I have been blessed that I found the woman early on, and have had 36 years of that, but I would like you to think of the first rush of love you felt yourself.
That first ringing of the gong is vivid in memory, no other experience quite equals it.
I didn't want to write this, but I am equating love for a woman to music. They are so similar.
When I find a new recording that stirs my heart, it is an echo of that long-standing joy. No other form of art can touch that part of my heart.
We experienced it together on the Mahler 1st, D Minor i think? That's still a good listen :-)
And how is music for you ?
Posted on: 15 February 2010 by Hot Rats
I was once running a training course for primary school teachers and encouraging them to invite children to listen to music as a regular part of the curriculum. I played some varying examples of recorded music and while some colleagues were enthused, I knew that others did not want to enrich opportunities for their students to be exposed to good music.
I changed tack and did the 'music is the soundtrack of our lives' routine. I invited colleagues to think back to key moments in their lives, both as children and adults, and reflect on the music that had formed the musical backdrop to these life changing events. There was still little enthusiasm so I played my final card.
I suggested to my colleagues that they all remembered the music that was playing when they lost their virginity. It was a bad move I know as there was an ordained member of the clergy, a catholic priest and a nun present in the room. This association did however, ilicit a smile from some colleagues present. I had managed to get through and make them think about the music that was important to them.
At the end of the training course a colleague approached me and informed me that she remembered the music that was playing when she 'became a woman'. She was on a mission and she was going to tell me ... Tchaikovsky's '1812' Overture! I made another mistake and asked whether this was the full work or just the last five minutes with the cannons that you heard regularly on 'Family Favourites'.
It was the full work ... I made a rapid exit, hoping for her partner's sake that she had not discovered Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Posted on: 16 February 2010 by mikeeschman
There are many ways to find music you love.
Of these, getting a recommendation that finds an immediate resonance is my favorite. Like looking down and finding $100 :-)
Some things take longer. That route has its own pleasures.
In the 70s, the two classical works that caught my attention were Penderecki's "Devils of Loudon", which is the most effective opera I have experienced, and the Shostakovitch Symphony No. 15, which has beautiful chorales, and is loads of fun.
I was quite taken with Stevie Wonder, Tower of Power and Earth Wind and Fire. Many local cover bands learned these tunes. The Meters were my favorite local band, and I followed Dr. John's career very closely.
I remember the 70s as a period of revisionism and of "sharing" in the arts. Many new theories were advanced. In the end, some ideas work themselves out, while others are not so lucky. In this, the 70s are no different.
Many of these new ideas did not have a resonant core, that is, a reason for being that is purely musical. Or, more accurately, that makes my (or your) ear fill up with music, and respond without thought, only feeling.
These things sort themselves out on their own, each answer unique.
The stories are always interesting :-)
