Music and romance have a long standing shared history that extends right through our culture. It is thought that the earliest examples of music, as with many art forms, were created for ritual purposes and one of the stock ritual form common to all human cultures is the marriage or union ritual. Music's contribution to these early rituals would have been to bring the various participants closer together; rituals have primarily a social function, validating and concreting certain truths that uphold the social order, such as the creation of a family unit within the larger tribal context. The power of these rituals in early cultures is often greatly enhanced by the addition of a unifying influence such as repetitive rhythmic music, which helps to establish a common mood and set the emotional bar.
The use of music for rituals and rites of passage such as marriage has survived, albeit in somewhat more sedate form, into the modern day. Perhaps closer in spirit to the ancient tribal rituals, however, is the modern day nightclub environment in which, repetitive rhythmic music and mind altering substances are used to create an alternative reality in which the individual is subsumed by a larger, tribal mentality. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many people choose these venues as the place to carry out their own courtship rituals.
Of course, music has long had a more sophisticated and genteel relationship with romance. Whether you like it or not, love is one of the driving forces behind the production of great art throughout the ages, and music is no exception. From the beginnings of folk music, through the great romantic composers to the modern charts (look at the top 10 next time you get the chance and see how many love songs you can count) love and music enjoy a reciprocal relationship, each feeding the other inspiration, drive and momentum. From the rawest of rock music to the most sophisticated and delicately executed classical opus, from the basest of sexual instinct to the finest and most gently expressed romantic sentiment, for every stage of the romantic spectrum there is a corresponding musical counterpart.
Croydon J Hounslow works for a UK dating site |
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