Ecstatic Living Room

Listening to great music is often described as a religious experience. Why not take your listening to the next level and make it a real meditation?

Whether you believe in a spiritual component, the practice of meditation is universally accepted as a great thing for body, mind and soul. The object of any meditation practice is to clear the chatter of your mind, to calm your mind in a way that is different from sleep. This process can have innumerable benefits, and music can help.

First, set aside 10 to 30 minutes in a place where you can listen undisturbed. Put away all reading materials, knitting or whatever else you usually do while you listen to music — during Ecstatic Meditation, you are just listening.

Focus on the music and let your mind relax. When the chatter starts up, just recognize it for what it is and let it go, gently bringing your focus back to the music you are listening to. Anyone who has been instructed in meditation will recognize this technique, though the practice is traditionally to bring your attention back on your breath. With Ecstatic Meditation, bring your attention back to the music.

Virtually any music can work for Ecstatic Mediation, but in the beginning, focus on chamber music of a maximum 30-minute duration. Chamber music is particularly effective, because you can focus on the individual parts (e.g., the violin, the piano, etc.) or how the instruments blend together. Initially, it’s much more difficult to do this with larger-scale works.

Something that may seem counterintuitive is that you’re not just looking for relaxing, mellowing music. No way! While it’s fine to nod off during Ecstatic Meditation (which means you’re just exhausted!), the aim is to remain engaged.  So the music can vary from soft and gentle to wildly energetic.

While you are listening, you can let go of your own feelings and sensations and focus on the emotion of the music — the joy, the brilliance, the melancholy, whatever qualities you find meaningful in the piece you are listening to. Your problems will not go away, but when you return from your meditation, you’ll be in a better, stronger frame of mind to resolve them.

Practice Ecstatic Meditation either alone or with friends (group meditation is a common and very beneficial practice) any time of day. You’ll not just understand the music you are listening to more profoundly; you’ll likely learn more about yourself.

Here are some examples of music to start you on your way. We’ve chosen to focus on the chamber music of Johannes Brahms because his music is accessible, and so much of it occupies that middle ground between calm and ecstasy, which is the place you want to be.

Brahms 3 Intermezzi, op. 117 - These short, beautiful and enchanting works are a great place to begin your Ecstatic Meditation. Listen to them individually and then group them together to have a longer meditative experience. Eventually, you can build up to the following Ballades.  One of my favorite recordings of the Intermezzi is a Deutsche Grammophon disc by the German pianist Wilhelm Kempff, which is available both on Amazon and on iTunes.

Brahms’s four Ballades (Op. 10) are ideal for Ecstatic Meditation individually, but all together clock in just under 25 minutes.  Here is the legendary Emil Gilels playing No. 4. As thoughts appear in your mind, let them float on by, and refocus on the beautiful melodic lines.

There is a wonderful DG recording by Gilels on which the Ballades No. 4 is coupled with Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 1, another great, albeit more “intermediate,” work for Ecstastic Meditation.  This album is also available on Amazon and on iTunes.

Brahms’ Piano Trios are also excellent as your Ecstatic Meditations get longer. The first trio is a great place to start for a near 30-minute musical escape.  Here is a short YouTube clip of Eugene Istomin, Isaac Stern, and Leonard Rose playing the first movement.

As for recordings of the complete Brahms’ trios, there is a great DG disc from 1993 by the Beaux Arts Trio.  I also like a more recent Virgin Classics release by the Capuçon brothers and Nicolas Angelic.