Meanwhile : Is our society musical enough?

Home > Opinion > Meanwhile

Meanwhile : Is our society musical enough?

Published: 06 Feb. 2026, 00:05

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Na Sung-in

The author is a music critic and director of the classical music brand Poongwoldang.

Music is a powerful tool for cultivating sensitivity to time. Whether fast, slow, moderate or constantly shifting, music helps steady our breathing by freeing us, if only briefly, from the pace of everyday life. Fast-tempo pieces provide momentum and drive. Slower music invites introspection. Dance music, often set at a moderate tempo, moves between speed and stillness, reminding us that we possess the ability to regulate our own rhythm.

Portrait of Jean-Philippe Rameau, by Jacques Aved, 1728. [WIKIPEDIA]

Today, however, the tempo of daily life leans overwhelmingly toward speed. Adults and children alike live with little room for pause. Any moment of stillness is often criticized as idleness, while individuals themselves grow anxious when doing nothing. Platforms such as YouTube and smartphones fill nearly every spare minute. More troubling is the quiet normalization of structures that deprive people of breathing space in their daily lives. Because everyone is busy, the loss of such space is easily overlooked. Yet when life becomes defined solely by speed, people gradually forget how to steady their own breathing and recover balance.

Listening to music reminds us that human life does not exist solely in submission to chronological time. Reading a book offers a similar experience, allowing time to expand or contract according to one’s breathing, enabling moments to be felt quickly or slowly. Consider Vikingur Olafsson’s performance of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “La Poule” (1728), often introduced in Korea as a rondeau-style musette. The piece unfolds as an elegant dance. Though measured in pace, it never remains still, moving with quiet assurance. From its ability to sustain balance at every moment, it flows with both dignity and vitality. Even this brief work allows listeners to step away from relentless speed and breathe more comfortably.

Music should not remain the privilege of those with leisure. It should also belong to those forced to rush through their days without even the time to eat properly. For such a vision to become reality, society must foster a willingness to share time with others. In essence, this impulse reflects the fundamental spirit of music itself. Music does not exist in isolation. It unfolds through listening, adjusting and moving forward together in harmony.

Whether our society is sufficiently “musical,” therefore, becomes a question about more than art or culture. It is a question about how people coexist. A truly musical society would recognize the need for pauses as well as motion, valuing moments of rest as essential rather than wasteful.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.