The Windmill Posts

Posting this quick update to let everyone know how it went. It went well!

Gorecki’s 3rd Symphony – The Symphony of Sorrowful Song, was being performed in San Francisco on June 21st. This is the symphony I’ve listened to through Ketamine Therapy for years, and the perfect music for a rainy day. I have heard it on media so very many times, but never live. My theory is that it features a female vocalist singing in Polish, which may be hard to find. That and it’s the ultimate downer in classical music.

I thought about flying out, but that’s really stressful, takes forever, and rental cars are a hassle. So rather than take 5 hours to get there, I drove. Seven days to get there and, well, more than that to get home.

Excited, to say the least, As a mental health exercise I wasn’t concerned that I won’t like it, or that I’ll break down sobbing, or maybe none of those. It’s that I would hear it and not care.

Well, I cared. I kept myself awake through the Chopin and others in the first half. And the introductions. But I really enjoyed the conductors explanation of things in a way I never knew, and will now hear in the music.

From those first bow strings pulled across the double bass all the way up to the violins, it was familiar music but with so much more life and vibrancy. It’s an experience I won’t forget, no matter how hard my brain tries. I enjoyed watching the orchestra play, and I was impressed that as an all volunteer band, they managed to nail it with one rehearsal a week for eight weeks!

The vocalist was a pretty lady who looked like she enjoyed what she did. She had this great smile on her face in the lead-up, like she knew what was coming and nobody else did. And when she sang it was technically well done, but also with a volume of natural life in there that made it sound genuine.

I met this nice older couple seated next to me. He was bored, she was thrilled to be there, so she had a lot of fun chatting with me. One of those people who can get your life story without you knowing it. I wish they had invited me out for drinks (ginger ale) because I would have enjoyed her life story, as well.

I think I’ll end there. The music was wonderful, and here are some pictures.

Small orchestra, mostly just strings. The Herbst theater was a thing of beauty also

One can never tell how long they will hold the ember or joy in their heart. I suppose that’s part of what makes it special. My heart has been difficult to get that ember in there and kept lit for a few years now. But tonight my heart is aflame and peaceful and happy. And it doesn’t matter how long it’s there, it’s that it was there at all that matters.