Fridays at Four
I was hoping to share this experience with you sooner, but here it is. At nearby Whitman College on Friday afternoons, music of all genres escapes onto the street from the Kimball Theatre. This particular afternoon, I enjoyed the intermingled melodies of violin and piano performed by two very talented musicians, a teacher of music on the piano and a senior music major on the violin. Fingers were flying to the tune of well-known composers Mozart, Dvorak, and Bach as well as the unfamiliar to me, Amy Beach. My favorite piece was actually unaccompanied by the piano -- Sonata 3 in A Minor for Unaccompanied Violin by J.S. Bach.
At times my mind travelled beyond the music to questions of the origin and philosophy of music -- When did society begin to have time to sit and listen or for that matter, practice and perform? Who thought of putting pieces of wood together in such a way that music would come out (when stroked with a bow)? And where did these composers come from? Were they all born musicians with the ability to write music and how much parental influence was there? Who wrote the very first piece of music? Who decided what instruments sound good together and then wrote music for these groups?
Really, at the heart of my questioning, was a deep gratitude for the opportunity to sit there and listen. Gratitude to society for putting work aside for a moment or two of relaxation. Gratitude to the composers and instrument designers. Gratitude to the musicians. And right up to the present -- gratitude to my parents who made it possible for me to attend the concert without a noisy toddler. :) Thanks to all! I enjoyed it immensely.
At times my mind travelled beyond the music to questions of the origin and philosophy of music -- When did society begin to have time to sit and listen or for that matter, practice and perform? Who thought of putting pieces of wood together in such a way that music would come out (when stroked with a bow)? And where did these composers come from? Were they all born musicians with the ability to write music and how much parental influence was there? Who wrote the very first piece of music? Who decided what instruments sound good together and then wrote music for these groups?
Really, at the heart of my questioning, was a deep gratitude for the opportunity to sit there and listen. Gratitude to society for putting work aside for a moment or two of relaxation. Gratitude to the composers and instrument designers. Gratitude to the musicians. And right up to the present -- gratitude to my parents who made it possible for me to attend the concert without a noisy toddler. :) Thanks to all! I enjoyed it immensely.