HARMONIOUS

1. friendly and peaceful
2. things that combine well with each other
3. music that consists of notes combining in a pleasant way.

I love music. I like singing even more. I’m even the singing part of a Celtic folk music band where I live. Imagine it: two Frenchmen and a Welshman combining together to make (mostly) Irish music. Now that’s what I call a harmony of the nations.

Greater still is the harmony which occurs when each individual instrument or voice part combines together to form something spectacular. Take a symphony as an example. The music is played by some very different instruments. They can be of all shapes and sizes and are played in a variety of different ways: blowing into them, banging on them, stroking them with a bow etc. And often, there is more than one violin, oboe, trombone etc. Sometimes they play together, sometimes they have different parts. Whatever the case, they need to combine. But then again, each instrument needs to combine with the others, each holding its own within the whole. The result can be mind-blowing.

Church of Saint John the Evangelist, DOLE

This morning I encountered a different kind of harmony. With my wife I visited a somewhat modern church, recognised by the experts as one of the most remarkable examples of modern architecture in the country. As our guide took as round, I couldn’t help but feeling how the mind of the creator of this building sought to make each individual aspect combine to create a feeling of grandeur and of belonging; a fascinating trip inside the mind of an artist.

Being more musical than visual, this was a new experience for me, but one I hope to relive often.