Unheard Symphonies

The most brilliant compositions are composed and performed only once: though oftentimes these moments of genius go unheard. While Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Dvorak each wrote pieces that impacted the world (each intelligently combining sounds of instruments and voices), the most profound compositions consist of more than the anticipated sounds of instruments and voices.

Take a deep breath and slowly exhale. In that moment, what do you hear? If you are breathing slow enough, then you may hear the hum of your computer, the hum of the air conditioner, the talking of people outside your door. The point to ponder, however, is if you recognized those sounds there before.

I do not believe there is such a thing on this earth as silence: silence is rather the refrain from noises you control or expect to hear. If there is silence, we find some way to replace this: we notice the melody of the bird outside, we hear the water in the fish tank, we hear the sound of water splashing as cars go by, our thoughts become louder, or familiar tunes come to our minds. It is during these moments of silence we can hear these unrecognized symphonies.

When it rains, you do not just hear the melody of the rain falling on the roof, you hear the sound of the rain on the leaves on the tree and as it hits the cement. Composed in this symphony is the lament of a Dog who does not want to be left outside and yearns to be held. Contrasted with this is the joyous duet of two birds singing their love songs to one another. At the perfect moments, the sound of wind blowing through the trees enhances this composition, combined with the buzzing sound of the fly. Though these are all common noises, they are combined together in this combination for this single time. The unique experiences and emotions in your life also give this experience a different meaning.

There are so many noises every moment, it is impossible to listen to each one. Therefore, when we are silent, we recognize the noises we choose to hear above all these other noises. A baby  recognizes its mother's voice above all other noises, a basketball player recognizes his couch's voice above all other sounds. We then must also decide what we will listen to above the other noises we hear.