Spiegel Im Spiegel ——- Mirror In The Mirror
I enjoy music. Many different types of music. There is something about musical sounds that are able to reach deep within a person and precipitate various feelings and emotions. Feelings of exuberance. Feelings of peace. Feelings of sadness. Feelings of beauty. Feelings of nostalgia. Feelings of happiness. Feelings of introspection. Feelings of high energy.
In 2018, after I retired at the age of sixty-five from a job that I was employed in for twenty years, I took some time off before embarking on subsequent employment. It was a wonderful respite period. One of the various activities that I engaged in was “surfing You Tube”. I used time that I had never had before to explore different videos, lectures, documentaries and musical performances. One day I happened upon a video performance of a piano and cello piece composed by an Estonian composer named Avro Part The piece is called Spiegel Im Spiegel and it is approximately ten minutes long. I was absolutely transfixed by its minimalist exquisite beauty. Since that time I estimate that I have listened to Spiegel Im Spiegel over a thousand times. Each time I listen to the piece of transcendent music, it is as if I am hearing it for the first time. One post in a blog I came across featured a link to a performance of Spiegel Im Spiegel. The written body of the blog post was simply the words “This is so beautiful” repeated twenty four times in six columns of four. And yeah, it is.
Spiegel Im Spiegel is translated as ‘mirror in the mirror”. This refers to an infinity mirror which produces an infinity of images reflected by parallel plane mirrors. It was originally written for piano and violin. Subsequent adaptations have substituted the violin with cello, viola, clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon and trombone. Since 1996, it has been incorporated into twenty-six films and seventeen television productions.
Avro Part was born in 1935 in Estonia which was subsequently swallowed up by the Soviet Union. He attended Talinn Music Conservatory. In 1968 he reached a turning point in his life. He renounced all his previous techniques and compositions. For the next eight years he composed very little. He spent a great deal of time in study and contemplation and emerged in 1976 inventing a new musical compositional style called tintinnabuli. which means “the ringing of bells”. Spiegel Im Spiegel was composed in 1978.
A Ten Minute Float To Another Dimension
The reason I love this musical composition is that it allows me on a daily basis to escape the harshness and dissonance of this world. The initial strains of the cello always tend to start sending me in spirit to a different dimension – a dimension of contemplative peace and serenity. The flow of the music allows me to float – it is almost like a hypnotic effect. All the different events of my life, past, present, future, successes, mistakes, flow by like a meandering river. It is the experience of listening to time flowing through music. I am gently lifted out of this dimension and transported to a more ethereal dimension. I am always thankful afterward for the magical journey.
The piece was originally written for piano and violin but has been adapted to many other instruments. My personal favorite is the piano and cello. There is something about the sound of the cello that resonates with me. I wish I knew how to play the cello. I have taught myself how to play two musical instruments but I will die without learning how to play the cello. It is a difficult instrument to learn. I can however, enjoy listening to it. In Spiegel Im Spiegel the cello part is the breath of life and the piano part is the heart beating peacefully.
I have boxes and boxes of photographs from when I was growing up and when my children were growing up. Between now and the time of my death, I am going to get three large heavy-duty poster boards. I will paste representative photos on the three boards. I have already told my children not to bother saying any words over my body. Just put my casket in the grave plot next to my mother and brother. At the funeral home, before heading out to the cemetery, just set up the three poster boards and spend two or three minutes with each one while playing a recording of Spiegel Im Spiegel. Spend the last ten minutes with my dead body floating down memory lane and remembering “the good times”.
A Partner In Your Manifesting Journey
One of the big difficulties in manifesting your reality through a deliberate focusing of your thoughts is being able to discipline your mind to relax and calm down. This is an obstacle that I and many others encounter when engaging in manifesting efforts. Think of a jar of spring water into which you put an amount of dirt. If you leave the jar alone, the dirt will eventually settle to the bottom and the water will be clear unless you keep shaking the jar which will “muddy up” the water. In manifesting, it is essential that you are in a relaxed mode when you go about implementing your mental demonstration. Let all the intrusive thoughts “settle to the bottom”. Spiegel Im Spiegel can be your partner in your manifesting journey. The transcendent sound of this beautiful music can help get you in a receptive mode for imaging your desire as your now reality.
Children are particularly receptive to the calming effect of this piece of music. There is a story that I came across of a baby in a hospital ICU that responded miraculously to the continuous sound of this music after her parents placed it by her bed. Healing through music. Feel free to use one of the many versions of Spiegel Im Spiegel that are available on the internet. Play it in the background to help you create magic in your own life through the power of Imagination.