“Music is the universal language of mankind.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1835
“Thus, though music be a universal language, it is spoken with all sorts of accents.” - George Bernard Shaw, 1890
These two quotes, spoken well over a hundred years ago, are words I hold close to my heart. Referring to music as a universal language has become cliche, but that doesn’t make it any less true. I was reminded how universal music is on my recent trip over seas. I saw it from several perspectives — from a small group dancing in the moonlight to hundreds of thousands singing in harmony. In those moments I struggled to think of something else that could unite so many people from so many different cultures.
Music, as a form of emotional expression, spans all corners of the globe. It exists in every culture in one form of another. To back up this claim, researchers from two Canadian universities conducted an experiment. They traveled deep into the central African rain forests and found 40 Mbenzélé Pygmies, an isolated tribe in the Congo that lives without television, radio and electricity. Researchers played them 30-90 second excerpts of western instrumentals, including classical compositions and film scores, as well as melodies from their own tribe. The Pygmies’ emotional and physical responses were recorded and compared to a test group in Montreal, who listened to the same music.
Canadian and Pygmy participants were asked to listen and rate the music on how calm or excited it made them feel. Physiological responses like heart and breathing rate were also monitored by biosensors.
The researchers found that subjects in both groups showed similar emotional and physical responses. They both rated certain pieces exciting and certain pieces calming. Although these Canadians and Pygmies could never have communicated by word of mouth, they find common ground in music.
I’ve had similar discoveries attending concerts and music festivals. A few weeks ago, for example, I attended a festival in Barcelona with another 200,000 music lovers. I was amazed as the masses of people flocked to the headlining stage. In the middle of the set, I realized I was standing in the middle of an amazing phenomenon. People from all over the world — Spain, Australia, Japan, Italy, the United States — swayed and sang in unison. At that moment, it didn’t matter where you were from or what language you spoke. All that mattered was the music, and that’s why I love it so much.
