I was in a way cranky mood earlier today – there was no reason for it, but I just wanted to pout and sulk and blow a giant raspberry at the world. BLEAH to you and the horse you rode in on. And I was in no mood to do anything about it, either. So there.
But then a series of unlikely events prompted me to start listening to the Berlioz Te Deum – a Seattle choir I was in performed it in November 2001, and I have a recording of the performance. With the opening chords I felt my mood shift dramatically, and the silvery second movement (“Tibi omnes”) gave me chills, just like it used to. I was not at all expecting this to happen and I’ve not experienced such a marked and unlooked-for change in mood just from listening to music before. I’m certainly glad it happened, though, both for my sake and for those who would have otherwise had to deal with a cranky Fishies (which affords, I’ve been told, precious little amusement).
I’ve been in one of those moods all week, but I’ve been afraid to say anything for fear of whining. In a twisted way, I’m glad it happens to you too, because it makes me feel better about myself! And I agree, music is the best for changing it there (though sometimes the worst for keeping my mood the way it is…)
You just made my week better! Thanks so much! 🙂
I don’t think it was really the music as much as it was the memories of the world’s Garden of Eden (Seattle). Ah…I’m not biased or anything. 😉
Glad you’re feeling better though. Hope you survived your marathon yesterday with relatively little side-effects. Welcome to my world…
Music is my favorite thing in the world. It can alter my mood so quickly that I don’t even realize what happened half the time. I just know that suddenly I am happy/angry/bored/sad/whatever. I love that music can move people so much. One of my favorite things to listen to is Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. That piece is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.
This doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.
Sometimes, when I listen to certain songs, I am made happier even though I was happy already (for example, Rockapella’s “Fliptop Twister of Love”). Sometimes, I deliberately put on music with the goal of working something out of my system (the Mozart “Requiem” is good for that) and sometimes a whole album is like a therapy session.
One of the experiments that I conducted during the course of my bachelor’s degree was about how music affects mood. Cool stuff!