THE SOUND OF MUSIC
THEN AND NOW
By
Odete Martins Bigote
What is music?
Music is your own experiences,
Your thoughts, your wisdom.
If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.
Charlie Parker 1920-55
In the movie “The Sound Of Music” (1965), the Reverend Mother told Maria she has a great capacity to love but has to find out how God wants her “to spend her love.”
Maria is shocked, fearful and confused.
Who is Maria? In real life she is the English actress Julie Andrews; in the movie she plays the role of a nun in search of her true self – so Maria is all of us.
“I’ve pledged all my life to His service.” Said Maria to the Reverend Mother.
Maria loved God, how could she possibly love her boss, captain Von Trapp too?
Like many of us, Maria thought love has limits. It was the Reverend Mother who reminded her that true love between two people is also holy; when you love someone “it does not mean you love God less.” Furthermore, an Abbey is not a place to be used as refuge for those who do not want to face their problems.
Maria was also a happy young nun who occasionally runned away from the Abbey to the hills nearby to sing and dance. She knew there was another world out there beyond the Abbey’s walls, but she feared the change.
At first, she pleaded with the Reverend Mother not to send her away to face the man she loved but, in the end, she changed her mind after listening to her sounds of music:
Climb every mountain
Follow every stream
Follow every rainbow
Till you find your dream.
A dream that will need
All the love you can give
Every day of your life
For as long as you live.
We all write our own music, and sing it in different forms – in order to do this, all doors must be opened and fear must be out of the way. We must allow our Higher Self to guide us.
What is to reach the heart
must come from above,
if it does not come thence,
it will be nothing but notes – body without spirit.
Beethoven, to J. A. Stumpff, 1824 in Marion Scott, Beethoven
Maria married the captain, and became an instant stepmother of seven children: a true story that happened in Austria just before World War ll. From the moment she married, Maria’s sounds of music changed drastically. She had to face not only her new love but also the Nazis’ hate.
When they came back from their honeymoon, they were surprised to see the Austrian flag, at the entrance of their mansion, replaced by the Nazis’ flag. Captain Von Trapp torn it to pieces. Convinced that there was no more free Austria, the family refused to let the Nazis take control of their lives. With courage and commitment they escaped to Switzerland, but not before the whole family sang “GOD BLESS MY HOMELAND FOR EVER.”
We’ve learned that history repeats itself: is this type of “sounds of music,” a sign of historical events about to happen again in the 21st century? Which flags will be replaced?
Let’s follow our “rainbows” until we find our dreams, and hopefully escape the rage of evil. After all, that is what miracles are all about.
Article written by
Odete Martins Bigote
Copyright 2002