Introduction, first loves

Welcome to my new classical music blog. As you probably know, I'm approaching the end of my PhD work in condensed matter physics. In the time I've been here I've found myself more and more enamored with the world of classical music, by which I mean Western art music. Bravo if you know why the former term is somewhat ambiguous. Visitors to this site probably fall under two categories. You're probably either scientifically-inclined with a curiosity about classical music, or you're one of my friends who was a music major. I aim to write primarily for the former group. I want to spread this love I have so that more people can come to appreciate the beauty that I experience. But I ask for assistance from the latter group. I may know more than the average person, but I will leave out details or context or get things wrong from time to time. I make no claim to be an expert (not even with physics, ha!). I mean really, I've only very recently begun to be able to discern the form of a piece I'm listening to. (I still suck at it, but it's pretty exciting.) In my never-ending quest to learn more about classical music, I ask that you enrich my posts with any knowledge, corrections, opinions, or suggestions that you have. Even if you're saying that a post is completely erroneous or naive, I will love you for it. You may even gain something from the physical/scientific perspective I may take. We'll see how it goes.

As I've stated, my primary reason for starting this blog is to share my passion with the uninitiated. I plan to do this by sharing stories, articles, and videos with you. I may write about a piece that's stuck in my head, concerts I've attended, or some factoid that I think is entertaining. I already have a list of topics going. Requests will be honored if I feel capable. Should I be allowed to post on other topics that strike my fancy such as food, literature, or science? I haven't decided. For now I think it's best to keep this blog to one topic.

So let me start things off by sharing my background with classical music. Through playing the violin in middle and high school, I came to know much of the standard violin and symphonic repertoire. But I found myself far outclassed by the time I reached college to continue playing. So I lost my enthusiasm for, but was never too far removed from, classical music. Then I attended a monumental (for me) concert during my first year here in grad school. I had seen and met this particular violinist in college when she was just starting to cause a stir in the classical music community and was awestruck by her talents then. Seeing the now-world-famous Hilary Hahn perform the Glazunov violin concerto (and the Ernst transcription of Schubert's Der Erlkönig as her encore) ignited in me a new passion for this music that's persisted since. Yes, I met her again after that concert, and yes, she's still my favorite musician ever. But that story is worth a post of its own. At this point I started listening and listening to my old favorite symphonies and violin concertos, then to ones I didn't know and also to piano concertos, cello concertos, lieder, chamber pieces, opera, sonatas, character pieces, and so on. Eventually I took a freshman level music history class which was wonderful for consolidating and organizing the random tidbits that I knew. That was followed by a group introductory piano class and, most recently, private lessons in piano. I go to concerts when I can, especially if I'm traveling, and I started a small group to watch operas on DVDs. To say I'm hooked is an understatement.

A recent segment on "All Things Considered" discussed listeners' 'first loves' in classical music. I encourage you to follow the link. Some of the stories are particularly moving. Specifically, though, they asked about pieces of music. That disqualifies Hilary Hahn as my answer, so I'll give my actual first. The earliest piece I can remember loving is Antonio Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons." I guarantee you'll recognize it. My uncle had a videotape of some ensemble (which one I never knew) performing it. I remember the short, fat, old solo violinist's impeccable technique bewildering my young mind. That image with the evocative and memorable melodies gave me a reason to practice my technique. Eventually, I was able to hack my way through the suite, which I did. Often. Much to my classmates' chagrin. I'm somewhat thankful that no recordings exist of my playing back then. It would be painful to hear today.

So that's my first love in classical music. If you have one, what's yours? Do share. I would love to hear. Please comment or message/email me about this post and others you find interesting in the future. If I don't feel that I'm reaching anyone or learning anything in the process, it will be hard for me to continue this. I've enabled anonymous posting. As regards the title, well, it makes sense if you know my given name. Thanks for reading. I hope we can keep this up.