Music unlocks secrets about the design of the universe

Daniel K.L. Chua’s expansive, eye-opening book documents how music from China to Greece has underpinned humanity’s search for joy.

In his book “Music & Joy: Lessons on the Good Life,” Daniel K.L. Chua leads readers on a tour from Beethoven to the blues in search of life’s meaning. He anchors musical appreciation to an imagination-stretching exploration of philosophy and religion, both ancient and modern. It’s a complex mix, yet the book is made accessible through Chua’s humor, down-to-earth musical examples, and the inclusion of his experiences as a music professor at the University of Hong Kong during that region’s politically turbulent recent history.

Chua’s opening chapters focus on the meaning of music thousands of years ago in China and Greece. He writes, “In ancient times, music is not something we possess, compose, or define. It is given as an order ... in which everything is related.”

This is a theme Chua repeatedly emphasizes throughout his book: Music in its very rhythmic forms and tonal variations reflects the laws of the universe. He moves beyond the commonly held view that music is simply a form of individual expression or beautiful entertainment. 

After illuminating the views of ancient philosophers like Confucius and Pythagoras (whose term “music of the spheres” interconnected mathematics, astronomy, music, and philosophy), Chua introduces a religious perspective on music and joy. He shows how St. Augustine and other Christian theologians and mystics revivified the ancient Chinese and Greek ideas that musical forms unlocked secrets about the design of the universe.

Chua shifts smoothly from the ethereal to the terrestrial in his appreciation for the blues. It might seem odd to include the blues in a book about music and joy, but Chua writes, “Music does not need to be about joy to be joyful. ... Music in its purest form ... is already joy. It is a wordless language of the abundant.”