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In black times, I have always turned to music, more than to any other source of comfort.
Music, comes from whatever God is.
It is the stuff of the Universe.
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It seems to me that composers have a special link to the vibrations of the Universe.
Some of what passes for music sounds discordant if not downright obnoxious to me, but we can hardly all be in tune to the same thing.
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My tastes, however, are fairly wide-ranging and I am constantly finding new genres that appeal to me.
As a child I was introduced to classical music which was my father’s preference.
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Brahms, Schumann and Mozart…
Music was our entertainment, those long-ago tropical evenings in Asia and it set me day-dreaming.
Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake had me choreographing a sweeping ballet.
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Dvorak’s New World Symphony took me to the American West. It was a favourite that I heard often.
He would have been astonished to hear me say so, but I had a difficult relationship with my father and his death was hard to process.
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There was no point in having a funeral, but in due course I collected his ashes.
It will sound dreadful, but when I got home I found that I could not bring the urn into the apartment, so it remained in the garage, which left me twisted up in knots.
You really do need closure.
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At the time, I was seeing a therapist regularly and one afternoon when I got in my car to drive home, as usual I turned on the radio which was tuned to a classical channel.
The familiar symphony gave me the instant answer to my dilemma.
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After my mother died, my dad wanted to travel. I took him to France and Italy. Then after I talked about how much I’d enjoyed a trip to Utah, he was keen to go there, so I spent two weeks driving him around its wonderful parks.
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It was the most happy and relaxed I’d ever seen him and we actually had fun, laughing together.
It’s a good memory to have.
While staying near Bryce Canyon, I learned of Kodachrome Valley State Park. Dad was a photographer who used a lot of Kodachrome, so it felt the right thing to take him there.
The road was absolutely dreadful and the journey was hard, but when we saw Grosvenor Arch, standing out against the bright blue sky, I was so glad we’d gone.
Dad loved it. So, when I heard strains of the New World Symphony that day, I knew I had to scatter his ashes there.
I bought a CD of the symphony to play on the car’s speakers as my brother and I scattered the ashes not far from the arch.
It was poignant, but Dad would have approved and that second journey gave me rare time with my brother, as well as the closure I needed.
So, music – the healer.
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My travel-buddy Tim is a great classical music fan and we went often to Lincoln Centre and Carnegie Hall for concerts.
He also introduced me to the opera.
Fond memories of happy times.
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This is the actual Rainbow Bridge.
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Commuting 30 miles back and forth to work for many years gave me the chance to listen to a great deal of radio and I learned to appreciate all sorts of other music.
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If you asked me to name a favourite genre, I really couldn’t.
Each one touches me differently.
These days I tend to listen to to music that uses electronic as well as traditional sounds.
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The pieces I like best always set me to day-dreaming. I seem to spend a lot of time in Nature, wandering about up in the mountains, or looking out over moonlit water.
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I miss going to concerts because I love to watch musicians perform, to see the passion they feel for their music.
In real time it is extra special.
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Venues are important, the best with great acoustics or esthetic surroundings.
While I am not religious, I am often awed by religious structures. Ancient cathedrals, for example.
Long ago I went with a good friend to York Minster where a choir was practicing. It sent chills up my spine.
It was lovely.
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Ever since my days at the convent school in Cambodia, I have felt soother by the sound of monks chanting, be they Buddhist or Christian.
Maybe that is why I was attracted to the music of Italian-French composer Michel Pepe.
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He calls his music meditative.
Some would call it New Age or Spiritual.
He uses choirs, whether real or electronic, I don’t know, but his music is certainly not all choral.
The piece I include here features a woman soloist who must be real. I’m not sure, but it may be Andreea Petcu who often features in Pepe’s pieces.
It’s one of my favourite compositions on that wonderful album.
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Loved the music. The sound of running water and birdsong, towards the end, was a very nice surprise!
“If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC” Kurt Vonnegut
The cosmic radio is always on.
I played the music and can see why it calms you. As you know from reading my blog, I mainly use music to wallow in nostalgia, to take me back along the familiar route of Memory Lane. But I used to be a fan of opera, and went to see quite a few live operas in London, Moscow, and Leningrad. Even though I rarely understood what they were singing in a foreign language, the spectacle and drama appealed to me. One of my favourites was Carmen, and I also went to see Lakme. You might like this, though you almost certainly know it already, at least after one minute. A sublime duet.
Best wishes, Pete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1ZL5AxmK_A
Yes, indeed! I think one does not need to understand the words of an opera to appreciate it. I loved the film that was made of Don Giovanni.
How poignant it is to scatter your dad’s ashes in such a beautiful place and at least you have this lovely memory. His Kodachrome photos are gorgeous. I used to take a lot of slide film and have the photos printed, some on cibachrome paper – the colours were stunning.
I couldn’t live without music as I was brought up around a musical family. My grandfather played many instruments and was in a band, and my aunt was a piano teacher. I also got to 7th grade Pianoforte and 5th grade musicianship, but that’s another painful story.
You’re right, classical music can be soothing with the correct piece. 😉
I’ve met a couple of people during my life who cannot stand to have music on, which I find bizarre.
Music is why I would hare to lose my hearing. if there was one thing I could have that I missed out on t would be playing an instrument, or being able to sing.
You know, you could always start learning an instrument. My motto is you’re never too old and so what if it takes you ages to learn a tune? At least it’s an achievement and very satisfying when a melody comes out of an instrument played by you! 😉