If you are not a classical music buff, don’t be concerned. Neither am I. I only know a little of Beethoven, a dab of Mozart (I do not care for most of his work, Vivaldi and a few others. There is so much to take in. We took time the other night to go to Sainte Chappelle Cathedral here in Paris to hear Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
If you, like me, imagine that this Vivaldi package is the brief pieces we hear now and then as backdrop to advertising or at high school concerts, not so. The seasons are quite involved and go off in many directions. By the time Winter, a brief and beautiful piece, rolls around, we have experienced almost an hour. I will give due credit to the amazing magicians later when I have more time [Paul Rouger was far and away the star of the show, a brilliant violinist.]
We were treated at the beginning to Pachelbel’s Canon in D and then Albinoni’s Adagio in G minor. Each of these beautiful pieces is recognizable even to the untrained ear … you know, like mine.
At the end there was palpable excitement among the hundreds of people in the crowd, as there usually is at the end of a remarkable performance. I could not help but marvel at the depth of talent in our species, and the power of collaboration. I cannot imagine that we live and develop these remarkable talents, and then just die. There has to be more! Has to be.
Of course, many do not develop our potential, and so become truck drivers, cooks, politicians and accountants. We had a piano in our house when I was a kid. None of the four of us boys ever learned to play.
Piece of Mindful 
Hi Mark, just in case you used the word palatable on purpose; it should be palpable
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Thank you. Will fix later
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You may wish to fix the spelling of Pachelbel, as well. By the way, “Albinoni’s Adagio” is a 20th-century piece falsely attributed to Albinoni by its composer, and it does not even vaguely resemble Tomaso Albinoni’s authentic style. It’s very unfortunate that this piece represents him in the minds of most contemporary listeners, since his actual music is wonderful. Come to think of it, although the Canon in D is authentic, something similar could be said regarding Johann Pachelbel, whose other music is so thoroughly overshadowed (except among organists and chamber musicians) by this one minor work.
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Ah, Pachabel Schpacabel … OK, I fixed that too. I love when you guys that actually know classical come around … no rancor. I like reading about this stuff. Thanks for helping out.
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Of course – offered with the highest respect by a continuing fan of your work.
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Apparently (so I’m told, because I’m not up on classical music unfortunately) YouTube has a lot of classical music albums available. With the right ad blocker you can listen to hours uninterrupted, discover lesser known composers, read what the posters and commenters say, and develop your ear and taste for it.. while doing yardwork or whatever, if you have wireless speakers.. so I’m told by an enthusiast.
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I enjoy Mozart’s Piano’s Concerto #21. For a while it was available on YouTube. Then, listening one time it was interrupted by an ad. “so much for that”, I thought. Then I looked online and found the entire concerto on CD. It took over a month to get it from Great Britain. I paid like $20 or more + postage. I was then able to upload it onto iTunes, and then to my iPhone. Classical music interrupted by ads is a no-go.
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Now I see it is available on YouTube, Yeol Eum Son, without ads. A beautiful piece of music, 31 minutes.
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