How the Right Soundtrack Can Transform Your Reading Experience

The arts, be it music, fine arts, or writing, all aim to do one thing: evoke. They seek to shock, create joy, elevate – all an evoking of some kind of feeling, emotion, or reaction. Some people see each respective art as a thing that should be enjoyed separately; that mixing dinner and drinks may ruin your dessert.

Many creatives have traversed these rules and disobeyed such ideals. Abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky argues that painting and music are inexplicably connected, saying, ‘Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings.’ Art is enhanced by other art; it sets the mood for both creation and reception. And listening to music, most certainly, can enhance the emotional power of reading.

The Shared Goal of All Art: Evocation

Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake may feel like fingers brushing your skin, pulling at your chest with both love and despair. A feeling like this, an evocation, often leads to an idea or an expression of such emotion. Art, in whatever medium, is a special kind of magic that has reflected the thoughts and mindsets of both the watcher and author, facilitating a kind of connection that is deep and perhaps a little mysterious.

We may not all identify as the Van Goghs, Cézannes, or Bachs of the world, but that does not leave us separate from the art itself. Arguably, art would not exist without a viewer. Reading, or listening, or watching is a participation in the art; it is feeding its hungry, desperate soul, by evoking.

As consumers of art, or perhaps the ingénues themselves, we have an important role to play. That is, to consume and interact with a work with as much passion and conviction as possible.

Music as an Emotional Companion to Literature

Here we come to our main argument: we need music for reading. Alright, perhaps it is controversial to mix your poisons. You may even hear that to do both at once reduces the experience and potency altogether. Forget that. Of course, if you cannot read while listening to music then this argument isn’t for you. We’ve heard it said that music is not conducive to studying or concentrating, but reading for pleasure is something entirely different.

For all of us avid readers, we know that certain books evoke certain emotions. Similar to how smelling pine readies you for Christmas, sometimes listening to certain thematic music can deepen the connection to a book.

One may ready themselves by listening to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor before embarking upon the next chapter of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or a Dark Academia Classical Music playlist before reading Donna Tart’s The Secret History. Reading is an experience, and whether we intend to or not, it makes us feel something. 

A writer wants their words to be felt, truly, deeply, and honestly. The best way to pay our respects to those who make the art is to create the conditions to feel it truly. When you go to Claude Monet’s Water Lilies collection in the Musee de l’Orangerie in Paris, you are asked to view it in silence, in respect to the artist’s wishes.

Artists, most of them, anyways, envision the consumer as they create. Art is to be shared, interpreted, hated, loved, or questioned.  So when we listen to music, we allow that interaction to become all the greater, we really feel the plights of the characters, the themes woven between the words.

Soundtracks as Art: Music’s Role in Storytelling

Books themselves are often influenced by music, visual artists, or art periods. Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel Daisy Jones and the Six focuses on the story of a rock band that rose to fame in the 1970s. That ‘70s soft-rock can be mimicked by listening to the likes of Fleetwood Mac, or even by listening to the soundtrack of the hit television show based on the novel.

Making soundtracks to television series, movies, and even games has become an art in itself. The Bridgerton soundtrack, a list of popular hits covered with classical violin, is a great soundtrack for period classics that feature balls and young, blooming love. What’s more, you know the songs, there are no lyrics to distract you, and it is simply beautiful.

Books are a form of transportation, and what better way to do that than by adding your own personalized soundtrack? Sure, Charlie Chaplin made some fascinating black-and-white silent films, but where would the history of cinematography be without an emotionally gripping, curated soundtrack?

Slower Living, Deeper Feeling: The Power of Intentional Leisure

The lives we lead often give way to the fast-paced expectations of the modern world. The type of world that tells us every free moment should be spent on work or their version of ‘self-betterment’ activities. Of course, these are important, but leisure and slower living are equally needed for a fuller feeling of happiness. 

Reading is a leisure activity that has been scientifically shown to fight against depression and anxiety and enhance our imagination and creativity. Taking a breath and actually enjoying the things we love doing, without that nagging feeling of guilt, is essential to our growth and our own happiness. Honoring our love of reading by putting on a complementary soundtrack and letting ourselves experience the thrill of the novel pays homage to the art, the artist, and most importantly, to ourselves.

After all, what good is a masterpiece in an empty gallery, or a concerto with an audience of ghosts? Loving art is not just saying it is good, but by allowing it to evoke something within us, something that makes us see why it is not just essential, but undoubtedly human.