Here's something you might be interested in.
Music as life and death is rare. However, I assume there are a few songs about death.
I just Googled "Death Songs" and one site claims there are 148--so perhaps I'm wrong.
Wait, I'm also forgetting almost every opera ever written.
I am wrong.
Music as life and death is a theme I don't always associate with symphonic music. There, that's a less sweeping premise.
While writing about Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, I came across a YouTube of Bernstein commenting on Mahler's 9th and final symphony.
The way Bernstein illuminated the music made my ears open to Mahler's musical vocabulary.
Search, "Lenny gives comments to Mahler's 9th Symphonie" to find the clip. It's about 10 minutes long but time is just an illusion so who really cares?
When I listened to this music with my new ears, I felt ashamed about the level of commitment and passion I'm bringing to this life. I felt embarrassed about the way I've engaged in small arguments and absently gazed at infomercials.
A moment in music like this can give us a window through which we catch a glimpse of how life could be lived.
Bruno Walter was a conducting student of Mahler's who once said, "When I met Mahler, my entire life became romantic."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT8m8U05ZGo&feature=related
Music as life and death is rare. However, I assume there are a few songs about death.
I just Googled "Death Songs" and one site claims there are 148--so perhaps I'm wrong.
Wait, I'm also forgetting almost every opera ever written.
I am wrong.
Music as life and death is a theme I don't always associate with symphonic music. There, that's a less sweeping premise.
While writing about Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, I came across a YouTube of Bernstein commenting on Mahler's 9th and final symphony.
The way Bernstein illuminated the music made my ears open to Mahler's musical vocabulary.
Search, "Lenny gives comments to Mahler's 9th Symphonie" to find the clip. It's about 10 minutes long but time is just an illusion so who really cares?
When I listened to this music with my new ears, I felt ashamed about the level of commitment and passion I'm bringing to this life. I felt embarrassed about the way I've engaged in small arguments and absently gazed at infomercials.
A moment in music like this can give us a window through which we catch a glimpse of how life could be lived.
Bruno Walter was a conducting student of Mahler's who once said, "When I met Mahler, my entire life became romantic."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT8m8U05ZGo&feature=related