SYMPHONY CONCERT EVERYWHERE

 

DIRECTOR

Today I conducted--in concert--a symphony orchestra in works by Brahms, Beethoven and Aaron Copeland.
Not programmed, yet seriously performed were

Brahms: 1st Symphony,
Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5
and Aaron Copeland: Rodeo

Interspersed among those compositions was the music of Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

What FUN! Oblivious to thousands of Peeps filling Music Hall, I went about waving my arm, pointing with my hand and fingers to the sections of instruments, giving special attention to the solo flute, oboe, or deep-toned cello, etc. And singing the lines of each section, first and second violins, basses (LOVE those bass sounds!), brass, woodwinds tympani--and I, simply lost in the hallways of heaven.

All this happened while I was mowing the grass (weeds) of our back yard. If anyone had seen me (a neighbor did), one arm flailing about, pointing, me singing, at times saying, "Shhhhh" during a pianissimo passage, they would (in fact, he did!!!--grin!) think me certifiable.

Many times I've played these pieces, and hundreds of others. Fortunate I was to be a 'second violinist'. From that chair I could hear all the harmonies, phrases, beats, melodies, and never attempting to memorize, many yet  became embedded in my brain.

The final thought of my life might well be not words, but music, like closing strains of Strauss' Don Juan, or Don Quixote.

Telling truth now, several symphonies and concertos, I could--right now--sit down and write them out, note-for-note, all the movements...not perfectly, but good enough.

So all this stuff IS in my head somewhere, and I can call on and bring up any of a thousand pieces, songs, and 'hear' them in their near-entirety. This happens often, and Peeps ask if I am dreaming or 'slipping away'. All the while, I am enjoying immensely what music I'm 'hearing' at that moment.

Anna asks me now and then, "What is 'playing' today?" And I answer whatever is, e.g., Dvorak Fourth, or a Mozart Piano Trio, or...
and that work usually hangs around me like an aura the rest of the day.

So there I was today, mowing grass in 100 degree heat, in hot sunshine, singing and 'directing'. Gratefully I realize that 'hearing' whole scores of music is really a special gift. And I used to believe everyone did this--grin!

This virtual 'hearing' 'playing' or 'conducting' I call up  from a need to joyfully get through an event. Or maybe from an inspiration, a hope, that in another life, i will count under my baton 120 musicians, called a symphony orchestra.
And I shall direct them with passion.
And I shall call them by their name.
And they shall call me "Maestro"!

--steveroni sends LOVE and PEACE!