Y’know, if you sit down and think about music as a whole, you would realize that everyone is impacted by it. Music is one of the rare things in this society that has a huge impact on everyone.
Music is a lot like money. You can remember when you got your first paycheck, and sometimes even what you spent it on.
The reason I bring this up is because I was at work the other night, and a coworker of mine had a really good revelation that never really came to my mind. She made a comment, as we were listening
to one of our Valentine’s Day CDs, ‘Dances with my Father.’
“Do you know the one thing that can take me back to any memory of my past?” Surprisingly, my first response was the sense of smell. “No,” she said. “Music. If I hear a song, I can remember certain memories associated with that song.”
Now that she mentioned it, I see so much truth in that statement. Music has always had a huge impact on my life. I can remember the first song I ever remember hearing, which was “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis. I can remember listening to certain songs on 96.3 back when I was little, and my mom would take me to her office in the summer.
I remember my junior year at band camp, when my best friend and I would listen to “Summer of ‘69” by Bryan Adams. I remember listening to “La Vie Boheme” from “Rent,” in my car, driving my former friend and one of my best friends home from school. Music has so much meaning to me in my life, and I didn’t even take the time to realize that it is so closely associated with memory.
In addition, this year has been such an eye-opener when it comes to playing my horn. I have been trying to treat my horn as a learning element, as opposed to a crutch that is helping me through college. In Symphony Band, we played a piece called “Rest” composed by Frank Ticheli .
It is a composition that is based on a poem written by Sarah Teasdale and was originally written for SATB Chorus, using the original lines from the poem. The poem was one of the last poems written by Teasdale before she unfortunately took her own life. The song reflects pain and tension, through
Ticheli’s trademark suspensions, and in the end, turns to a sense of relief and relaxation.
The reason I bring this all up is that my director, Amy Knopps, challenged the ensemble to put more of their feelings into the music. She told us to think of someone we lost to dedicate this song to, and play it for them. Having to deal with death and loss my whole life, I took this very personally.
I dedicated it to my grandparents and my best friend Jack. They have been a huge impact on my life and left indents in my personality, which I believe have been for the better.
After Knopps told us to make this personal connection, we played through the whole song. Never in my entire career in music, have I seen the reaction that I saw that day. Halfway through the piece, I looked up to see Knopps conducting, with tears streaming down her face. I looked next to me to see my fellow horn player, Amanda, and many other members of the ensemble, crying. I was crying.
At that exact moment, I realized I was exactly where I wanted to be. I wanted to be surrounded by people who loved music as much as I did and could express all emotion into the music. I have never been so proud to call myself a student in the Eastern Michigan University Department of Music and Dance.
Just writing this makes me want to pick up my horn and play my heart out. In the past week or so since all of this happened, I have felt more productive in my playing, and even with being sick, I have had a drive to better myself musically. I have been waiting too long for this to happen, and I’m not going to let anything stop me from achieving my dreams.
