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Rhapsody in Illumination

Classic… Just the classics, please…

For the last 8 weeks, I’ve been working at a major concert hall which has reconnected me a bit with classical music. A couple of weeks ago I got to hear Beethoven’s 5th Symphony live for the first time (and by ‘live’ I mean I was in the building, not actually in the hall – though I peeked in). And while the ol’ ‘bum-bum-bum-bummmmmm’ is easily the most recognizable piece in the history of classical music, it did get me thinking of where I originally found appreciation in it.

I thought perhaps it was my days putting away compact discs at Sam Goody (‘Goody! Got it! Sam Goody…’). I’m really dating myself here, but they had a great ‘Mad About…’ series of music, a best of, that we would occasionally put on to play inside the store – mostly just to get a rise out of the manager.

I thought maybe it was my long time fascination with ‘Star Wars’. Saw it in the movie theater when I was 2 1/2. John Williams’ score is transcendent. But, I think it was the spaceships and lightsabers that won me over in 1977.

I thought maybe it was Disney’s version of Prokofiev’s ‘Peter & The Wolf’ – which is awesome…but, then again, anything put to the music of ‘Peter & The Wolf’ is immediately awesome. I used to have a cassette of Jack Lemmon narrating the piece and…I digress…

Cassette? Again, I date myself.

It is in fact the old school, late 80’s version of EPCOT”s Illuminations that made me chase down all these pieces of music. Beethoven’s 5th, ‘Funiculi, Funicula’, The Galop from Offenbach’s Orpheus (aka the can-can), Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue… it was quite the chase twenty some odd years ago – where now I could ITunes it out in under an hour.

Probably more on ‘Peter & The Wold’ another time – I have to go watch it on YouTube now…

And another blog entirely on the Seven Seas Lagoon’s Electrical Water Pageant, which once heavily handled Handel’s Water Music.

Brother Dillo

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