Usually I listen to podcasts or audiobooks on my walk to and from work each day. Today I decided to do something different and listen to music. I have been thinking for a long time that I really ought to listen to classical music more (I was brought up on classical music but have hardly listened to any in the last 25-30 years). Over recent days I have had a few moments when snippets of music from Brahms symphonies have popped into my head and so it seemed logical to start my walking listening with Brahms Symphony #1 in C minor. I listened via Spotify and chose this version by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bernard Haitink:
I very much enjoyed my listening. The Brahms symphonies have always been particular favorites of mine – a great mixture of grandeur, soaring themes playful interaction between different motifs and parts of the orchestra. Music seems to me to be something close to magic. It is not at all obvious to me what it is, beyond a collection of sounds, and how it can affect us so much. It is like there is some deeper truth going on behind the scenes that we can barely glimpse but which we know is there.
As I hope this will be the start of a significant amount of deliberate music listening I have decided to add a new list to this website to join my existing lists of books read, films watched, races run and football grounds visited. I don’t intended to record everything I listen to but I will try to note the music I have listened to deliberately and with full focus (so not background listening).
Tim O'Hare 