Notes from the orchestra
A few days ago, I wrote a thousand words on twelve musical instruments I'd like to learn before I die. I called it my library of musical muses.
Yesterday, I attended an orchestra concert. There was a grand piano and violins and cellos and ouds and darbukas and dafs and riqs and kanuns.
Forget what I said, there's no list. I just want to learn the kanun.
I guess what I mean to say is, it was beautiful. The kanun and the rest of it too. The solos by the young talents, the unadulterated joy of the concertmaster, the smiles and the nods passed between the players to cue the start of a new piece.
It's always impressive to watch professionals play. You see years of practice in the speed of their fingers, the rhythm spilling out of their guts. But I find it just as mesmerising to watch amateurs learn they can be a part of the magic too.
In Gaza On My Mind, Adam Tangent mentions that Palestinians in Israeli prisons carve flutes out of wood to play music for their fellow prisoners. People will always find a way to play, even if they have never played before. It's in our blood. And that has to be its own kind of a magic, one as alluring as fast fingers and calm confidence.
In a Charlie Rose interview, Jack White talked about how the White Stripes came to be. He was inspired by the sounds Meg made on his drum kit as somebody who never played drums before. He says:
Right off the bat, I became obsessed with it. I didn't want it to change, I didn't want her to practice, I wanted it to stay child-like. It's sort of [like] that thing with Picasso saying it takes you a lifetime to learn how to paint like a child. I couldn't drum like that if I wanted it, I had never played with a drummer like that. It was very primitive and primal.
Music feels special to me because it's both primal and performative. That's what I was thinking about yesterday. The big stage and the bowties and the kanuns, they were all there for one reason: to make us feel connected.
That's the highlight of my weekend so far. I'm watching an Umm Kulthum biopic this afternoon so let's see how that goes :-)
The Beach Boys were really onto something when they said:
Add some add some music to your day
A bob didit a bop didit