La Musique

Friday, October 3, 2008

Music of one mind

I never cease to be amazed by the orchestral rendition of To Zanarkand.

The soft, slow way the melody weaves itself through the ivory keys, as left and right dance a slow waltz. Before the flute steals it. Hollowing and creating quivering echoes in it. How the violins fill it in with an ever increasing complex harmony with their raw, yet soothing tones. The sudden, magical ring of the triangle. The slight rumble of the kettledrum.

And oh the harp, flirting with the strings, as the melodies cascade one after another, in a seemingly unarranged manner, yet coming together to form a trembling, magnificient wall of sound. As though Bach himself had a hand in the harmonies that play with and against each other. Even the oboe, singing in a reedy voice, brings out a whining quality in the melody that is refreshingly pleasant.

Carefully crafted patterns of sound that twist, tangle, invert on themselves, in an impossibly random variation. Up, down, a 360 degree turn, a somersault.
Stretto. If you get my meaning. One melody chasing after another.

Maybe its the movement of the whole orchestra. Its pace is carefully controlled by the conductor, ever slow, ever moving; every pause, every ritardando, is beautifully, unbearably in unison. Music of one mind. Ethereal, lingering in the very air.

11:13 AM