Last night I went to the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra concert at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church (and drove halfway there!) My parents get in free because they usually work as ushers, and I like to come along and help. These concerts have been happening a couple of times a year for three years now, and it's really gotten me more interested in classical music. It's a whole lot more exciting to sit twenty feet away from one of the best violinists in the country--to witness the emotion of music--than to hear it on the radio, where you have the option to turn the volume down. I look at these amazingly talented people and think--as a violin student--"I got a long ways to go...but maybe I'll get there someday."
Last night there was a beautiful viola solo piece (I didn't recognize the composer), and I decided right then and there that women performers should never have to wear heels when playing classical music--it's too dangerous. You take a fall and you're toast. I love the low, rich tone of the viola--put that on my never-ending list of instruments to play.
The big piece of the night though was Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, which was inspired by a poem of the same name. I was sitting way up in the fourth row, and hearing this lovely, delicate song was unlike anything I had heard before. It was a face-melter. I hoped I wasn't the only one slightly bobbing her head with the music, but even if I was I wouldn't have cared. I could just picture a little bird flying around (kind of like the feather in Forrest Gump). We have a recording of it at home that I listened to again today. I love what the liner notes have to say about it after they've printed the poem: No other description of the music is necessary. That's how awesome it is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsOOQB0uA5Q The announcer is annoying but the performance is beautiful. Check it out.
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