A Classical Experience of a Lifetime

note: You may consider playing the video (at the bottom of the post) in the background while you read this post.

I'm very grateful to a very generous friend and his wife who gave me one of the best gifts I've ever received. The gift was season tickets to the Portland Symphony Orchestra. Although its 'just tickets,' my friend knew me well enough to know how much I would enjoy them. Its selfless generosity that truly magnifies the power of the gift...its not just the tickets, its the message communicated in the giving of the gift from the heart that makes its so special. I don't feel I can thank him enough.

To add to the value of the gift, it gave my wife and I an opportunity to do something we enjoy together that we could never afford to do on our own. (And we didn't have to fight kids to sit still through the concert.)

The musical experience was special to me because you can't match live music. Especially music with such complex textures and activity that you can only get from having so many instruments working together.

No matter how good your sound system is, you can't get sound waves to dance from a recording and speakers like they do in a live concert hall. You have each instrument creating its own sound waves from different positions in relation to your ears. You also have the sound waves bouncing off the ceiling and walls at different angles and distances. So the timing and stereo effect of each individual soundwave presents so much depth and detail to the listener. The pure, uncorrupted, and unmanipulated waves from each instrument mix together in organized timing and frequency--sometimes cancelling each other out and sometimes building on each other and complimenting each other. I can't express it well enough how incredible live Orchestra music is-- from a general entertainment perspective to a mental-scientific analysis perspective.

It was so relaxing and wonderful to be totally submersed in the sounds of the Orchestra. I also really enjoyed watching the different instruments and hearing what they truly sound like with all of their overtones and textures. I was amazed at the skill the musicians showed as they executed the pieces with seeming perfection.

If you ever have the opportunity to go to a live symphony, take it! And if you have people in your life that treat you like a king or queen, you will understand why this was such a special gift for me. Thank you, Rich and Ruth!

Note: I really like music surrounding the baroque era (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and others). One of my favorites is Mozart's Symphony no. 40. Although this is no where near live-quality sound, it gives you a little idea.