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Gratitude
Oliver Sacks was a neurologist, naturalist and prolific writer. Facing the end of his life, a few years ago he wrote about his love for life and his gratitude for living. It is this sentiment that I wish to end this calendar year and begin a new one. He writes: “My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. Love has been received and love has been given. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.” Deleted: –Oliver Sacks “Gratitude” I agree with Sacks in that I feel enormous gratitude even in this past…
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Music’s Power to Change
The past three weeks I have been hard at work practicing Mozart’s Requiem. Last week, I had the pleasure of performing this Requiem with a choir of 20 choristers and a small orchestra of 9 instrumentalists. During the rehearsals we were still learning this difficult piece. The night of the performance everything changed. The rhythm became faster and it was musically sound and passionate. Of course a lot has to do with practice, but most of all we had the audience. We came alive and our voices and instruments were inspired by Mozart’s marvelous work. Music has the power to transform us and affect our minds. When I sing I forget…
