Touching Music

   The spring contest at my Toastmaster's club ran short. There were only two contestants and the toastmaster running the contest was very efficient. Someone suggested that a round of Table Topics might be in order. Table Topics, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is when a toastmaster is given a question or statement and is required to answer it. You must speak for at least 30 seconds, but no longer than two and a half minutes. The point of this exercise is to learn to think on your feet and to put together an intelligent response with little or no prep time.
  Helen was the one who was going to ask the questions. She came prepared with a set of cards with different topics and questions. Sometimes she asked the question and then asked if anyone would volunteer to answer. Sometimes she would ask a question and then pick out a certain person. One of the questions was, "What piece of music touches you?" She looked over at me and asked if I would address this question.
  The question itself was very interesting. She did not ask, "What is your favourite song or what is your favourite type of music?" I'm sure she had no idea how appropriate that question was. I am the wife of a musician. I play a few instruments myself. She knows this. What she doesn't know is that I was raised in music. My dad sang and still sings in a church choir. He's been doing this as long as he's be able to make sounds with his voice. I also sang in church choirs until I graduated from high school. When I was young, I listened to the radio all the time. I listened to the Top 40 every weekend without fail for many years as a teen. The radio was one of the few friends I had. I played viola in the school orchestra. The first large purchase I made was a stereo. When I got out of college and got a job I bought a better stereo set up which I still have. I can do without television, but I cannot do without music.
  When she asked me that question the first piece that came into my mind was 'Nessun dorma'. It comes from the opera Turandot written by Giacomo Puccini. I first heard it three years ago when Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras were performing as The Three Tenors. When I heard 'Nessun dorma' performed by Pavarotti the first time tears came to my eyes and chills went down my back. I can't remember being so moved by a piece of music before that time. I couldn't understand the words which are in Italian, but there was something very special about that piece.
  I have heard it performed by other operatic tenors since then. All of them sing it well, but there is something about Pavarotti's performance that seems to be lacking in other tenors. Maybe it's the sheer expressiveness of his voice. Maybe it is because my mind goes back to the first time I heard it. I don't know.
  Another piece that touches me is 'Building the barn' by Maurice Jarre. It is from the movie Witness. In the movie a group of Amish families gather to help build a barn. The song is played over the barn building scenes. It is one of my favourite parts of the movie.
  When C and I were planning our wedding we needed to pick out music for the processional. Normally this would be 'Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring' or 'Four Seasons' or 'Trumpet Voluntary'. I didn't want any of these more traditional pieces. I wanted something different, something with meaning. I thought of 'Building the barn'. I like the symbolism of C and I building a life together much as those Amish people were building the barn. I wasn't sure that it would be allowed as it is a secular piece. I had heard that it was based off a hymn of some type. There was no sheet music for it so the organist learned to play it by ear by borrowing my copy of the Witness soundtrack. It was the perfect song.
  I was introduced to Andrea Bocelli quite a few years ago. The first song I ever heard him sing was 'Con te patiro'. I loved the expressiveness and the music of the song. It also started my interest in songs sung in languages other than English. 'Con te partiro' is in Italian which is musical all by itself. It was recorded as a duet by Sarah Brightman and Bocelli as 'Time to say goodbye'. I don't care for that version so much as the lyrics are part English and part Italian. The English is a little jarring. It also is a mistranslation of the Italian lyrics. 'Con te partiro' translates to 'I'll go with you' not 'time to say goodbye'.
  I feel so lucky and so blessed to have been exposed to so many different kinds of music. Music is to the ears what colour is for the eyes. I have many songs that I like. Songs that bring back memories, songs that cheer me up, songs that motivate me.  These are a few of the ones that touch me, refresh me and inspire me.