“Come, Ye Sons of Art, come away.
Tune all your voices, and instruments play,
To celebrate this triumphant day!”
The last three years were no-brainers for me and my classical music listening project. It just made sense to start with a year of symphonies and then concerti were the next thought. 2014’s program music, suites, and ballets, though, showed me that music can’t so easily be put in a box. And there were times this year when I wished I were listening to a particular symphony or concerto, but darn it, wrong year.
Then my wife suggested to me that if I did something regarding choral music, she’d even get on board. I couldn’t turn that down, but it occurred to me that, as choral music is my profession, I’d want to get into each piece a bit more deeply, as there is always the dual interest in choral music for me to learn the piece as a whole and to learn the bass part I’d sing if I were in the chorus. But there’s also the need to ponder how I would conduct the piece and prepare a chorus of my own. Tall order when you’re considering an oratorio a week for fun on top of a full time job, part time job, and many other commitments. I’ve been accepting of the fact the there are symphonies from 2012’s list that I still wouldn’t recognize completely, but a year of some 50 choral pieces which I’ve only glanced at would make me feel less achievement. In most cases, after all, I’ll already have had introductions to these pieces by way of my profession and schooling. So, I knocked that down to one choral project a fortnight. It still won’t be anywhere near enough time to really learn the pieces, but it will give me a bit more time.
But, I thought, I’ve really been enjoying learning a ton of completely unfamiliar music these past three years. Nearly every week of 2014 my blog attests to the fact that I thought I knew a piece based on a few familiar measures, and was shocked to find minute upon minute of glorious other moments hiding in between. Additionally, these instrumental pieces have comprised the majority of the playlists that I have explored during my workday. In a way, choral music makes it harder to concentrate on other work, because I find I have a harder time ignoring it when I need to. So, in the interest of keeping up those instrumental playlists, I intend to continue with Snooch’s Silly Symphonies, but choosing a full-year genre vexed me for weeks this fall. I considered chamber music as one that had been untouched, but found that I wasn’t driven toward it in the way that I had been the previous three years. What’s more, each year I’ve come across unfamiliar symphonies and concerti whose appeal is not lost on me simply because a new calendar year has come. Meanwhile, opera has been really interesting me in 2014, but would cause the same office problems, in that it is a vocal medium and I’m drawn to listen more intently.
And so I’ve come to realize I need to consider this in terms of initial purpose. This whole project came about as a way to “force” me to acquaint myself with more music, and boy has it accomplished that goal, some 150 pieces later! The initial three years’ themes helped me to stay on course, but at this point, I’m not going to lose this zest for the music which, although a very signature of my life, had somewhat taken a backseat in my everyday life. This year’s Snooch’s Silly Symphony has no theme. It is open-ended and will frequently will be a misnomer (as it has been since Year Two!). When I encounter any piece, be it one from an earlier category, or something completely new like chamber music, it’ll be fair game as long as it scratches me where I itch. Let the music begin!
Oh, yeah, one more thing. That fact that opera has been really interesting me this year too? I plan to always keep an opera going, every three to four weeks. If I could become as familiar with ten operas as I am with Figaro, Zauberflöte, or Onegin by year’s end, I’ll be happy.
Welcome 2015, let the music play! Even more than before!