Music
I have been trying to convey a message about music. At first I was attempting a short descriptive paragraph or two but then I turned to my old friend, verse. The following poem conveys what was in my heart.
Music is very important to me as I am sure it is for most of us. I remember the first live performance I heard as a third grade student in the Long Beach area of California. It was and still is one of my favorite pieces of music, Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner. I had not listened to much of anything except for classical music and opera until I was 17. I remember the first songs that were coming out in the end of the seventies and how they affected me. Songs, like smells, remind us of places, times and emotions we felt at one point in our lives. Music can also have other affects on us.
In some ways my musical companions growing up were Seals and Crofts, the Bahá'í musicians from the late sixties and early seventies. Later I went through all sorts of music and it was not until much later that I found modern music that matched my passion for classical music. It was the music of Enya. To this day, when any song from her album Sheppard Moon comes on, I take a deep breath and find myself relaxing. Each album and song brings me to another realm. There are two songs of hers in particular that remind me of the Bahá'í Holy places. The album had recently come out as I was heading to Haifa in 1992 and therefore influenced my thoughts when I hear the songs. The two are the Gaelic version of "Book of Days" and "After Ventus."
Another piece of music that transports my soul is what is known as the "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven. I have listened to it loud, in the dark, in a sound chair and any other way that I could find to enhance the experience that would be akin to the times when I played in our high school orchestra. But nothing beats the following, which is the real inspiration for wanting to write a poem about music. Twice in my life it was found out by an accomplished pianist that I loved the Moonlight Sonata. On those two occasions the pianist took me to a chair and then, with great expertise and channeled passion, played that piece of music for me. Each event was twenty years apart but I remember them both as if it was yesterday. At that time it was just me and the music. The pianist had become second to the music and the result was an elevation of the spirit.
MUSIC
The fingers come down upon the keys
The sound emanates forth and flees
Finding any ear
that will hear
each and every note
doth with passion emote
the meaning, from the composer
the drive, of the performer
When these parts are one and whole
It takes on a different role
The music reaches in our heart
Nothing will break that bond apart
It speaks directly to our soul
It serves this and more of a role
In elevating our spirit
Changing all who hear it
Our soul sours high
Into the sky
And beyond that point
We can not go
Only in our dreams
Can we know
That our spirits doth glow
with that sound that sings
grabbing our heart, and
untold joy doth bring
-Shiidon, May 2008
Music is very important to me as I am sure it is for most of us. I remember the first live performance I heard as a third grade student in the Long Beach area of California. It was and still is one of my favorite pieces of music, Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner. I had not listened to much of anything except for classical music and opera until I was 17. I remember the first songs that were coming out in the end of the seventies and how they affected me. Songs, like smells, remind us of places, times and emotions we felt at one point in our lives. Music can also have other affects on us.
In some ways my musical companions growing up were Seals and Crofts, the Bahá'í musicians from the late sixties and early seventies. Later I went through all sorts of music and it was not until much later that I found modern music that matched my passion for classical music. It was the music of Enya. To this day, when any song from her album Sheppard Moon comes on, I take a deep breath and find myself relaxing. Each album and song brings me to another realm. There are two songs of hers in particular that remind me of the Bahá'í Holy places. The album had recently come out as I was heading to Haifa in 1992 and therefore influenced my thoughts when I hear the songs. The two are the Gaelic version of "Book of Days" and "After Ventus."
Another piece of music that transports my soul is what is known as the "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven. I have listened to it loud, in the dark, in a sound chair and any other way that I could find to enhance the experience that would be akin to the times when I played in our high school orchestra. But nothing beats the following, which is the real inspiration for wanting to write a poem about music. Twice in my life it was found out by an accomplished pianist that I loved the Moonlight Sonata. On those two occasions the pianist took me to a chair and then, with great expertise and channeled passion, played that piece of music for me. Each event was twenty years apart but I remember them both as if it was yesterday. At that time it was just me and the music. The pianist had become second to the music and the result was an elevation of the spirit.
MUSIC
The fingers come down upon the keys
The sound emanates forth and flees
Finding any ear
that will hear
each and every note
doth with passion emote
the meaning, from the composer
the drive, of the performer
When these parts are one and whole
It takes on a different role
The music reaches in our heart
Nothing will break that bond apart
It speaks directly to our soul
It serves this and more of a role
In elevating our spirit
Changing all who hear it
Our soul sours high
Into the sky
And beyond that point
We can not go
Only in our dreams
Can we know
That our spirits doth glow
with that sound that sings
grabbing our heart, and
untold joy doth bring
-Shiidon, May 2008
posted by Shiidon at 10:57 PM
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