，也没有为它们产生任何明确的解释。然而，当我开始在文章中写到那段音乐时，我的头脑开始更彻底地思考，最终我对过渡句产生了较为独特的理解。这种对音乐的新理解只能发生在我决定写它，进而思考它的时候。如果我们想在音乐领域中更广泛和更深入地发展，写作是至关重要的。

最后，作为正反馈循环的一部分，写作可以培养对音乐的热爱。如上所述，由于写作使音乐更复杂、更有意义、更灵活，我们自然愿意在音乐的世界里挖掘得更深。例如，《燃情岁月》的主题音乐在书面分析后变得更加优美动人，我于是想听更多的主题音乐，看看每个作曲家是如何使用不同的技巧和元素来传达情感的，在这个过程中享受每一个音符的影响。

总的来说，音乐和写作是两种表达方式，以多种方式相互联系。音乐为书面内容提供了灵感，培养了情感的敏感性以及观察世界的热情，这是一个优秀作家必须具备的两个特征。写作，在循环的另一端，让听众在音乐世界中更深入、更独特地探索，并培养对音乐的热爱。这些联系不仅对于理解音乐和写作是不可或缺的，而且对于理解人类是如何用我们的自然本能来表达和分享我们的思想和情感，以越来越复杂的方式理解这个世界，也是重要的。