Music and the Soul: A Listener's Guide to Achieving Transcendent Musical Experiences

For years I had plans to listen to more classical music, but I did not know where to start. What would be a good recording and what a good piece? What composers would be good? Normally these are questions without definitive answers, but there is something about Kurt Leland's intuition about this. I was deeply touched by the pieces he classified to be of the highest spiritual value. I fell in love with Bruckner's late symphonies and Wagner's preludes. This author enriched my life so much by sharing his deep connection with the music, I am very grateful for that. I came to Kurt Leland by his other books - "OtherWhere" and "The Unanswered Question" - both accounts of his travels in the lands beyond the dreams. In these books he looks for answers to eternal questions. I was surprised that there is such a dimension to music, too! Spiritual, mystical experiences brought on by the enjoyment of music. This idea made me curious and so this book led me to new experiences and I can recommend taking this journey to everyone who loves music and believes it to be nourishment for the soul. (Oh, and I became a fan of the rock band Yes, too!)

This book is truly a masterpiece! The author interweaves a tapestry of spiritual philosophy and deep musical understanding which was quite captivating for me. While I have played music and listened to music all my life, and so consider myself to be quite well-versed when it comes to music, this book has given me a deeper insight into how to expand my appreciation of music--and gives examples of different kinds of music and how they relate to different states of consciousness. The "yoga of listening", which is spoken about in the book as a spiritual practice, is a very natural process which the reader is exposed to step-by-step. Already my musical horizons have been expanded and my music listening has been reinvigorated by reading it. Throughout the book various specific recordings are recommended--and so of course I had to try some out and in the process discovered some really great new music! That alone was worth the price of admission for me. Kudos to the author who obviously is both highly intelligent and creative--for this is truly an original piece of work--and a masterwork for sure! I'd give this book six stars if I could...

WOW! A breakthrough book that lifts the music experience to another level. Kurt Leland shows us that music can be a journey of human consciousness, through finding the source of inspiration, energetic diagnosis of the music that surrounds us- - from classical, jazz to pop. By making us aware of how the music affects us, we can make a "conscious" journey of enlightenment and healing through the music that we listen to. Leland equips us with knowledge and skills to identify and diagnose the music that are in our lives, so that it functions as a tool for self-discovery. A must-read for all music lovers.