Mozart’s Beauty Secret

Sometimes my music background just won’t sit still and be quiet.  I find myself writing more and more about the power of music these days.

For all of you classical music lovers, I have written a new essay just for you. It’s called Beauty Can Save Us: Mozart and Whitehead.    I talk about Mozart’s last symphony and what it tells us about hope and possibility in a world of tragedy and suffering.  I also talk about how Mozart is a metaphor for Whitehead’s idea of Beauty and God. Two big revolutionaries in one small essay. ( I had to drink several pots of tea while writing!)

But if you’re more in the mood for the Beatles, I hope you’ll enjoy my essay Lennon and McCartney: Magic and Metaphysics.    Or if Jazz is more your thing, check out  Dave Brubeck: Theology in 5/4 time.

Returning to classical music, I also give you The Whole Planet in a Single Note: Lang Lang, my favorite pianist who has a unique vision for saving the world through music and children. Yes, Beauty can save us.

Be sure to check out all the new essays  on Jesus, Jazz, and Buddhism: Process Thinking for a More Hospitable World.  A new topic daily, like food for the soul.  Jay McDaniel has created a revolutionary on-line magazine with a many themes and variations.

May your holiday be filled with music–classical, sacred, rock, jazz–whatever your cup of tea!

Patricia

Patricia Adams Farmer is an essayist and novelist in the tradition of process theology.  She is the author of Embracing a Beautiful God (now in a Tenth Anniversary Edition)  and the Fat Soul Philosophy Novel Series (The Metaphor Maker and Fat Soul Fridays). She and her husband, Ron Farmer, live and write on the north central coast of Ecuador.  Visit her  website at patriciaadamsfarmer.com or follower her adventures in Ecuador at Life at Latitude Zero.  Her JJB essays include:  The Quaking and Breaking of EverythingThe Numinosity of Rocks, Replanting Yourself in Beauty, What is Fat Soul Philosophy?

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4 thoughts on “Mozart’s Beauty Secret

  1. You are right. Music is so important to each and every one of us. Gary Scott talks about music all the time and how it helps us learn. In fact, he gives a seminar using music to learn in a short time span. Thanks for sharing these observations with us Patricia!

  2. Hello again, I just opened this page to pursue more of your essays about music and process thought, and as the page opened, the one on Mozart, ‘Eine Kleine Nacht’ began to play from somewhere down the corridor. Though I work in the music faculty of UPSI, it is rare to here Mozart in the corridors, mostly it is Malaysian music or pop songs. I think I may have just experienced a truly Jungian synchronistic moment – thought they only happened to other people.
    Robert Burrell

    • Oh, my! I am honored again. Mozart is magic, am I right? It is so very nice to “meet” a musician who understands. Thank you, Robert. I hope to follow your work and maybe ask your musical opinion from time to time–if that’s all right.

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