THE POWER OF SONG

Te Ao Hou, September 1961, Page 23

THE POWER OF SONG Another very important aspect of primitive music, which can only be touched on here, is the association of music and magic. This is an age-old partnership which must have come about through the extraordinary psychological effect which music has on the mind of man. It is a common expression to describe a fine performance of music as “sheer magic'. The medical profession today sometimes prescribes listening to music as a cure for certain types of nervous and mental disorders. This hidden power of music has been felt by men in all ages and in varying stages of cultural development, as the following examples, drawn from widely different sources, will show. When David sang before Saul, the sweet sounds of his singing had the effect of turning aside the king's anger and of making him repent of his evil intention of killing David. Krishna, one of the ancient gods of India, played his flute with such ravishing effect that the normal course of nature was altered. “The rivers stopped flowing, the birds halted in their flight and all inanimate things under the sun grew brighter.” In the old German legend of the “Pied Piper” all the children of the town of Hamelin were lured away from their homes by the magic of the piper's music. “Out came the children running Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after the Wonderful music with skipping and laughter:” The flute, with its extraordinary pure tone, has always been the instrument of magic, even more than the human voice. The Maori of former times was not unaware of the magic that slept in the little carved koauau that hung round the chief's neck. When the young and beautiful chieftainess, Hinemoa, heard the love call played by Tutanekai on his flute:

“She felt as if an earthquake shook her to make her go to the beloved of her heart.” There is an old Maori proverb that says: “Ka tangi te koauau, te kanakana te hae.” (When the koauau is heard the jealous eye is on the watch.)