Dynamics

Dynamics refers to how quietly or loudly a piece of music is played. Dynamics are an important way of controlling and describing mood and atmosphere. Composers use dynamics to alter mood.

Psychotherapists observe a kind of ‘musical dynamic’ in variations of patients’ emotional state, as well as the dynamics of the verbal and non-verbal interaction between the couple. The music of psychoanalysis is embodied in rhythm and shape, sound and visuality. Unsaturated music, like the role of the therapist, is as a companion, a catalyst, an opportunity. The listener’s response might be as graceful and elastic as the dancers’, seen below, yet, thoughtfully inspired by Uµ, there are no giant leaps or dramatic depths. The dancers ebb and flow, ready to stretch and move within the immersive net of the therapeutic relationship.

Freud said (The Future of an Illusion, 1927) “The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but does not rest until it has gained a hearing”. It was inscribed in stone and monumentalised in 1984. Perhaps the addition of Uµ, with its unobtrusive, ethereal dynamics, could allow the emergence of the voice of the intellect which would otherwise be inhibited or overwhelmed by the intense emotions within the session. In other words, Uµ could create a containing space for dynamic affects, rather than ‘cancel out’ or ‘cover over’ important emotional content.