The Musical Life

A very thought-provoking and extremely funny book about how to be a better listener to all the day-in day-out sounds around us that we typically ignore. I am now on my 3rd reading of "The Musical Life", and each time I read it I discover many new and fascinating pearls of wisdom. It's amazing that a professional composer and musician can be such a wonderful and hilarious writer, but Mr. Mathieu certainly is. Most of the chapters are brief, just one or two pages each, which I prefer (short attention span!). I am an amateur musician, I play the shakuhachi, a bamboo flute, for terminally ill hospice patients, and Mathieu's little chapter on "Healing Music" really hit home for me. Simply put, he states that music won't heal the listener unless it first heals the player. Profound and heartfelt words, but on the other hand Mathieu doesn't take himself too seriously either. I have just ordered his earlier book "The Listening Book" and can't wait to receive it in the mail!!

The Musical Life is, first, a rare, clear glimpse into the mind of a masterful artist. Although Mr. Mathieu's primary medium is music, the experiences he discusses are not necessarily unique to music. A photographer or an architect could take away as much from this book as a saxophonist or a gamelan player. What enables the author to build the bridge between broadly differing disciplines is simply the way he is about his art, how he holds it in his life, which is a life that transcends the specifics of media and taps into the source of art itself. Mathieu articulates his musical life in a way that enables readers to examine their own artistic pursuits and intentions and apply his insights to them.On another level, The Musical Life gives a sense of what the daily life of an artist can be like, the day-to-day rhythms, the ongoing sensibilities - a "behind the eyes" insight into one artist's worldview. For readers who already consider themselves artists, this can be both validating and expansive; for the non-artist, it is an invitation to fold a new reality into their old familiar one.Additionally, and not to be overlooked by the musical reader, Mr. Mathieu provides a number of novel approaches to common musical problems and questions. For instance, a section called "Sound Is the Teacher" contains a thorough description of the overtone series which is basic enough for the layperson, yet communicated in a way that can inspire even the most knowledgeable. It is at once practical and transcendent - the best such explanation I have found. He is clearly an excellent teacher, thriving on sane, original thought.In the end, this is a personal book. One is left with the experience of having gotten to know someone well, as with a fellow traveler on a long trip. It may be said that this apparent intimacy is merely an intrinsic illusion of all writing, since readers cannot share with authors in the same way that authors share with readers, but the sense of intimacy remains nonetheless, and there's no doubt that Mr. Mathieu has shared himself fully in writing this wonderful, enjoyable and useful book.