Happy Halloween! That magical time of year when people throw all caution and decency to the wind, and they dress up like what they wish they were all the time and then eat loads of candy and drink apple cider with rum. Tonight I'm celebrating by going to the Nashville Symphony, where we are told to "put on your Halloween costume, and get ready for serious chills and thrills when organist Tom Trenney provides live accompaniment for the 1925 silent movie classic Phantom of the Opera. An incredible musician and improviser, Trenney will unleash the full power of the Schermerhorn’s Martin Foundation Concert Organ — the perfect way to experience one of the scariest movies ever made!"
Also, I will be avoiding garlic and wooden stakes, because I will be a vampire.
You may have noticed that I like to start blogs and then not continue them.
This is for several reasons. I'd like to say not much is going on, but I'm actually very busy and I do lots of interesting stuff. Interesting to me, anyhow. I think if I blogged too much about violins and things, (as I tend to do), I'd lose some people along the way.
But the main reason is, I think, that I hold my blogs to a very high entertainment standard, so if I don't have a good, funny, well put-together blog, I feel like my posts are inferior to the ones that I enjoy, and then eventually it goes long enough that I just forget. So here goes posting more often, even if it's not mind-blowingly-awesome.
Things-That-Are-Going-On-Lately-That-Are-Mildly-Entertaining Mini Series:
This is not a groundbreaking analogy. But I came upon this comparison the other day when I found myself defending Debussy to a friend who was not fond of this particular composer. I was trying to explain that he was good, and why. In describing his music I found myself using words like “complex,” “chewy,” “layers,” and “nose.” (kidding about that last one) but, halfway through my monologue, I realized I could easily be describing a wine. And Debussy does indeed compare to a fine wine, in my opinion. There are many different sensations you get from beginning to end when listening to his music.
But more than that, music is so much like dining; the more I thought, the more easily I compared. Rossini is a lovely piece of cake: easy to eat, but too much is too much. Tchaikovsky is a beautiful, delicious steak, cooked perfectly medium rare, with a side of asparagus so well matched - by the end of it you are completely satisfied. Bartok is an interesting foreign meal that you don’t quite like, but you get through it and pretend you did anyway. And some people quite enjoy it. Brahms is a good stew. Mozart is pizza – all around good, you can never have too much, very good any day, any time of day music. (fancier Mozart is fancier pizza – but pizza is still pizza, and Mozart is Mozart.) And Bach is vegetables, so very good for you, even if one might get tired of it occasionally.
As Shakespeare said, “If music be the food of love, play on.” I would change that, perhaps, to: if music be delicious food in general, continue playing and eating all the wonderful things. All day.
Your glass of music for the day (red, not white) :
(if you’re in a particular hurry, start at the 3:30 minute mark and listen until at least 5:15)
P.S. please encourage this baby blog, follow me or comment or both!
Some of you may be switching over from my previous blog, the Floating Violin.
I have taken a large break from blogging, but I am back now, as I think I have things to say. However, I believe that I've changed a bit since I last blogged. New town, new job, less floating, less baking, less snow, more violins and more music. It just felt right to have a clean, fresh start on a lovely, empty, blank blog. So I apologize for those of you who have to follow me wherever I go. I have trouble putting roots down lately, in my life and apparently also online. But, follow me for this phase, this time. If you want.
Expect a picture, a song, an occasional rant, mild opinions, and more violin-related things than you probably care about. That's my life right now!
