January 26, 2018 - Edward Elgar’s Sospiri, Op. 70
[1914]
Often,
I switch my Direct TV to Chanel 866, Light Classical, and let the musical carry
me away while I am cooking, cleaning, blogging or whatever.
I am
not sure under what rock I have been, but the above-captioned piece was new to
me until a few weeks ago when it suddenly appeared in the lineup of the music I
listen to. Below is a link if you are unfamiliar with it. - Enjoy.
But,
this isn’t the only piece of music where I have been under a rock, maybe the
same rock, that I eventually discover. Great
music is found in lots of interesting places including commercials. [My husband
notices those.]
When I hear some of
my favorites listed below, I usually just drop what I am doing, and close my
eyes and enjoy. The music transports me elsewhere. I can’t imagine what it must be like to
actually be a musician and play an instrument or create music.
I’ll
toss out a half dozen examples to make my point:
I adopted Nadia’s
Theme by Henry Mancini, the theme song from The Young and the Restless, as
my wedding song. The only one who really knew where that came from was my
grandma, Madeline Nixon, an avid fan of the soap opera. I rarely hear it now a
day, but when I do, I stop and smile to myself and pity anyone in the room. I wistfully
tell them it was my wedding theme and the poor dears don’t know what to say in
reply.
The
theme from the movie, Laura, (1944) by David Raksin is another favorite.
Anytime TCM has the movie on, my husband and I watch it again, and again mostly
for the music. It may be a black and
white film, but it is stunning.
The theme from the
movie The Ghost and Mrs. Muir [1947] by Bernard Herrmann I especially like
when the waves crash on the beach eroding the wooden sign over time.
Another movie, The
Big Country (1958) starring Gregory Peck and Jean Simmons [music by Jerome
Moross] is another great movie we watch mostly for the music but also for the great
scene of Charlton Heston yanking on his britches before the fist fight scene.
We wonder, did he have any toe nails left?
The theme from Out
of Africa [1985] by John Barry usually moves me to tears at some point in
the film. I consider it a long [tissue
box] movie and I don’t watch it too often as I want to forget enough of it
between showings.
Actor Tom Berenger in
the movie Someone to Watch over Me [1987] is introduced to this music as
he watches over actress Mimi Rogers. I got my first taste of Lamke - Flower
Duet – from this movie and then went on a wild goose chase tracking it down. One simply never hears it often enough.
The theme of the
movie, Schindler’s List, [1993] by John Williams, I used to listen to the
soundtrack during my long commutes to and from work. I mentally disappeared and was often surprised
to find myself magically at my destination.
Lastly, the most recent one, the soundtrack of
the movie Cold Mountain [2003] by Gabriel Yared moves me along with the incredible
cinematography vistas. I hate to admit how many times I’ve watched it – thank goodness
no one is keeping count.
Maybe the next time
we say to someone, “Enjoy the view,” we should change it up and say, “Enjoy the
music!”
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