as i sat down to write, i was torn about the subject of my short post for this week. i wondered if i should write about the ongoing impeachment drama unfolding in washington, about a situation in my personal life, or about a concert my wife and i attended this past week. in the end, i decided to write about the concert because music is such an important part of my life.
we attended a concert in another town just north of ours and happened to be seated next to two women from a town about an hour west of where we live. as my wife visited with the two women before the concert began, she told them that we had hope to hear the vienna boys' choir when we travel to houston for thanksgiving but couldn't make the dates work out with our schedule. to our surprise, they said that the choir was performing in their town in just a few days. as we waited for our concert to begin, i got my phone out and was able to get us tickets for the concert in an almost-sold-out auditorium.
last weekend we drove to the concert and delighted in the beautiful music created by these children being trained in austria. they sang a variety of music, ranging from the renaissance to show tunes, with the emphasis on what i would describe as "world music," some of it composed in the style of the country in which it was written and some of it folk music. after the concert i pondered about the magic of music. as their conductor said, making music causes you to be happier and makes what is sometimes a burdensome task a lighter one. i wondered how many of these boys would go on to become professional musicians and how many would go into other fields, carrying their musical experiences and the amazing opportunity of seeing so much of the world with them.
as someone who has worked in the field of music my entire life, i can't imagine a world without music. in my retirement, i miss the day-to-day experience of practicing music for my livelihood and go as often as i can to hear others make music. we are fortunate to live in an area where there are concerts of all types available to us at a very reasonable cost. for instance, in the past month we have gone to a free concert of french classical music at a nearby college, to hear a world-class trio of professional singers, to a series of concerts by several talented ensembles at a nearby amusement park, and finally to the concert we attended this past weekend. in december we will go hear a singer that we have not heard before do a concert, to a symphony christmas concert, to an organ recital, to a string orchestra program, and to a christmas choral program. in addition, i will be singing messiah with our local community chorus, which just began its preparations for this annual presentation, as well as playing the christmas eve service at the episcopal church in our town.
what is it about music that makes life so much richer, that lifts us from our humdrum existence, that puts us in touch with some deep longing in our souls? i remember as a small child listening in rapt attention to the pianist in the small country church i attended with my family and longing to be able to play as she did. i began begging for lessons when i was five, and, when i was six, my parents relented and let me begin studying the piano, though they thought i was too young. those lessons began a journey that i have not yet completed, and, in many difficult situations, music has been my salvation. i will always be grateful to those who supported me along the way, beginning with my parents and my first teacher.
may the gift of music be a part of each life. may we appreciate those who make music and support them in their work. may each of us experience the joy that music brings each day. shalom.
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