Give me another dose

(Originally posted on Mar 20, 2007 22:33)   

Sometimes I wonder if music shouldn't be treated as a controlled substance or even illegal. No, seriously. Have you never had your mood altered by music? Have you never felt some strong emotions when listening to a certain music? Haven't you never felt depressed by listening to Pink Floyd? Have you never wept listening to Barber's Adagio? Have you never felt a rush while driving under the influence of Deep Purple's Highway Star? Never felt nausea listening to manele? Never felt the hair on your arms stand up and your spine tingle when listening to Beethoven's 9th? Never felt nostagia listening to Dvorak's 9th?

         Music is powerful stuff. Ask Charles Manson and his "family" who claimed that they committed several murders under the influence of Beatles' Helter Skelter.
Ok, that's not a nice example because they were obviously all mental institute material but ask anyone who had felt those sensations that I described above. And if you've never felt them, then I suggest you get yourself checked for catatonia or catalepsy. 

         When I was in high school (yeah, yet another story that starts with “When I was young…” symptoms of that malady called Age) I had one of those quasi-religious, life-changing, mind-altering experiences with this drug called music.

          In that period I was deep in to rock music but by chance I stumbled upon this record (yes one of those big black records, not the small shiny silver ones) called Switched on Bach, by Wendy Carlos (well, in that time she used to be Walter Carlos) in a record shop. 

         I thought the cover was amusing and it seemed interesting to me because I have this fascination for electronic synthesizers since I was 10. So I bought the record, took it home and started listening. When I listened to the Brandenburg Concert nr.3 I felt that rush that we usually relate to drugs. Now that was something new to me and it hit me on the face like a ton of gold bricks wrapped on lemon slices and without a license plate. It was like “Whoa! Oh your god!! What was that?? Where have it been all my life? Why haven’t I never heard this before?? Why am I listening to rock and not this??” And the next thought was “I need mooooore!!!” Ha! Signals of drug addiction on the first try! Now THAT is potent stuff!

         The next day I went running to the record shop to look for more Bach and then I’ve found the album that really changed my life: The complete Brandenburg concerts by the Collegium Aureum, on period instruments!! 

I could barely wait to get home to listen to it. And if the synthesizer version gave me a rush, this one shot me way past the speed of light and made me time-travel to the 17th century!! And the big advantage of this type of drug is that there’s no time lag from the moment the drug enters your system until it start making effect on your brain. It’s almost instantaneous! Well, the speed of sound is negligible in this case. And ooohhhh what an effect!! I spent the whole afternoon and evening listening to those concerts non-stop. And my thought was “too bad I have to listen to them one by one… I wish I could inject them all at once!” Yep. That was addiction, alright. Since then I always thought that if one day I get hold of a time machine, this is the moment that I want to relive again. The moment I was illuminated by Bach. How I wish to feel again that first big rush when the Brandenburg 3 invaded my brain and etched it’s undeletable marks on my cortex!!

         And without knowing I became not only addicted, but also a purist! For in the next day I asked a friend of mine who liked classic music to let me borrow his recording of the Brandenburgs for comparison. And he his version was by Karajan with the Berlin Phillharmonic. Oh… What a difference it was!! That huuuuge orchestra lumbering like a geriatric dinosaur! Compared to my version with the small orchestra and period instruments, so vibrant, so dynamic, this one was horrible!! From that moment on I became a true purist and only accepted historically informed performances on period instruments. Of course, in that period, in the early 80s this is not what they were called. They were just labeled “authentic performances” but alas, the politically correctness of 90s took over and now they are called “Historically Informed Performances” or HIP. But I digress…

         So I was bitten by the Bach bug. And I couldn’t get enough. In the next day I was back to the record shop, digging for more HIP Bach. And I found another Collegium Aureum record with the concert for Oboe and Violin BWV 1060. Whooosh! Another big dose of my favorite drug!!
And the next one was the Goldberg Variations with Gustav Leonhardt on the harpsichord. 

          Strangely enough, the Goldberg Variations rush was delayed for several years. Not that Leonhardt’s interpretation wasn’t good, but somehow it didn’t hit me on the face like the concerts. 

          It was only a few years ago that it finally made it’s effect. And even more strange is the recording that caused the effect: Glenn Gould on the piano. 

         When I started my Bachmania I was reading everything that I could find about Bach and his works and I was always searching for the best possible interpretations. And I heard a lot about Glenn Gould. First of all I was apprehensive about him because the last thing you could call him was “authentic” or HIP. On the contrary. All the Bach purists always criticized him for the liberties he took in his interpretations. But I didn’t want to be intolerant, especially without even giving the guy a decent try. So I bought a record with some piano concertos and some solo piano works. And I had to agree with his critics about the liberties taken. But what was worse to me was his idiosyncrasies. He SINGS while he play the piano!! Oh your god!! I couldn’t believe!! And he doesn’t sing the melody that he’s playing!! He sings something completely different. And quite off key!! So I practically banned Gould from my collection. Until recently, when I started relaxing my rule about non-HIP recordings and started searching for a good piano version of the Goldbergs. And everywhere I read about it the verdict was almost unanimous… Gould. So I decided to give the guy a second chance. I admit that it took some time for me to cast away my prejudice about his tempos and lack of baroque ornaments and his annoying singing. And then… it finally clicked!! But the Goldberg/Gould is not a stimulant to me. It's more like a calmant. Whenever I am nervous or anxious it helps me feel better. I also like to listen to it while I'm cooking. Unless I'm cooking pasta. Then it has to be Pavarotti.
And when I am really depressed I usually make an intensive treatment with Bach. In the veins, if necessary. Never had an overdose, so far.

         So, Bach is my favorite drug.
         As I said, I am surprised that music is not a controlled substance. But I am happy it isn't and I hope it won't be. 

         And today, March, 21st is a special day: Bach makes 322 years.
         Happy Birthday, Johann!!
         And give me another dose.