Whispers - A Short Film on Pure Music
The video focuses on pure music - non-representational music concerned only with harmony, rhythm, and melody - and its ability to recall/revive certain memories. Pure music can enhance the expressive power of speech or cinematics, meaning it is enough to express an emotion or feeling without having any words. Kathleen Marie Higgins, a famous music philosopher, says that music plays an important role in the connection of emotions and memories.
Music is a language in itself. It forms memories through evoking strong emotions. Music triggers different parts of the memory: explicit and implicit. The former is deliberate, conscious, and intentional, and the latter is emotional and unintentional. Music memory is the last part of the brain that is affected by Alzheimer’s disease. This means that our implicit memory or “memory beyond our consciousness” is very strong. Music is the only thing that triggers that part of the brain in a way that gives a feeling of knowing. Peter Kivy, a leading philosopher of music, states that “most of us certainly know music when we hear it, even if we couldn't define it” (Music, Meaning, and Emotion, n.d.). This means that any form of pure music is enough to recall a memory associated with it.
We hear pure music every day, with each sound fleeting away instantly. But when we hear those sounds later in life, we are reminded of distinct moments from our past. These sounds are capable of reminding us of memories we thought were locked away forever. In essence, when everything changes and all else fades, music remains. The video shows the connection between music and memories. It shows how a single sound is capable of reminding a person of the simplest moments from their past.
