That unexpected moment ...

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  • Jasmine Bassett
    Full Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 50

    That unexpected moment ...

    How often does it happen that a piece heard in the background just stops you in your tracks and you have to listen?

    I know many people will claim that Radio 3 should neve be "background" music but in the real world it sometimes is. Ocassionally something totally unexpected grabs the attention and just has to be listened to.

    For me that happened this evening when Garrick Ohlsson's performance of the Chopin G minor Ballade just stopped me in my tracks - I just had to listen no matter what was cooking on the stove. It may not have been everyone's idea of perfect Chopin playing but for me it just totally hit the spot something in my mood at that moment, the piece and the playing just all came together. More than two hours later I still feel affected by it.

    It does happen to other listeners doesn't it?
  • french frank
    Administrator/Moderator
    • Feb 2007
    • 30257

    #2
    Originally posted by Jasmine Bassett View Post
    It does happen to other listeners doesn't it?
    Rather similar. I was listening to In Tune, many years ago ... A performance of Mozart's C minor Fantasia, K 475, suddenly penetrated my consciousness. What struck me about it was that it sounded as if it was being improvised on the spot, more so than any version I'd heard before. I emailed the programme to ask for details: the pianist was Andreas Haefliger. I located a dealer in the US and - clearly it was not a version valued highly by everyone! - got the CD for just over £6, incl. p&p. I haven't played it for a while - I wonder if it still has the same magic of that... In Tune moment .
    It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

    Comment

    • Cellini

      #3
      Yes, it happens and it's always wonderful when it does. It has even happened to me occasionally in the middle of a rehearsal, suddenly the most sublime musical moment, never to be forgotten.

      Comment

      • Russ

        #4
        Happens all the time, but then my taste threshold can be disgracefully lowbrow sometimes...

        Comment

        • aka Calum Da Jazbo
          Late member
          • Nov 2010
          • 9173

          #5
          Trevor Pinnock playing Rameau this morning on Classical Collection ...

          some years ago i had to sit and listen rapt to a piece that had not previously entered my mind ... Symphony No 3 in C Min with organ by Saint-Saëns ...quite forgotten who was playing which is shameful, but the experience is still fresh in my head ...

          one lives in sincere hope of further such ecstasies ....
          According to the best estimates of astronomers there are at least one hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe.

          Comment

          • gradus
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 5606

            #6
            Certainly recognise this phenomenon but as remarked above, not always with classical music.

            Comment

            • teamsaint
              Full Member
              • Nov 2010
              • 25202

              #7
              amazingly, this happened to me in a branch of waterstones recently. Twas a sort of edgy folky thing playing over their system.....no idea what it was, and may never do now.

              muzaks revenge !!
              I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

              I am not a number, I am a free man.

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