A Prayer Unto Me

I remember one time when I was preparing for a piano recital growing up my dad came to me and said something like this: “Why don’t you learn a song by Rachmaninoff by yourself, and when you play in the recital just add it to the end?” He recognized that Rachmaninoff was supposed to be one of the greatest and hardest pianists to play, and like most fathers he had more confidence in my abilities than was merited. I did not do it, though eventually several years later I did learn one of Rachmaninoff’s preludes and it is one of my favorite songs that I have learned on the piano. I thought of this for some reason as I walked to a neighbor’s house last night and listened to one of his nocturnes that I have come to love. I am sorry Dad that I never learned to play Rachmaninoff’s music very well, but since that day in my youth I have come to find great joy in listening to his piano music. To me it is some of the greatest music ever written, and in my opinion, he is the greatest piano composer the world has ever known. I find in the music indeed a prayer to heaven filled with a yearning for the divine that is inexpressible in words. But words aren’t needed for this promise of the Lord to apply: “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:12). We typically think of this verse applying to the hymns we sing, which certainly it does and that is the context in which it was given, but I believe it can apply to all music which was given by the inspiration of heaven, whether or not it was written with a spiritual purpose in mind.   

When the Savior was among the people of Nephi, Mormon suggested that the words He spoke were inexpressible: “And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father” (3 Nephi 17:17). When He came back the second day, this same sentiment was given: “And it came to pass that he went again a little way off and prayed unto the Father; And tongue cannot speak the words which he prayed, neither can be written by man the words which he prayed. And the multitude did hear and do bear record; and their hearts were open and they did understand in their hearts the words which he prayed. Nevertheless, so great and marvelous were the words which he prayed that they cannot be written, neither can they be uttered by man” (3 Nephi 19:31-34). His prayers were so powerful that the people were overcome with the feeling and could not describe with words what had been given with words. They understood not with their heads but with their hearts, and they were forever changed because of it. Most of us will not have the experience of hearing Him pray for us in this life, but I believe that through inspired music we can come closest to that experience where words simply cannot express the feelings of our heart. Music, as I once heard it described, is the electricity of the Spirit and through it we can be touched by the Lord in ways that words cannot. I am grateful to my parents for giving me the gift of music through the piano. Because of that I have come to love classical music in general and Rachmaninoff’s piano music specifically, much of which I am convinced came through the inspiration of heaven and can draw us nearer to Him. For me to listen to Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #3, for example (which is supposed to be one of the hardest piano pieces ever to play) is an experience that defies words and expresses the yearning of the soul for the divine. Though I never became good enough at the piano to play it—sorry Dad—my life has been greatly enriched through the gift of his music, inspired by heaven, that he left to the world.