Start of year ……
Now that I “listen to” rather than “do” music, I am, as I
have previously mentioned, on a voyage of discovery of music that is
new to me. I am catching up on composers that I wanted to know more
about and just haven't had the time to listen to and explore. With
cutbacks in arts funding, orchestras play it safe and so play music
that they know will fill the hall rather than music that needs to be
heard. As a result we are knee deep in the “greats” and composers
who have/had important things to say are left in the dark. We all
lose out.
Thankfully the internet has given access to music and
scores so that rediscovery of forgotten masterpieces is available to
all. But, as the saying goes, “you don't know what you don't know”
so we might not know that the symphonies of composer x and the equal
(and sometimes better) than contemporaneous composer y, but y had a
better or more famous patron, or access to funding, or was in the UK
and not trying to make a living in a developing country.
Anyway, this is a
long winded way of saying that, as in life, sometimes the
unexpected, the road less travelled or the riskier option can provide
amazing riches and insights. Curiosity seems to be less in fashion,
but for me, having time to listen means having time to be curious.
Because of my musical training I can listen to a Beethoven Symphony
whenever I want, because it is in my music memory and I just have to
recall it and listen to it in my head, it is there if I need it. But
how much nicer to discover something new and challenging and
different. A new voice, a rediscovered but neglected masterpiece.
And without the necessity of having to follow critical views past and
present. One damning review and an amazing work of art, or book, or
piece of music is cast into outer darkness sometime hardly ever to
see the light of day again.
So I am looking
forward to bringing works back into my own personal light by
exploring the byways rather than the highways. Such a revelation.
On Sunday I heard a
snippet of a piece of music and yesterday I tracked it down via you
tube for the music and another site (IMSLP) for the orchestral score
and today I have listened to a symphony which probably NEVER gets an
outing in the concert hall, but is astounding music. Sir Arnold Bax:
Third Symphony. And tomorrow I will probably find another and another
and another ……. so much better than hearing yet another tired
performance of Beethoven 5!
I know that this is
just a metaphor for life, and a metaphor for my 2019. Yours too?
Rediscover those discarded hobbies, interests and gifts. Search out
the less familiar, take a few risks and who knows what riches are
there to be discovered afresh .
What unexpected delights await you?
Happy New Year.
