For years, I have shared with people that there is a never-ending soundtrack running in my head, constantly. Part of it is avocation, part of it is history and happenstance – like many people, I can associate songs and melodies with major or memorable events in my life.
From an early age, I was lucky enough to be exposed to all kinds of music through school, friends, family, and of course, the radio! One of my first memories was attending the school time concerts given by our wonderful BPO, and they would play Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf – does anyone remember hearing the version narrated by Sterling Holloway? We had the cat clarinet, the oboe duck, the grandfather bassoon – all these things designed to set our imaginations spinning, listening, and wanting more. For a moment, the entire concert hall was silent with attentive children, waiting to find out what’s next. Magical!Rare!
Fast forward to my early teen years, through the blessings (and patience) of Dorothy Piepke and the Iroquois Middle School music program, I would be introduced to the majesty of Mozart’s Requiem, the grandeur and excitement of Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King, and that led us into Orff’sCarmina Burana – sla!wafna!nazaza! – and I was hooked. In addition to the great American songbook, I found myself singing in church choirs, school choirs, the Buffalo Schola Cantorum(now the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus). The songs I was lucky enough to sing then, still stay with me now, many years later, the melodies forever burned in my brain – or at least the alto parts!
When I began my undergraduate education, I discovered that there were studies showing how music heals, evokes powerful memory, and provides a connection between us all that is indefatigable and undeniable. This would eventually change the way I viewed the importance of music not only to myself and my communities, but to the world as well.
I was asked once to put together a musical soundtrack for my life as a project in college. It was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. How wonderful it was to go back through the years and figure out what my soundtrack would be. It was a wonderful way to reconnect with myself and the songs and personal soundtracks I had loved for so long.
Do you have a personal soundtrack? Does it include selections we enjoy together on BTPM Classical? I’d love to hear about it!