Musical markers in life histories

Nobody plays Chopin quite like my father does. When I was eight, I believed he was the reincarnation of Chopin. At night I would fall asleep to the sounds of nocturnes, polonaises and etudes being played down the hall. My favourite was the ‘Revolutionary Etude’, Op. 10 No. 12 in C Minor, with the thrilling suspense of its unmistakable opening chord, followed by the spectacular descending cascade of notes as it transitioned into the desperate appassionato melody. A frail Chopin, I was told, had composed this dramatic piece as his contribution to the people's uprising when Russia occupied Poland in 1831. Both the piece and the motivation behind its composition captivated me, not only for the aesthetics of the sound, but also for the intensity of the sentiment that lay within that sound. To this day, it serves as both a nostalgic ‘umbilical chord’ connecting me to the music of my childhood, and as a symbol of my earliest recognition of the power of music in a political context. It was the first of many masterpieces that have presented themselves as musical markers across my lifetime.

Musical markers punctuate people's lives, whether consciously or not. These markers entertain, inform, influence, and instil personal memories that serve as symbols of meaningful demarcations in any life history. For some, associations with music are deepest when related to relationships. For others, they define seminal rites of passage in their lives. For others still, musical markers define cognitive awakenings that alert them to social realities they were previously unaware of. The latter case has the ability to influence thinking subtly or blatantly, drastically change minds, or even dramatically alter worldviews.

So, too, do musical markers punctuate the lives of societies, whether they are individually or collectively conscious of them or not. These markers similarly entertain, inform, influence, and instil cultural memories that preserve cultural attributes, and mobilise change. They reveal relationships within the group, indicate rites of passage within the community, or define affective or intellectual awakenings through pieces that culturally or politically influence or affect the group as a whole. The latter case has the ability to either maintain, or transform, the vision and the workings of their world.