There is a quote by German poet and playwright, Bertolt Brecht, that says:

“In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.”

They say music is the universal language. So what about it transcends barriers? Even in the worst of times, music can be found. Tales of its existence precedes history books for birds have always sung long before we ever recorded it, bards sang the tales of their societies, and instruments have been found amongst most historical civilizations.

If you look at music throughout history, the evolution of it helps reflect the era in which it existed. The 1920’s are known for its jazzier tunes, the 1980’s is noted for iconic rock music, and the 2010’s were ruled by spicier pop tunes.

So how is it that one of the oldest genres of music, born during a time that doesn’t reflect our own, is still prominent to this day?

Classical music is a genre that has encaptured hearts for centuries. People can still name prominent classical legends such as; Beethoven and Mozart. We still as a society, get transfixed by interwoven keys on a piano and heartbreaking draws of violin strings. The way it says so much without saying any words at all is one of the most fascinating parts.

How can pure noise paint an intricate and beautiful story when someone can have a whole conversation without really saying much of substance at all?

When it comes to modern music, a lot of the songs we hear begin as classical, or what we call instrumental. Artists build a song starting with basic instruments such as a piano, violin, cello, where they pick chords and layer it from there. Even with a fully produced song, if you look it up on YouTube, someone has stripped it down to the instrumental version. Those instrumental versions get used for dramatic edits and to help enhance art by allowing the song to help portray their message.

There is just something about raw music without added layers and vocals, that elicits an emotion so deep within people and so utterly unspeakable that it can’t be replicated.

In modern society, classical music from hundreds of years ago still gets used for ballroom dancing scenes in movies and elevator tunes and relaxing music to study to. Classical music is timeless because unlike most songs, where we’re relating to the lyrics, there are no lyrics to relate to. We don’t have to fit within a single point in time because things that are relevant now won’t be relevant in fifty years and things that were relevant 300 years ago aren’t relevant now. But, we don’t need to relate to the times when classical music was at its prime because there is only the music and the feelings that the music elicits, and feelings are what is really eternal.

The emotions behind the music, the relatability that humans all have feelings and therefore can envision a moment in time when something made us feel the way that a piece of art by Tchaikovsky makes us feel, makes classical music timeless.

If one day, instrumental music fails to be relevant, then it means humans have ceased to experience emotions.