| | It's 7:25 in the morning. I struggle to turn off my cell phone alarm as I groggily rise from my 4 hours of blissful slumber.
"Fucking A..."
With heavy heart, and heavier eyelids, I drag myself up from my bed and zombie-walk my way to the shower. I take one of my legendary 2 minute showers while simultaneously brushing my teeth, power my way through a bowl of Raisin Bran Crunch, and grab my 20 ounce double strength Rockstar energy drink from the fridge. Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work I go. But before I begin the epic adventure through the winter wonderland of Madison, there is one last thing I must do. I take my iPod out from my pocket and gently caress its smooth and seamless figure. What to listen to, what to listen to....that is the question. My 10 minute walk to work, nay, potentially my entire day hinges on this seemingly trivial decision.
I scroll downwards.
Afro Medusa? Nah, makes me think of a Tijuana night club. Not gonna fly in snowy Wisconsin today.
The Bee Gees? Groovy, but I'm running on empty in the sleep tank. I'm in no mood to walk like a ladies' man this early in the day.
RHCP? Too upbeat for me at the moment. I prefer to be stoic and reflective as I prepare to embark on another day of the grind.
I get to Souljah Boy and pause. I contemplate for a moment how the worst song I have ever heard captured the hearts of a nation. I recite 3 Hail Marys for the sorry state of the world of music, and quickly move on.
I scroll and I scroll. I scroll past my perennial favorites, Daft Punk and Muse. I'm not feeling them for some reason. But a few names catch my eye.
Beethoven. Mozart. Rachmaninoff. Tchaikovsky. Vivaldi. Wagner.
There we go. I decide to take the easy way out and queue up Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries". And then it begins. No longer am I Tom Barry, a lone man heading to his ultimately meaningless job in a vast sea of anonymity. No, I am Tom Barry, champion of Valhalla. For 10 minutes and 8 seconds, my soul takes flight. Then I walk through that door, and come back down to the real world. But that 10 minutes and 8 seconds was all I needed. Now I am refreshed, energized, and ready to face another day for another dollar.
Recently, almost all I've been listening to are compositions from the Classical and Romantic eras. In my humble opinion, this is the golden age of music. I've gone through stages of listening almost exclusively to classic rock, jam bands, hip hop, and electronic dance grooves. Most likely this recent Classical infatuation is just another temporary stage to add to the list. But oh, what a stage it is! For me as a music listener, I have always been drawn to the emotional aspect of music. I love and appreciate the talented technical musician. But if the world's most talented musician technically can't move me, it's not worth my time. However, when technicality and emotion are combined into one, then something truly special happens. And no one does this better than the Classical composer.
I have Mozart's "Requiem Mass in D Minor" playing as I write this. It's easy to just listen to the music and ride the wave. But sometimes I dig deep and really try to analyze each song I hear. And what you find is incredible. All the majesty of this most powerful of compositions came from the mind of ONE PERSON. The ability to create an incredible work for every single instrument in an orchestra and a full choir just blows my mind. I often have a hard time just coming up with a simple bass line during a jam session. I sometimes try to put myself into Mozart's mind as I listen to this song. I think Mozart knew exactly the kind of emotions he wanted to draw out from people through his music. I don't understand the Latin words being sung, so there are no lyrics to affect the thoughts and images brought to light by the music. The emotion wave is fueled not by some lame emo lyrics, but by the beauty of the notes. It is music in a more raw, pure, and powerful form than anything you'll hear today.
So next time you have to embark on a petty walk to class, work, or what not with only the company of your iPod, pause and think about the soundtrack to your walk. Try to give some REAL music a try. I know Classical/Romantic era music is not everyone's cup of tea. But if you make an effort to enter the mind of one of the great composers, you just may like what you find.
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| | Posted 12/16/2007 11:26 AM - 196 Views - 22 eProps - 13 comments
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