The Nerve, Pt 4: How the 'congregational power' of music keeps us connected
Music can create a feeling of transcendence in both listeners and musicians
Music is central to virtually every kind of religious worship. Many cultures have considered music to be a gift of the gods.
But non-sacred music can also create a feeling of transcendence in both listeners and musicians.
As Daniel Lanois puts it, "Music has congregational power." It connects us to something ineffable — and it connects us to each other, it brings us together.
Is that congregational power inherent to music, or is it the human urge to congregate that made music possible in the first place?
Or could it be that question is upside-down? Which is the chicken, which is the egg? Maybe music is an integral part of what makes us human. Before we all had our own personal soundtracks plugged into our ears, music meant togetherness.
Perhaps it's music's congregational power that has always brought us together and made us human. When we chant together, when we sing together, when we clap together, we are in sync.
Whether we get that special "holy" feeling listening to the mysterious melismas of chanting monks, or feel our spirits lifted by shouting out "Na-na-na-na-na-na-na, Hey Jude!" at the top of our lungs, or feel the bass throbbing in our bloodstream as we jostle and bounce with hundreds of other humans on a dance floor — music can evoke an altered state that offers a glimpse of a portal to something beyond. It helps us grapple with that question, "Why are we here?"
Maybe it's a part of the answer to that question, too.
From Gregorian or Tibetan chants, to the trance of Moroccan Gnawa musicians or Avicii and other 21st-century dance floor heroes — music enchants us and entrances us like no other art form or human activity.
Music and spirituality is the focus of this episode of The Nerve — a documentary series about why music exists and how it affects us. Enchanted, Entranced first aired on CBC Music in 2008.
Other segments in this series:
The Nerve is produced by Paolo Pietropaolo, Chris Brookes, and host Jowi Taylor. Feel free to contact the team with feedback or questions you may have at thenerve@cbc.ca.
**Note: this series is not available for download and is available for listening in Canada only due to music copyright restrictions.
Guests featured in this episode:
- Daniel Lanois, musician and music producer
- Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano
- Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist, secularist
- Wade Morissette, musician, yoga teacher
- Deborah Kapchan, anthropologist
- Stephanie Martin, composer and conductor
Also appearing:
- Larry Kirkegaard, acoustician
- Simon O'Dwyer, musician, prehistoric music expert
Episode 4 features music from these artists and composers:
The Rustavi Choir
The Gyuto Monks of Tibet
The Muezzin of El Azhar Mosque in Cairo
The Londonderry Boys Choir
Isabel Bayrakdarian
The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos
Hari Om Sharan
Jagjit Singh
Wade Imre Morissette
Maalem si Mohamed Chaouqi
Les Maitres du Gnawa
Bach Collegium Japan
J.S. Bach
Jondi & Spesh
Funk Function
the New Bethel Baptist Church Congregation
U2 with the New Voices of Freedom Gospel Choir