'Getting' classical music

[Joseph K]

I don't get Raves but R4 this morning had a 15 minute piece by someone who very definitely does. She interviewed a disc jockey who is famous for her Rave-ability and both spoke in terms that many of us would use to describe classical music's effects on us. The only point of real difference in what they both described - extraordinary pleasure, highs, excitement etc - seemed to be the help that drugs gives to them, though perhaps it also does for classical music composition, playing and appreciation? I don't think I've ever seen drug-taking and the creation/playing/appreciation of classical music openly linked but I imagine it must happen/have happened.

Aldous Huxley mentions some music in his book about his first mescaline experience, The Doors of Perception, though from what I recall his insights didn't amount to much, him not being as musical as other people might be. Though actually, come to think of it, in the final chapter of his book Island, his description of listening to Bach's fifth Brandenburg Concerto (IIRC) while under the influence of the psychedelic drug mentioned in the book ('Moksha' - IIRC) is quite good.

As for raves, my experience is this: the music doesn't really match up to the intense, soul-deep, cosmically-profound euphoria you experience on a typical rave drug like MDMA (or analogues like 6-APB). For some music that would match up to the effects, again in my experience, would be something like John Coltrane's Interstellar Space, which synergises and takes one even further out. I won't go on about this too much because I've already said too much on the forum about this before, but there are pieces and composers - such as Debussy and some early works of Tristan Murail - that go well with smoking potent weed, what with the time-dilation etc. Unfortunately, I consider my drug-experiences to have been effectively curtailed by the necessity some time ago of taking anti-psychotics, which means I have only had 'pure' experiences with cannabis and the aforementioned stimulants, so I don't know what what a 'true' psychedelic trip is like because anti-psychotics heavily mute a psychedelic experiences (and I know this from trying over and over again... stupidly). In any case my go-to for music while under the influence was 90% of the time jazz.

[Joseph K]

I once listened to the Symphonie fantastique under the influence of a hallucinogenic substance. It was pretty frightening.

Interesting. I guess the Dies irae would be scary...

[ahinton]

Interesting. I guess the Dies irae would be scary...

If so, imagine the response that 8½ hours' worth of it might induce!...

[RichardB]

Interesting. I guess the Dies irae would be scary...

Not only that but the bells coincided with a real church bell ringing outside! The whole experience, quite apart from Berlioz, was I think what would be called a bad trip. It was about 25 years ago and I haven't felt the desire to expand my mind in that particular way since then. One reason is not having the time to devote to it!

[Bryn]

If so, imagine the response that 8½ hours' worth of it might induce!...

Sheer delight, followed by a frozen bottle of vodka, in my experience.

[gurnemanz]

At a sparsely attended live cinema broadcast of the Met Parsifal a couple just in front of us had brought along a bottle of red - presumably for a more vivid experience of the communion scene.