An Evening at the Symphony
Originally this week’s post was to be about my quest to explore the variations of what the American Flag has come to be within our society. I was running behind today with projects and planned to finish the post tonight - as I am doing now; but between now and then something happened; I attended the symphony with my dear friend, Nick.
Nashville, Tennessee, as you may know, is known as “Music City”. That title is a bit misleading, even though it is spot-on-accurate. Most people around the world (literally) think of Nashville as the home [and city] of Country Music. Yes, Country Music did find its origins of popularity here - especially because of the Grand Ole Opry radio program which began broadcasting in 1925. And yes, Nashville is where the stars of Country Music made their homes.
The Nashville of today is far different. Yes, Country Music still holds a prominent place, and yes Country Music stars still make their homes here; but so do the stars of Rock and Roll, Jazz, Blues, etc., as well as many actors, writers, and more.
Nashville is a city where there is an over-abundance of great musical talent. One can regularly listen to buskers performing on the sidewalks, and out of the way coffee houses. In fact, near where I live, on the outskirts of the city, there is a hardware store (Joelton Hardware), that is a full-fledged country hardware store by day, and a music venue at night. Of these things I will write more about in the near future.
Tonight, however, I was reminded of the greatness of the Nashville Symphony. Currently led by conductor, Giancarlo Guerrero, who has brought the orchestra into world class status, the symphony plays at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
It has been decades since I attended a live symphony performance, and I was reminded of the power of this music - especially when played live, and played by world class musicians. Tonight’s performances were Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with guest violin soloist Gil Shaham, then “An Alpine Symphony” by Richard Strauss.
Before the performance Giancarlo gave a talk - giving great insights into the history of botAnd h symphonies. There was such a wealth of information, but two of the things that struck a chord with me are these:
He talked about Beethoven’s writing of this symphony, and it being at the time of his life when he was going deaf. Knowing that he was losing his ability to hear, Beethoven contemplated suicide. In a moment of great clarity, Beethoven declared: instead of suicide I will reach out and grab fate by the throat. It was then that he finished the work - which, by the way, is still the most difficult piece for a violin soloist to master.
The other bit of knowledge was in the differences between symphony styles. After Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, symphonies began to wane because of the standard that Beethoven had set with his concerto - a waning period that lasted forty years. Then a new style of symphony was created; the symphonic poem. This took the compositions from being creations of notes, to the creation of notes that created a story line. The second piece of the evening - “An Alpine Symphony” by Richard Strauss, was a quintessential example of this style. Through the musical notes Richard Strauss created a journey through an Alpine meadow, a climb up the mountain, and down again - passing through the darkness night, through the sunrise, reaching the summit. As the piece continued through the journey homeward it passes through a storm that builds - including severe thunderstorms, snow, and ice.
In this I was able to see the correlation to photography; either making single images, or making a series of images that threaded together tell a complex story. I also realized, as I sat there enthralled by this performance, that it is this style of symphonic music that I have always gravitated towards more. Now I understand why.
The other aspect of the overall experience, for me, were the seats. Nick refers to them as the “King and Queen of England seats”. Mine was so close to the orchestra that I could have touched the top of the head of one of the violinists. This, I will joyfully admit, was a first for me. I found myself enthralled by the movements of the violinist’s fingers - thin, delicate fingers that exhibited such a precise dexterity, and accuracy on the neck of the instrument.
From this seat I was able to not only experience the music, but equally I was able to experience the nuances of each musician; clearing mouthpieces, as well as tiny personal rituals.
Another aspect of the performance - which had nothing to do with the performance itself, was a woman in the center of the front row with her five young children. My guess is that they ranged in age from maybe nine, to infancy. In the row behind her was her husband. Between the two of them they shared custodies through the evening. At one point the woman laid a palette of two blankets on the floor at her feet, to lay the infant down to sleep. Periodically she would hold another of the much younger children horizontally in her arms level with her breasts.
I am still blown away by this - and how remarkable of an effect this will have on each of these children as they develop! And only once, during the entirety of the evening, did I hear any sound come from the children - and immediately it was gently, and lovingly hushed.
Selfishly I look forward to the next time Nick’s girlfriend is unavailable to join him…