Tears and Goosebumps

Life is always enriched and intensified by experiencing some transcendental and ethereal piece of art. As I write this, I am listening to "Adagietto", the fourth movement of Gustav Mahler's Symphony no.5.

Brought to the attention of the mainstream by its prominent inclusion in the film "Death In Venice", this is now one of my favourite pieces of music, and to think that I only discovered it at the age of 40....

"Adagietto" is one of those works which, if the listener is not concentrating fully, can float innocently by, just occasionally intruding to remind one of its power and aesthetic charm. However, if the listener immerses himself or herself fully, they can be transported onto another emotional plain.

When listening to the piece, rather than think that I am hearing an orchestra, I think of the sound rather as an amorphous force of nature, with the individual instruments almost indistinguishable.

At the risk of appearing trite and corny, I would like this piece of music to be played at my funeral.

On occasion, "Adagietto" has induced lachrymosity in me, hence the title of this blog post!

For "goosebumps", or indeed a shiver down the spine, the music of Richard Wagner emphatically delivers the goods. I discussed an example of my interaction with Wagner's work in an earlier blog post:

It's Only Music, Or Is It?

The tears precipitated by Mahler's piece may have been due to its poignancy, or perhaps just its pure beauty; I am not totally sure.  Equally, Wagner's fabulous "Siegfried Idyll" may give me the shivers, but I struggle to explain away the precise reason.

Great and potent art, and especially music, penetrates our very being, our innermost psyche and soul, in ways which we cannot hope to properly analyse, and the random and imponderable manifestations of that penetration are part of the mystery and the beauty.

I prefer not to dwell too much on these factors, just relishing the music, revelling in the sensations which it provides, and leaving more high-brow deliberations to the self-appointed experts!