Wash Over Me

It had been a long week with many meetings and obligations.  I was ready that Friday night for a relaxing evening with friends, good music and not a lot of thinking.  It was the perfect evening to hear The Madison Bach Musicians, a group founded in 2004 that presents the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as the works of other composers from the Baroque, Renaissance and Classical periods.  As we settled comfortably into our seats, I could feel my entire being relax, my breathing deepen.  The concert featured a vocal quartet, cello, violins, viola and one of my favorite instruments, the harpsichord.  From the time I was a child watching Lurch play the harpsichord on the old TV sitcom, "The Addams Family," I have loved the harpsichord. On Friday evening, from sonata to sonata, I let the music wash over me, filling me with such a sense of beauty and peace that I can barely recall when I last felt such total and utter contentment.  At the end of the concert, the group's founder and harpsichordist, Trevor Stephenson, invited the audience onto the stage to get a closer look and listen to the harpsichord that he had transported from Madison to the Baraboo stage.  And such an amazing instrument it was.  Mr. Stephenson was bombarded with questions and musical requests from the audience members crowding in around him, to which he gracefully responded.  Even after the experience was over, the benefits lingered. I slept well that evening after the blessing of a perfect way to end a busy week: sitting still for two hours, soaking in the delicate and intricate beauty of music, letting it wash over me again and again.

Waltz of the Leaves

While in the car alone the other day, I decided to fill the silence with some classical music.  That particular day, it happened to be a beautiful waltz.  As I reveled in the lovely music, I realized that leaves were falling around my car in time to the music.  It was as if they were waltzing all the way to the ground and pavement.  There is a music to autumn.  Sometimes, it's quiet and restful in the rustle of the drying leaves or the soft crunch of them below your feet.  At other times, the music is loud and raucous through the vibrant colors of the landscape, from yellow to orange to red.  That day, however, it was a waltz, an elegant and magnificent dance of the leaves, swirling and twirling all around me.