Magical Moonlight

Magical Moonlight

I fell in love with classical music through advertising…sorry to any purists, but you have to admit that the right piece of music can be most powerful and evocative.  Who could forget the Ride of the Valkyries as used on many occasions as the hoards swept over the hill and triumphantly on in warrior fashion?

Yet the one piece that seized me and has never let me go is the Moonlight Sonata.  It is said to have been inspired by the moonlight on Lake Lucerne. My good friend David and I began collecting classical music in nineteen seventy one and two years later we had over two hundred albums between us.

Special event? Well if I am to name a landmark occasion then no.  However, for us the Moonlight Sonata filled a special place in our hearts.  I had also got into poetry with my friend.   Each to their own when it comes to enjoying such wonderfully moving poems and the beautifully soothing and inspiring works of Beethoven.

David and I took a special liking to the poets of WW1 and would read them; recording our voices and perfecting the presentation to the background of the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata.  It was an emotional journey and also unlikely a match.  Yet the personal nature of the blend worked for us and still does. As the voice trailed away on the last stanza the music took over in a powerful way that spoke silently of reflection. I hope Rupert Brooke would forgive me for reading ‘The Soldier’ to the Moonlight Sonata. 

I found peace and tranquillity in those moments.  Some might question the horrors of war and the use of the word tranquillity, but after the Last Post; after the guns fell silent, many would seek their thoughts in such ways as helped them reflect and gain peace.

Two young teenagers quietly pondering; such were the evenings spent.  Both the poems and the music give me an anchor to cling to when I need to be calm.  Thanks to poet and composer I have a blend that will be with me until I too pass on.