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Anzac Day Australia, conversation of music, heaing, memories, music talks, remembering, singing, sounds, war
Today is Anzac Day. Traditionally we rise early to attend the remembrance ceremony of this special day along with many 100’s at our own small town and many 1000’s of others around Australia. It is a day of special memories for so many people and for creating new memories of understanding for the younger generation coming through.
I have attended this celebration all my adult life. To join with the returned service men and women, their generations of families and the usually large congregation of locals all joining in to pay their respects was always, and remains, special.
I even had the privilege to sing at the dawn service at our local town for 20 successive years. To stand and lead the singing at 4:30am, then again at 11am, to embrace vocally the soft music and words of ‘Abide With Me,’ and to finish each service with a rounding rendition of ‘Advance Australia Fair’ are memories I will always cherish. And for all those 20years, there was the immense problem of singing in front of a huge crowd at 4:30am without a proper vocal warmup! You try it! But today, I was simply part of the crowd, and I had the privilege of hearing the younger generation from the primary (elementary) school choirs lead the singing. How even more special!
Music plays a substantial role in culture, it provides entertainment, it gives people an outlet to be creative, it helps us understand beauty, it promotes a sense of cohesiveness and community and has a value on its own. For me, music speaks when words can fail. It is a universal gift and its power to connect people is without question. It is an art form with human interaction at its centre.
Today at our Anzac service, we were reminded of the impact of music in/on the war. Interestingly, in biblical terms, ever since ‘Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho’, music has served as both a psychological weapon and a way to communicate in battle. Joshua banged his drums and blew the trumpets to make the walks of Jericho fall! At this dawn service, we were reminded that music has always played a significant role in war; from the use of bugles and snare drums as forms of communication, to the escapism of writing and performing melodies to lift the morale and distract the soldiers from the cacophony of war to choirs that were formed in Prisoner of War camps.
I remember seeing the Movie, ‘Paradise Road’, so many years ago, of this true story regarding somewhere in Sumatra in the South Pacific, in a World War II camp, prisoners of war from several countries were held by the Japanese. The story unfolds about a female Presbyterian missionary from England who formed a choir in the prisoner of war ‘Women’s Barracks Camp in Palembang’. The missionary transcribed and arranged from memory music scores of many of the great musical works of Western art. She wrote them in pencil on fragile paper then trained fellow women prisoners to sing and perform these works acappella under extreme demoralizing conditions. Making music was a remarkable survival mechanism! If you have not seen this movie, I suggest you do! A most powerful story epitomising the positive impact of music in the war.
Music in the war also had a major role as a morale booster when played or sung communally. Songs were written and sung as a form of lifting morale for those going off to war or for those left behind. Think about the Vera Lyn recording, “We’ll meet again”, or “It’s a long way to Tipperary”. I know these songs but as I was listening, my mind went to our recent times in Quebec City, Canada, where we learnt about how the drums and the bugler had such an impact on what soldiers needed to do. There were no spoken words, just the sounds of the melodical music being played, or the dialogue of the beat of the drum. It was simply a conversation heard. Music is a powerful means of communication. where people can share intentions, emotions, and meanings. Music in its form can always be understood.
So, after our special Anzac Day ceremony when we were reminded of the powerful role of music in wartime, we returned home and watched an old Australian movie: ‘The Man from Snowy River.’ The storyline was effective, the scenery was breathtaking, the acting was great for a 1982 film, (of course Tom Burlinson as the lead role was simply gorgeous) but it was not all those characteristics that was captivating to me. It was the Music. To hear ‘Jessica’s theme’ played and interwoven into the main mountain musical theme…. you knew exactly what that distinct musical conversation was telling you. As the main character ‘Jim’ rode over the side of the mountain on his beautiful horse, you were presented with a scene so powerfully visual and breathtaking filled with mesmerizing camera work and horsemanship. But to me, as much as this scene was spellbinding, it was the musical theme that kept me enthralled. The music and its recurrent theme talked to me, informing me of the narrative of that solo mountain man and the mountain he conquered. Through the music, you could hear and feel the horse’s heartbeat, you could touch the emotion conveyed as this solo horseman and the pounding horses he was chasing, rode. I know you probably think ‘she is nuts talking like this,’ but think about it, re-watch this exact same scene and remove the music, do you think it would be the same? No. It would be totally different.
I hear different things from you.
I hear sounds from different things. Like the movie, August Rush, where a young boy, created music in his head literally from the soundscapes he heard in his everyday life. The rustling of the trees. The beating drip of the water tap. The scrape of the shoes on a path. All melded together to form a musical sound for him. I am like that. I hear the key of the music being played. I also hear sounds around me that speak to me., I hear those sounds. I hear music.
But music talks to us all individually.
It is a personalised conversation.
I don’t know how music affects you, but today, in our service of remembrance Anzac 2023, for me, I felt a reawakening of the conversant dialogue of music and how, in many diverse conditions, music still talks.
And with that thought in mind I will leave you with a thought. What dialogue will you hear tomorrow?