Dear Harmonious Highlights (3)

Dear Awkward Backstory,


Berlin Philharmonic Arnold Schoenberg
Transfigured Night

Now I have to tell you what this piece was written for, and you are going to have to trust me that it's not autobiographical- It's very Maury Povich. Transfigured night is by a man named Arnold Schoenberg. He wrote this work based on a poem by Richard Dehmel, which is about a couple walking together late at night and the woman tells her lover she is pregnant and it's not his child. Now since we all watched Maury growing up we know there are two kinds of men: The "Baby ain't mine" man, and then the one who is scripted to say, "I don't care I just want to be with you." Well our man in Dehmel's poem is the latter, and rejoices in the new life that awaits the couple.

What. The. Hell. Arleigh.... I know, right?

So now that you all have an eyebrow raised, I'm going to attempt to explain myself. One of my favorite things to do is go to the Symphony. It's hard having this favorite past time for me because I play in one, there for I can't actually go to one very often. I had the extreme pleasure of seeing "Transfigured Night" Performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra when I was 15 years old on a trip with my high school orchestra. I had looked up the schedule ahead of time to see what they were performing and bought the recording above so I could familiarize myself with the piece. I read the poem, and darn skippy I wasn't mature enough for it. It's hard for a 15 year old middle class white girl to understand the trials some people go through, and as I've proven already, very easy to make fun of it instead. That aside, I decided to not pay attention to the text and simply take the music for how it sat with me and my own experiences. It's fairly modern and at first it didn't sit too well in my ears, but many musicians are familiar with the phenomena of listening to a piece over and over before they understand, appreciate and eventually come to love a piece.

So I listened. Over and over. and over. It still didn't resonate. It didn't help that the subject matter was completely foreign to me. I remember thinking, "I'm about to go see one of the best orchestras in the world and I'm not going to enjoy it."

It was my first time to ever cry at a performance. I sat there as my hands went back and forth between clapping and wiping tears from my eyes. Watching a live symphony performance gives a whole new meaning to whatever piece is being performed- It makes it real . Was it a sudden empathy that swept over for what the piece was written for? Of course not. But some how that piece transcended text and was able to convey the fact that even ordinary 15 year old girls feel pain, and joy when they discover that everything will be okay. Without me even noticing it.

The first tear fell right before the end- It was as if I was watching the ocean- the orchestra moving in waves of seamless unity. I sincerely wish I could take each and every one of you to a symphony concert so you can experience what it's like to have the sound surround you. It's perfect. Absolutely perfect.



LoveAlways,
Gnarleigh