The Music Musicians Hear

This week the Alabama Symphony Orchestra will perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. I sing in the Birmingham Concert Chorale, the chorus who performs with the ASO when they schedule choral/orchestral pieces. This popular work, which everyone knows from the tune "Ode to Joy", has been made more legendary by the well-known fact that Beethoven was deaf when he composed it and conducted its premiere.

In his book "Beethoven's Hair," Russell Martin explains how scientific testing has been done on a lock of hair cut from Beethoven's head and verifiably preserved . The testing solved the mystery of Beethoven's deafness and growing blindness, as well as his abdominal discomfort and generally sour disposition. He had lead poisoning.

Non-musicians find it odd that a composer could compose without hearing. Musicians understand, I think, that music plays in our minds whether or not it is audible.

A few days ago I conducted Mendelssohn's "Elijah." It is a two-hour (plus) masterpiece, full of beautiful singing and orchestral playing. Every year I conduct a major work in the spring as a part of the effort to raise scholarship funds in memory of our organist, Betty Sue Shepherd. Mentally and physically it is the most challenging weekend of the year, and it has taken a few days to process mentally and recover physically.

One of the interesting things that has been said by choir members as we have reflected on the concert has been, "I try to go to sleep and that melody keeps playing in my head." I have experienced the same thing, after learning such a large score. Sometimes I have to start at the beginning and play the entire piece in my mind before I can really settle down and go to sleep.

Music is such a mental exercise that I think the real musical instrument that we all play is our mind. It is assisted by the trumpets, violins, vocal chords and pianos we manipulate. It is reassuring to know that music can't really ever be taken from us as long as our minds are strong. And I have visited elderly patients whose minds were past the point of normal communication or expression, but who showed signs of memory and recognition when familiar hymns were played or sung.

Music is too great to be momentary. We must savor great music, and play it over and over to realize its potential for enriching us. As we sing Beethoven's Ninth this week, we will reach a point where we tire of rehearsing it. But we won't be able to stop it from playing over and over in our minds after rehearsal. In that way we will finally commune with Beethoven, and experience the music the way he did.