Can You Hear The Music

There are magical moments in Life. Moments you wish you could experience again for the first time. Moments that are impossible to fully and accurately describe into words, that change something in you. When I heard "Can You Hear The Music" in the theater for the first time, it was one of these moments.

Written by the incredible Ludwig Göransson for the movie Oppeinheimer by the brilliant Christopher Nolan, this track might be one of the most powerful of the entire score (which is a true masterpiece!).

"Niels Bohr: The important thing isn't can you read music, it's can you hear it. Can you hear the music, Robert?

J. Robert Oppenheimer: Yes, I can.

This interaction, preceding the 110-second track, is an invitation to noticing and opening ourselves to the sensitive and intuitive part of us. That part which knows the secret of everything without knowing how it knows. The music starts and we're transported into Oppenheimer's mind, emotional state and intuitive perception of the World around him. From the very beginning, the violins rise like a Sun at dusk, then quickly tumble down setting the tone for what is going to be a complete roller coaster of emotions and sensations. We can feel passion, determination, even a sense of urgency, at times, with clock-like ticks and "metallic" violin crescendi. But there is always that happiness and hopefulness in the background, soft and innocent, brought by the Sol note (G) and the Do note (C) played in mighty trumpet-like sounds. We're experiencing, through the music, the fiery, ambitious, an almost naive thought and emotion processing of a passionate young man consumed by his brilliant creative mind and intuitive nature.

To add to the hypnotic and whirling feel of the 110-second piece, Göransson creates 21 tempo changes offering a constant tension/release (2 very important notions in physics).

The ending with the main chords in Do (C) then Si (B) leaves us in an inspired and emotional state. As a synesthete, I experience music in color (I might expand on the subject in a later blog article), Do (C) being an extremely "spiritual" and powerful note, often symbolizing innocence but also a mix of melancholy and hopefulness, is felt and seen as shades of blue, mostly dark, but sometimes evolving into a brown, depending on the surrounding notes. Then Si (B), more contrasted, is a symbol of fury and action, felt as "being ready for fight", is experienced as shades of yellow, orange, light ocre/light brown with, at times, accents of Vermilion red.

These notes sum up the strong dicotomy present throughout the movie. Oppenheimer "innocently" followed what felt like an evident and authentic desire and mission, which resulted in the creation of what could literally destroy the World.

At the end, I realized I hadn't been breathing or blinking the entire time the track was playing. It was only a few minutes in the movie and I was already deeply moved. This musical piece reaches something we might all carry inside of us and brings it out to the surface. Now beyond this particular track, the movie-afficionado that I am have to express how majestic this film is. I have watched many movies from many eras and "Oppenheimer" has become my all-time favorite. (I saw it 5 times to make sure of it lol!)