Inspirations from Mahler's Resurrection for peacemaking

  19 de septiembre, 2024

 Witnessing the magnitude and tremendous beauty of the live interpretation of Mahler’s Resurrection last week, I realized once again the ability that we have as a species to cooperate at very large scales and with great degrees of perfection in order to produce well-being, harmony and spiritual unity.

The shared sensation of extasy and belonging that we all felt at the theater gave me hope again in humanity. Tapping in that kind of emotion, wherein we do not only rationally think about but actually experience this sense of loving connection with everything that exists—with ourselves, with the others, with the Earth— is at the end of the day what peacemaking should be about.

Even amid the most astounding differences and hatred, there is a common ground; we just have to look for it with perseverance, patience and, as Lederach reminds us, lots of creativity.

The underlying essence of the orchestra is precisely the resonance among instruments. The violin, the drums, the bass, the flute, each one has its very specific partiture, and its particular sound and role within the overall performance. But the geniality is how they are able to bring about collectively an integrated harmonious sound that is not just the sum of the parts. It is something else. It is something bigger.

There is an emergent phenomena going here, similar to those that occur in nature when frogs croak, cicadas chant or hunchback whales sing together. The reverberation they create sparks an expansive ripple effect that modifies the previous surrounding conditions.

The tricky part is wanting to cooperate in the first place. Once we do it, as the musicians showed us that night, we are up to amazing things. Yet we often do the opposite and get confused and more separated. The task at hand then is to be able to create the sufficient conditions through which seemingly opposing sides prefer to attempt to cooperate. Perhaps asking them to play a Mahler’s oeuvre may be too much, but at least finding ways of avoiding mutual destruction and recognizing their shared humanity could be feasible. 

After all, there is resurrection after death, and the piccolo and the double bass regardless of their differences found a way to resonate with each other.