Plato was a Singer

I am convinced Plato was a singer. In fact, the Greek philosopher famously said, “because more than anything else rhythm and harmony find their way into the inmost soul and take strongest hold upon it”.  The other day, while in my own lesson with renowned mezzo-soprano, Sylvia Anderson, she shared a sliver of wisdom that struck me. She said that a note sung well and in tune teaches us Truth. Drawing from the platonic philosophies of Truth and Beauty being the ultimate Goods existing in a higher reality, this idea shows how an artist working in their craft participates in something much greater than themselves. Almost as if the music exists in this higher reality and it is the artist's job as painter, sculpture, poet, or musician to draw it down and make it accessible to our realm and vice versa. When we participate in art we are able to see and experience greater levels of Truth and Beauty. And not only experience it one time, but every time we sing a piece we can draw more from these mysteries. It is the exact reason one can sing Schubert’s famous “Ave Maria” a thousand times in a lifetime and still draw new Truth and experience new Beauty or how a painter can paint a hundred sunsets and still be mesmerized by the sun meeting the horizon. What captures you? What shows you Truth?