According to older authorities, music is more than what we, 'nowadays', term as music. Boethius, the fifth century philosopher, speaks of three kinds of music: heavenly, human, and instrumental. They are also known as Musica mundana, humana and instrumentalis. These are understood as different levels of an all-pervasive music.

As a young musician, (I've played the piano from age 8), the prosaic reality -- that which existed outside of music -- was a scary place, frighteningly unlike what I experienced when playing Chopin or Mozart. Of course, this observation was only a vague feeling, beyond verbal formulations.

I realized that there existed two worlds: the world of music and that other strange, unmusical universe where people quarrelled, broke the dishes, and sometimes killed each other. Out of this feeling something was born -- not after nine months or nine years, but much later. This dissonant feeling irritated me like a speck of dust, and now irritation is turning into sweet music.

Do not think that I imagine myself unique in recognizing such dissonance. Probably many youngsters become musicians (dancers, painters, etc.) as a way to criticize the larger, dissonant world. It starts with an inner thought: "I do not like what I see when I look out at the world. It is too different from Bach."

A musical career can thus be an escape into a kind of monastic existence. It is a pity that the often pertinent criticism these sensitive souls harbour deep inside is not verbalised and voiced. The underlying premise too often is: "*I* am at fault, not the world. I should be able to cope with normal, everyday life. But I cannot. Therefore I will "take the veil" and enter the cloister of Music."

But, if everybody argued like this, our world would never improve. We would stagnate. Irritation would be muted and silenced, it would never produce pearls.

I actually think that this irritation is the driving force behind many, if not most, musicians. We are not happy in the world. Music lets us experience another kind of existence, a harmony beyond mere worldly experiences.

Personally, I had to leave music in order to realize this state of affairs. Ten years ago I changed the direction of my life and started working in the field of philosophy. I put music on the shelf and set out to learn how to handle thoughts and words. While music can be pursued emotionally and intuitively, in philosophy things need to come out into the open. Philosophy is like a spotlight. It makes things visible. For me it took a change in profession, actually leaving music to realize my true motives for becoming a musician.

After leaving my pianistic work for socratic adventures, I soon realized that I had not left music at all. I was still trying to create harmony and dynamic counterpoint, only now with thoughts and ideas. The distance between music and the prosaic world no longer overwhelmed me. I started to believe in the possibility of a bridge and began building that bridge. This bridge I call extended musicality, or Musica Humana.

What I have described about my early years as a musician could be termed as a dissonance between my experience of music versus everything else. In music we talk about resolving a dissonance, perhaps into "higher" harmony. Solve means to melt, analyze, dissect, to see in a clear light. Thanks to my adult thinking and analytical processes, I can now resolve and understand what I only could *feel* as a teenager. Now I can even hear it!

So what was born out of this? Well, I am about to start a school of extended musicality. The idea behind it is new. You could also say it is very old.

It is not necessary but practical to use Boethius' terminology. The three levels of music -- heavenly, human, and instrumental -- provide a useful working model. Musica mundana is beyond us. The planets moving in their courses, the changing seasons, solar winds, etc. This is a music we cannot influence and hardly even hear.

Musica instrumentalis we know almost too well. This is the main thread in my life and perhaps your life, as well. Playing, teaching, composing, listening -- life would be awful without this music.

Between these levels, one strangely distant, the other very well known, lies the sphere of Musica Humana, the music of human beings. In contrast to Musica mundana, it is not beyond us. Actually, it is very near. It is not harder to look up then down, but if you are convinced that nothing exists above you, you will never raise your eyes. The same with Musica Humana. We can hear it, but nobody inspires us to listen to it. It is an audible but sorely neglected waveband.

Let me give a simple example of what to look (listen) for.

The way I see it, etiquette is perhaps the best single area of human experience where sensitivity to Musica Humana is paramount. As instrumental musicians, (including the instrument of voice), we have a very strict code of ethics or etiquette. If we don't know it, it is probably because we take it for granted. For example, my piano teacher sometimes washed the keyboard before a lesson. "One cannot play Mozart on a dirty instrument", he said. That might sound amusing, but it is also a sign of respect. Respect, a major theme in etiquette, plays a cardinal role in music. If you do not like the conductor's tempo, you will not play another. If you feel like playing Beethoven's Fifth in d-minor, you will restrain your whim. Such a respectful attitude is often absent in human interactions. "I feel like quarreling -- and I AM going to quarrel! I don't give a damn if I ruin the party!"

As a pianist I might "feel like" playing Chopin's Etude on the black keys in G-major instead, and Ravel's Concerto for the left hand with both hands. What stops me from doing this? Not inhibitions but *respect*. While accompanying a singer, I might get bored with her tempo, nevertheless I will not double it so I can get home in time to watch the Letterman Show.

Making music is an example of sacrificing personal whim and comfort for greater, impersonal harmony. And impersonal harmony clearly lies at the root of etiquette.

The holistic element in music is very strong. The whole is practically always more important than the part. Service to the whole is taken for granted. My left hand never objects to playing a lot of um-pah-pah -- in a waltz, for example. It never goes on strike because my right hand has fancier stuff to play. And what you observe in a symphony orchestra is, when you think of it, a stunning case of voluntary, collective, concentrated, and joyful service: VOCOCOJOSE! Very hard to find in other walks of life.

Being a sharp listener and having good timing are prime qualities in a good musician. Observe then, if you will, the waiter!

If he is skilled, he will come with the menu just when you feel like ordering. When you have made up your mind, he is there and takes your order. When your appetite reaches its apex, the food will come. You need more salt or bread? He will be there when you want his attention. The meal is finished, he is there to remove the plates and inquire about coffee and desserts. When you feel like paying, he is there with the tab. He will make you feel special, and noticed. And he does this with 20-30 people at the same time! Will you tell me that he is not an artist, a virtuoso of sorts in Musica Humana?

In our everyday life we meet people who are exceptionally charming, balanced, tactful and dynamic. These qualities are not as a rule associated with music. I would say that these persons are musical on the level of Musica humana. According to Boethius everything is music. If we accept that, we cannot reserve the word music for tone-production, fingering, scales, and concerts.

Well then, this was a short background to extended musicality. The subject as you see is clearly enormous. This should not scare anybody. That there is much to do is good news. Nobody I know is sad because Bach and Mozart wrote so much music, it just means that you will not come to the end of the musical road quickly. Great things lie ahead, in musica instrumentalis as well as in Musica Humana.

Ladislaus Horatius

See this link for more information about Extended Musicality. Soon, there will be an entire site dedicated to this subject.
Musica-Humana

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