My heavy metal
I woke up late this morning. So I disregarded the snooze and decided that if I was going to be late I might as well be properly late. (By the way, does anyone else find the word snooze a bit too surreal for the time of the day you usually see it? It looks like it’s spelt wrong or something, it looks like Czech, my favourite language - not.) Then I bummed about and had coffee and rice cakes and somehow got on the bus at 8:30 which meant I would actually arrive here at the museum for 9.
To shut out the crowd on the bus, I put on my CD of Special Music That makes Despina Go To Sleep (Michael Nyman string quartet 3, Schubert string quintet in C - both used to fantastic effect in the film Carrington - and some pieces from The blue notebook by Max Richter that just wash over you). I was sitting there with my eyes closed happily soaking up the gorgeous strings of Schubert, until suddenly my peace was disturbed by a tinny metal beat, eminating from the "personal" stereo of the girl across the aisle from me. I turned up the second movement Schubert and thought no more about it, but couldn’t help looking at this girl who was so grumpy-looking, and wondering what emotional benefits this angry music could possibly be giving her.
Then the Schubert crescendoed to dizzying heights of intensity. I closed my eyes and glorified in having a soul big enough to absorb this music and have a deep emotional response to it. The capacity to feel music so deeply that it changes my life is so precious to me. I don’t know why I love this particular piece of Schubert so much, but it is just so perfect, it moves me beyond tears. Perhaps it’s the slightly unpredictable tonality, the gentle repetition of the rhythms, and the balance of outpouring, drama and restraint. Well, just listen to it anyway.
Preparing to get off the bus, I opened my eyes, and found that the beautiful young couple sitting in front of me were smiling at me kindly. I hope that they’d picked up on my inner peace, and not just decided I was a mentalist.
I’m glad someone else does that too! :)
Sometimes I get so hung up on performing music I forget to simnply enjoy it for it’s own sake. Stupid, really!
Comment by concertmaster — July 11, 2007 @ 9:36 am
That’s the same for me. It’s nice to step back and just listen, to engage in a different way. I also love it when a recording changes the way I percieve a piece of music.
Comment by missdespina — July 11, 2007 @ 9:59 am