“I am not a famous artist or singer; I’m simple a civil engineer with a strong musical background.

Back to 1977; a piano recital in my home town theatre, all XX century compositions; the piece (I had never heard before) was Igor Stravinski’s Sonata (1924):

First movement’s theme enters darkly, the two hands playing the same melodic line….then continues nervously, joking, until the last measure: here, the last three chords suddenly open the doors of Heaven in front of me; breath-taking!

Now, my senses are alerted and ready to be surprised again…..but the mechanic precision of the second movement, unfortunately, leaves no emotions at first impact….

The third movement starts, even more nervous than the first; the left hand plays its difficult continuous “non legato”, very near to a “staccato”…..a fast ride lead us to the pre-final…..and finally the miracle is repeated! THE LAST THREE CHORDS reach the perfection!

I shared this moment with my friend and colleague Cesare; the morning after, separately, we both went to buy the score and, 4 years later, we both included this wonderful sonata in our final examination concert program.”

Do you have an experience to share? Pop it in an email along with a photograph of yourself (if you have one) and the OM team will get it posted.

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Here’s John:

We can only hope of wining the big lottery once. But people who listen or play can (and should) have one of those spine-tingling musical moments several times in their lifetime.

I work as a critic to put bread on the table, and as a church organist and choirmaster to feed my spiritual side. Between the two, music is everywhere, and, thank goodness, those special moments happen two or three times a year.

I’ve managed to extend one of these recent moments over several months:

Last spring, young Montreal pianist David Jalbert (who begins teaching at University of Ottawa this fall), released two discs containing the full set of Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, by Dmitri Shostakovich (on the ATMA Classique label).

It’s a remarkable set of pieces, inspired by having been invited to judge a Bach competition in Leipzig. One hears Bach’s influence throughout, yet these pieces contain Shostakovich’s own special genius, as well.

Listening the first time, I made note to go back to the A-Major Fugue, which is basically a set of arpeggiations fashioned into subject, development and counter-subject. Very simple, yet the stacking of the tonal arpeggiations reaches out to encompass the full range of harmonics possible in A-Major, creating something very close to the being-altering fire that consumes Valhalla at the end of Wagner’s Ring.

I’ve played that track over and over. Then I went and bought the score (of all 24 pieces) and still manage to recapture the tingle in my living room every time I play the Fugue myself.

Got a story you want to share?

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Some people get the shivers, others find that hair the back of their neck stands up and still others getting a tingling sensation up and down their back.

The requirement is roughly:

…a time when a piece you’ve experienced has made the hair on the back of your neck stand up; when you couldn’t do anything else but listen. Not necessarily your favourite piece (although it could be) but rather something that completely grabbed your attention, perhaps unexpectedly….

So far, we’ve had Evelyn Glennie, Benjamin Butterfield, Thomas Dausgaard, Stephen Hough and Edwin Outwater.

If you’ve got a story to tell, pop it in an email and send it along to the OM Inbox.

Watch this space to see who turns up this Autumn.

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• Spine Tinglers: Edwin Outwater
• Spine Tinglers: Thomas Dausgaard
• Spine Tinglers: Benjamin Butterfield

“I was in high school in Los Angeles, driving around in an old beat-up Volvo with my friends, catching as many concerts as possible. On one sunny SoCal day, I heard the Emerson String Quartet playing Beethoven’s quartet Op. 132 at a large church right in the middle of Beverly Hills. I had no idea what I was about to hear.

Inside, the church was dark and cool, the altar bare. When the quartet began the slow “Heiliger Dankgesang” movement, they played without vibrato. You could almost see the sound moving through the air. The church embraced the sound as it would beautiful chant.

It was a perfect moment, and for me, opened the door to Beethoven’s late style. Looking back, I think I was taken in by the contrasts: big church, small quartet; intimacy and privacy; prayer and exultation; the personal and the universal. I felt shattered and reborn right then and there. This music showed me a larger world than the one I knew.

The Emersons ended their concert with Op. 130 and the Große Fuge. The light seemed blinding as I walked out of the church in to the SoCal sun. Beethoven had helped me find something I was looking for, something that I couldn’t describe. After that, I knew music was my life.

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Here’s Stephen:

“It is time someone designed the ‘Rachmaninoff collar’ - one tailored low enough to allow hairs to rise on the back on the neck unimpeded, because such follicle stimulation is a common occurrence when listening to or performing his music.

On two of the three concert nights I found tears forming in my eyes when I arrived at that section. As my fingers pressed down the keys it was as if Rachmaninoff himself was beckoning me to another world - a world which was tragic and private, yet tender and compassionate too.”

Any thoughts on what format this Rachmaninoff collar could possibly take? A Mussel shirt, perhaps?

Like this? Why not try:

• Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4 Op 58
• Program Notes Catalogue
• Spine Tinglers: Maurizio

It’s that time again. This week’s Spine Tinglers installment comes courtesy of conductor Thomas Dausgaard. He’s the man in charge of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra as well a principal conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. His disc of short works by Nielsen was nominated for a 2007 Grammy. Enough blathering from Miss Mussel. Here’s Mr Dausgaard:

“Some years ago the wonderful violist Steven Dann introduced me to a recording on which he played the 2nd violin in Mahler symphony no 4 - well, 2nd violin solo, as this was a recording of the chamber version of the symphony by Erwin Stein done in 1921. It was made for the circle of musicians in and around the 2nd Viennese school of composers in Vienna, and it was scored for just string quintet, flute, oboe, clarinet, piano, harmonium, percussion, and soprano.

Although I consider myself a curious and open-minded musician/human being I had rather low hopes for this: a symphony with a very prominent solo-horn, now without horn ! - and how would the intensity of the slow movement be able to build up in such a thin-layered setting?

As so often, low - or no - expectations can be the most rewarding: intensity was exactly what this scoring and performance had! With every musician shaping his/her line individually, with beautifully varied use of vibrato and portamenti, a kind of intensity arose which was truly chamber musical; a musical dialogue between them evolved in a way presenting the essence of Mahler, where every line has a story to tell, a particular role in the overall expression.

No more so than in the slow movement, where the sonority of a full symphony orchestra was replaced by the very personal expression of each musician in turn taking the lead, adding their characterful individuality to the gradual and tremendous build-up of tension. It blew my ears and my mind off: powerful (in a particular way which doesn’t necessarily happen in an orchestral performance), thought-provoking (is this really possible?!) - and spine-tingling!

For everyone of these masterpieces it is good to be reminded that there are several ways of approaching them, and through our own curiosity we might be able to discover new and spine-tingling insights and truths every time we perform them.

(photo credit Marianne Grondhal)

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The duet “Streams of pleasure ever flowing” from Handel’s Theodora between Theodora and her lover
Didymus.

I visited Glyndebourne to see my friend David Daniels perform in Peter Seller’s production of this extraordinary oratorio. This duet was staged where the two lovers were bound to two tables in a stark, white chamber surrounded by modern helmeted guards. They were being readied for execution by lethal injection. They were then inclined to a 45 degree angle and tubes were inserted into their veins connected to three cylinders of liquid each. As the duet progressed the cylinders began to empty their contents slowly one after the other representing the musical ABA form of the duet.

By the end of the last cylinder of liquid the two lovers were singing so quietly and the orchestra was playing even more quietly that a single breath by any audience member would have infiltrated this most intimate of moments. And then they died and the orchestra played out the rest of the duet to nothing. Never have I experienced a theater full of people so emotionally stunned into total stillness. That was a good day.

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It seems a shame to let their generously supplied responses waste away in the OM Inbox in hopes that someday Miss Mussel will get around to publishing this newsletter/albatross, so here is the first installment. Many thanks to Dame Evelyn Glennie for taking part.

I remember attending a performance by the London Symphony Orchestra of “The Rite of Spring” by Stravinsky at the Barbican in London back in the mid 80’s when I was a student. Coming from a remote part of North East Scotland with no experience of attending concerts by professional orchestras, this was an incredible experience that has remained with me ever since.

The intensity of the music and how it was performed totally transfixed my whole being to that moment. The extremes of dynamics, sound colour, the fragility and strength of the music, the daring message through sound and the fact that this piece pushed the boundaries of the players when it was first written (and a long time thereafter) are just a few of the reasons why this music has remained one of my all time favourites.

Like this? Why not try:

• Spine Tinglers: Maurizio
• All About Spine Tinglers
• Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite