Some childhood memories and thoughts about music...

Peace.

I thought I might share with you a couple of my very first musical thoughts and memories as a child.

When I was about three or four years old, I was attending a party where there was loud music being played. Sitting on my dad's lap, I spotted a man sitting in a chair with his legs crossed; his hanging foot captivated me as it moved up and down, over and over. This perplexed me. Then, I looked at another person, and I noticed that they too were doing the very same thing. So I asked my dad, "why is everybody moving their feet up and down at the same time?" He explained to me that the music was 'making them' do that. He said it is the rhythm of the music which makes everyone's feet move. I remember thinking that music must have some special power if it could do that to people!

On another occasion, just a few years after this, when we were living in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the Hotel Plaza (a temporary home until the house we were going to move into was ready), we were having dinner at the hotel's restaurant. Suddenly, I found myself mesmerized by some music that was being played over the sound system. I remember hearing what I thought were some kind of 'bells' (celeste), and some other 'warm' sort of sound (clarinet), but I didn't know what was producing these sounds -- I just knew that they made me feel happy! I asked my mom, "what is this music?" she replied, "This is Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker." To this day, I marvel at his melodic genius and orchestral coloring.

In this second instance, though I was too young to understand it, I was being shown again the power of music, but not only its ability to physically 'move' us (its rhythmic nature), but also its power of altering our mood, to put us in a state of mind, to 'move' our emotions (the harmonic/melodic dimension). My love affair with music had begun...and I think my desire to create it too, though I didn't yet know it.

 

Well, I guess that's all for now. I will continue with this theme of musical thoughts/feelings of early childhood in the upcoming blogs.

 

In the meantime I have a question for you:

What are some of your earliest musical thoughts/feelings/memories?  Do let me know.

 

About the Video: Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers" (one of my earliest memories of a piece that I loved).

 

 

Until next time, blessings....

 

Angelus ~

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