Voices ResourcesA website for the worldwide community around the journal Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy

The past month and a half have been tumultuous here in the United States. My local music therapy and neighborhood communities are grieving, for we have suffered personal losses. Yes, we are now living with the terror that many cultures and countries face and have faced on a daily basis for years.

I certainly have gained a profound awareness of the suffering of others and a deeper appreciation the freedoms that I have enjoyed. While I still feel the impact on a very deep level, I have been heartened by the role that music is playing in the healing process and it has served to once again deepen my personal relationship with music.

There are many stories that have surfaced about musicians, in New York City especially, who have gone to various sites throughout the city and played music. These stories are full of emotion and recount the power that music has on those both suffering from these events, and those helping in the recovery efforts. Music has provided opportunities for grief, as well as provided strength and solidarity. If only a few of the many stories I have heard are true, then I am grateful for music.

The public classical radio station that I listen to here in Boston, Massachusetts, has made a point of playing music that listeners have specifically requested and identified as music they felt was healing. Apparently many, many listeners have responded and have used these requests as a way to both listen to music that is meaningful to them as well as a way to share this music with many other unknown, grieving listeners. One piece in particular has been played frequently and it has come to really embody for me the depth and complexity of my feelings. It is the Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem, "Ah, that day of tears and mourning! From the dust of earth returning, Man for judgement must prepare him: Spare, O God, in mercy spare him! Lord, all pitying, Jesu blest. Grant them Thine eternal rest." It is not the content of the words so much as the beautiful combination of voices and instruments that serves as a container for both the depths of despair as well as transcendent beauty. I am grateful for music.

As a music therapy educator I am faced with students who are struggling to establish an identity as a music therapist. Within days of the September events they were going into clinical sites and taking on the role of music therapist. They were fragile, feeling their own losses and yet expected to be present for others. I assured them that in times like these no one is an expert. We are all learning anew how to be with each other and support each other. It is yet another opportunity to deepen our ability to use music for our clients and for ourselves. Our weekly improvisations in class have helped us, students and educators alike, learn to trust that music can support us as we sort out our often confusing and conflicting emotions. I am grateful for music.

I leave tomorrow for the other side this country. I am going to California for the annual conference of the American Music Therapy Association. I hope that we use this opportunity to come together and let music bring us a sense of community and healing. I will be grateful for music.

How to cite this page

Forinash, Michelle (2001) I Am Grateful for Music. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=fortnightly-columns/2001-i-am-grateful-music