I believe one of the greatest gifts in my life has been music. I thank my father for handing down to me his great love for classical music. I thank my mother for playing the piano and singing with her lovely alto voice–especially in church. I thank both parents for paying for my piano lessons from second to eighth grade. And I thank all the music teachers and choir directors I’ve experienced throughout my long life. But I thank God most of all for the beauty, power, mystery, and magic of music and song. With that in mind, here are some of my favorite quotations about music from a wide variety of people.
1. Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. Plato
2. After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. Aldous Huxley
3. For me, singing a sad song often has a way of healing a situation. It gets the hurt out in the open, into the light, out of the darkness. Reba McEntire
4. Next to the Word of God, the noble act of music is the greatest treasure in the world. Martin Luther
5. Without music, life would be a mistake. Friedrich Nietzsche
6. Music is a great natural high and a great natural escape. Shania Twain
7. Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without. Confucious
8. Music is very spiritual; it has the power to bring people together. Edgar Winter
9. The best music is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with. Bruce Springsteen
10. The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul. Johann Sebastian Bach
11. People have not always been there for me, but music has. Taylor Swift
12. Music is the fourth great material want; first food, then clothes, then shelter, then music. Christian Nestell Bovee
13. Music is the soundtrack of your life. various sources
14. Music can change the world, because it can change people. Bono
15. Every song is like a painting. Dick Dale
16. Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to the loneliness. Maya Angelou
17. Music expresses what cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent. Victor Hugo
18. All my songs are based on melody, which is retrieved from my Jewish heritage. Neil Diamond
19. The world’s most famous and popular language is music. PSY, South Korean singer
20. Let this be my epitaph: “The only proof I needed for the existence of God was music.” Kurt Vonnegut
21. Music is forever: music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die. Paul Simon
22. The Lord is my strength and my song. Ps. 118:14
Reflection questions:
Did any quote really stand out for you? Do you know why?
If music is the soundtrack of your life, name three pieces of music (any genre) that are a part of the soundtrack of YOUR life. To encourage you to do this, I’ll go first: “Finlandia” by Sibelius (inherited from my dad), “Moon River” by Henri Mancini and sung by Andy Williams (it helped give me the courage to enter the convent), and “Amazing Grace” by John Newton (words) and William Walker (music).
Have you ever felt the healing power of a particular piece of music or song? I invite you to share that music below.
Have you requested a certain piece of music for your funeral? If so, which and why?
Note: I am posting these two music videos in honor of our immensely talented music directors here at our SND Center in Chardon: Sister Karita Ivancic, our amazing choir director, and Sister Susan Clark, our stellar accompanist.
There are so many pieces of remarkable music out there, I had a hard time deciding on one. After searching on YouTube for quite a while, I finally chose Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” which some say is the most beautiful piece of music ever written. I’m offering two versions. The first is by the Celtic Women, an Irish musical ensemble formed in 2004. The Second is by Kings Return a Dallas based a cappella quartet, formed in 2016, who sing in rich harmonies and blend gospel, jazz, R&B, and classical. Both versions are in Latin. The lyrics are the “Hail Mary”: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” Choose one or (better yet) listen to both versions of this beautiful song.
Video #1: Celtic Women
Video #2: The a cappella group Kings Return, recording this version in a stairwell.
I welcome you to share your thoughts below–on the quotes, reflective questions, videos, pictures, or your own experience with music. We all enjoy reading your comments! PS: We one man heard Kings Return’s version of “Ave Maria” he wrote: “If this is not played at my funeral, I am not going to die!”
33 Responses
So beautiful..brings tears to my eyes ..both are beautiful!!!
Good Morning. Thank you so much for this morning’s blog. The quote by Victor Hugo -#17 resonates with me. So many times I can feel the music I’m listening to spread throughout my body bringing me comfort or joy or an activist spirit. Three pieces of music I love: Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, On Eagles Wings and When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. . I listen to the music you post and it really starts my day in such a good way. Peace and blessings.
Good morning, Melannie…
Good morning, all…
Occasionally, I print out your entire blog for future reference. This is one of those blogs! Which definition of music did I like the best? That’s a hard one — a really hard one! But if I have to choose, then I’ll choose two, not one. First on my list would be the beautifully poetic Maya Angelou quote. Second, the one from Kurt Vonnegut, who went to his grave claiming to be an atheist, but was he really? If I’m lucky enough to get to Heaven, I’ll seek him out, tell him how his many books fostered a young man’s love for reading. God love him! PS: Both those Aves were amazing!
Good morning—The Victor Hugo quote is the one that stands out for me. I often wake up with a song on my mind (or maybe in my heart). My favorite song is “God’s Perfect Time” composed by my friend Dan Schutte. I’ve chosen two funeral songs: “Come, Live in the Light” as the opening and “City of God” for the ending. They both speak so much of what God is for us.
I had to listen to a couple versions of “God’s Perfect Time” after Charlene’s recommendation. It also speaks to my soul.
Nearly 30 years ago, I started listening to contemporary Christian artists. In July, we started seeing many of them at Hills Alive in Rapid City, SD. Many of those artists from that time are still on my play lists and Casting Crowns is the linchpin.
Giddy up & God Bless you and your companions on the journey!
Good morning Sister. I loved this blog, I know so many words to songs without knowing who sang them or where I heard them first! I tease my family that if I ever have dementia to sing to me and I’ll respond – even commercial jingles (Oscar Meyer Wiener, Coca-Cola’s I’d like to teach the world to sing, State Farm’s Like a good neighbor, etc) run through my head. I like the Confucius quote – that human life NEEDS music! Agree wholeheartedly. My fav’s include the Hallelujah Chorus, On Eagle’s Wings, and It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas! Thanks for all the insight you provide to your readers. Happy New Year.
Thanks for the commercial earworms! 😉😊. What would we do without song?
Ave Maria…My dad sang it for my wedding and at my siblings weddings (6 of us) my youngest brothers he was very sick with cancer and the last time he sang. He also sang at many friends and relatives weddings. It will be played and sung at my funeral
My favorite quote was “Music can change the world, because it can change people. Bono” It gives me hope in these turbulent times that people can change.
I like Kurt Vonnegut’s quote because it so closely relates to my favorite image of music and creation, coming from C.S. Lewis’s Narnia Tales. I don’t know which of the seven Narnia books the image is from, but Lewis shows Aslan (Christ) singing the universe into being. Everywhere in nature we sense that divine music.
That beautiful scene describing the creation/wakening of Narnia is from The Magician’s Nephew.
Reba McIntire’s quote spoke to me this morning. The hymn “Come to Jesus” sung by our parish choir occasionally is a beautiful piece relating different stages of a person’s life, ending with “then fly to Jesus and live.” I requested it for my husband’s funeral, and I have asked that it be sung at mine. Thank you, Sr. Melanie for your always inspiring words
My mother was buried on Christmas Eve 46 years ago. We sang “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord” from Godspell. I’d like the congregation to sing it for me at my funeral, too. Also, my all-time favorite, “How Can I Keep From Singing” and “Lord of the Dance,” because I want to remind all my loved ones that I’m partying with Jesus and all the saints in heaven, including Mom.
Too many good quotes to select just one. I found a few more in a recent book of quotations from centuries here and past, “Quotationary,” edited by Leonard Roy Frank. When I was in my 20s I was deeply touched with the Henry Purcell song, “Music for a while shall all your cares beguile.” Maybe the words were written by John Dryden–I don’t know. It’s not a deep thought, I feel, but sung by Russell Oberlin, a fine counter-tenor, it is memorable and stirring. When I was a teen, my father shared his empathy for my love of music, saying something like, when life’s major difficulties trouble you, think of the music you love. “They can’t take that away from you.” (Later in my young adulthood, the song like those words, sung by Fred
Astaire in an 1930s movie struck me, evoked my father’s words and have stayed with me.)
Here, I am Lord–When in life I am ready to say I can’t do this any longer, I play or hear this song. I tell God, I hear you. Yes, I can with your help.
Funeral: Holy, Holy, Holy
I think it is majestic, and it says what I want others to know and believe. I also rise early in the morning to begin my day with God.
Like George, I loved all the quotations shared finding it very hard to choose just one. Number 10 by Johann Bach expressed how I have loved music and why. I appreciate so many forms of music and all the gifted artists who have created and shared their music with the world. Music was a big part of my life from the time I was very young. My father sang in our parish choir as did three of my sisters.We frequently had family night on Fridays when we listed to all kinds of music and sang along, particularly Mitch Miller’s band. We also liked to sing and dance around the kitchen while cleaning up after dinner. Something I was taught years ago has stayed with me “singing is like praying twice”. I am moved by so many beautiful songs, one is my favorites is “Let there be peace” based on St. Francis’s prayer. I could post thousands more.
The video of Kings Return was like listening to angels sing. What a fantastically talented group, their voices in a cappella sounding like an orchestra accompanied them. Thank you for sharing all in your post today Melannie. I will go back to this often.
Funeral: Hosea, You Are Mine, Glory Glory Hallelujah
Music transcends time
Luther and Huxley quotes my favorites. Music I never tire of are the Brahms Requiem and Sibelius (all) seven symphonies
Incredible! Thank you
Beautiful! Thank you.
https://youtu.be/LtxB56PdUvY?si=N2hDKlYvhOOopP5M
I want this song played in my funeral!
Thank you for another lovely blog. Shall we Gather at the River is a song I’d like at my funeral. The first time I heard it by a church choir it brought tears to my eyes.
Good evening all,
Loved everything about this blog. As music feeds/fuels my soul daily.
I have numerous life anthems however I will list three as requested.
1. What a wonderful world-Louis Armstrong
2. Make Someone Happy-Jimmy Durante
3. Don’t Bring Me Down-Electric Light Orchestra
One of my personal favorite music quotes-
Never underestimate the therapeutic power of driving and listening to very loud music. Lastly a symphony I recommend to any classical music fans-
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No 1
Titan 4th. Movement it gives me chills everytime I listen to it!!
Blessings & wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy 2026!
What would life be like without music?
My husband (now deceased) and I met at a dance, back in the day when live bands provided the music to dance by.
Music has always had a special place in our lives, including outdoor summer concerts and performances at our local Opera House.
My husband played “Amazing Grace” on clarinet at my daughter’s wedding and they danced to “What a Wonderful World” at the reception.
I chose the lines from a song for the marker at my husband’s grave: “The song is ended but the melody lingers on”. The song (his life) and the melody (his memories) that linger in my heart.
Music brings joy to my soul and your blog brought back so many beautiful memories.
Thank you, Sr. Melannie.
What a wonderful blog! Music, art, and nature have the power to bring us closer to God, to help us experience God. Loved the first quote from Plato. While both the Aves were phenomenal, the second one Kings Return- I waited with bated breath for the beautiful, angelic harmonies that emerged! Thank you!
Good Morning & Happy New Year to All!!!!
The quotes of Plato, Martin Luther, Confucious & Victor Hugo stood out for me.
I loved both versions of “Ave Maria”, but the harmonies of the a cappella version
really strikes a chord in me.
Two songs that I listen to & sing frequently to give Praise to God for getting me through difficult times are: “You are Near” sung by Kitty Cleveland & “I Believe in the Sun” sung by Gerry Denaro.
Sister Melanie,
Your blog always brings joy. I seem to have an eclectic taste in Music. Your quotes were delicious. If I were to cite three favorites: #1 Benedictus by Two Cellos, #2 A Jewish woman singing about a Jewish virgin – Barbara Streisand’s version of “Ave Maria” and #3 The Four Seasons by Vivaldi.
Note: I was introduced to the no. 1 selection while on Retreat at San Alfonso, here in NJ – it had meaning then and continues to have meaning now.
Sister, thank you for your continuing inspirational blogs. God Bless.
Good morning to all,
Where to begin?…I wouldn’t be surprised if my mother was singing when she gave birth to me….that is how much music was part of our family life. My dad played a stand up bass in a combo and often would bring it into the house and play along to music on the radio while both he and my mom would sing…..the image is still clear all those 78 or 79 years ago.
I almost always awake with a song in my head and find myself humming a song that I wasn’t aware that I was humming it. All my siblings and I go around tapping our feet, snaping our fingers or drumming on a table when music is playing.
Such a gift to have that as a support in hard times and joyful times. Our larger family gatherings always ended up with a song fest of some sort….good times all.
I have so many favorites that it’s hard to list them, but “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole is at the top of that list I would say….brings so many poignant memories!
I love “Ave Maria”….it has a direct connection to my tear ducts….and I must agree that the a capella group was amazing!
I must quit before I go on forever….
I wish for you all a fruitful and blessed New Year 2026,
Mary
I have a Life is Good shirt with the lovely quote: The earth has music for those who listen.
I could not live without music. When I heard that people in some country in the Middle East were forbidden, under pain of death, to sing or hear music, it broke my heart. I cannot fathom life without it. I can’t possibly name only three pieces of music that are favorites. But, one that comes to mind is “Marche Slav” by Tchaikovsky. I heard a high school orchestra play it at a festival and it was spectacular. I literally jumped up at the end to applaud them. I have playlists on my phone that are playing whenever I’m able to have them on. I heard a few years ago when I was working to overcome some mental health issues, that music is the single best thing for your brain because it “works” every part. And one of my favorite quotes is “He who sings, prays twice” — I don’t sing well, but God gave me a voice and I need to use it to give Him praise. Thank you for this wonderful blog- it touched my heart deeply today.
I enjoy the inspiring sharing from so many who respond to the unique themes.
Thank you, so much!
I must share that God provides the best song for me, especially when I ask for a song. As I turn the radio on after school or before school, I say, “God, I need a song right now to inspire my day!” The song is so appropriate at that moment!!!
I am reminded of that powerful scene in Shawshank Redemption when Andy puts on a record of a classical music piece and flips the switch on the loudspeaker so that all the prisoners—these hardened men, many with violent criminal records—are stopped cold and listen in wonder. And the violent reaction of the guards who knew what music can do. Need I say more about the value, power and beauty of music?
Some of my earliest memories are from listening to music: only the Christmas tree lit and mama had “The Little Drummer Boy” on the record player – it was magical and beautiful; my dad playing the saxophone or clarinet or having “his” music on so loud that anyone walking on the street could hear it (and our classmates telling us they always knew when daddy was home); my mother taking us to theaters to watch musicals – South Pacific, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang are just a couple; “making” us go to concert halls to listen to “mama’s music”; mama singing. There was always music. Great peace and comfort come from listening to music. Often when I’m praying and my thoughts are racing instead of focusing on prayer, if I put praise music on, I calm down enough to finish my prayers. I cannot breathe when I hear Ava Maria and How Great Thou Art, especially at funerals. I always cry no matter where I hear them (so I cried twice listening to the versions today). I want these two sung at mine. There are so many songs I can’t really claim a favorite. During the hardest times of my life and the happiest and in between, music has been there. I think about the “angels we have heard on high” – did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph hear them as well as the shepherds?
Sister Melannie, you always provide just what I need to start another week – even though today is Wednesday. 🙂 Thank you.