Beatrice Harrison copyright unknown

Cello music is a curative. It heals over the day’s wounds and calms the spirit. It speaks in low soothing tones or pleads through vibrato. It approaches with fleeting steps or storms about the room without apology. Its dulcet tones summon the imagination and make way for creativity.

I am falling in love with the voice of the cello.

It began during my writing of a historical fiction set in the mid 1800’s. In preparation to write a scene in which a family home was lost to fire, I listened to a cello version of Nearer My God to Thee. In fact, I listened to it repeatedly. The mournful tones transported me to where I needed to be to write that piece — standing in the shoes of Irish girl waiting in despair against the dark of night while flames consumed her family’s shanty.

Now, when I journey into writing, I pair my vision with a piece of cello music that sings my story. Then I close my eyes and let the music do its work.

What follows are some quotes about the power of music to unleash words and some cello pieces I’d like to share with you. Just click on the cello to listen.

Adam Hurst cello
“Music is the literature of the heart;
it commences where speech ends.”
— Alphonse de Lamartine

 

cello 3
“I like beautiful melodies
telling me terrible things.”
~Tom Waits~
 
cello 5
“The function of music is to release us
from the tyranny of conscious thought.”
 ~Sir Thomas Beecham~

 

cello 4
“When I hear music, I fear no danger.
I am invulnerable. I see no foe.
I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.”
~Henry David Thoreau~

 

cello 6
 
“Music gives a soul to the universe,
wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination,
and life to everything.” 
~Plato~

cello 7
 (NB The lead photo is of Beatrice Harrison/copyright unknown.)


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