What I love about the symphony

Thought I’d collect these thoughts from my logs of last night’s symphony.

For me, the symphony is nostalgic. Many of my best memories as a young person were in the symphonic and marching band. I feel the trepidation and excitement when the xylophone rings out, cutting through the whole orchestra. I remember the joy of harmony. I recall marveling at the range and power of each instrument from the backstage view of the percussion section.

The symphony is nostalgic, and it’s also prophetic. The Spirit flows with the music, calling images and memories to my mind’s eye in a way that’s often surprising. That is, in ways I cannot anticipate or control. Those movements in which I expect to receive the strongest impressions can be lifeless to me, and others can bring me to tears with their resonance and imagery. I think that I learned to hear the Spirit’s voice first through music, then recognized the speaker in the Bible.

Lastly, the symphony is nostalgic, prophetic and FUN. At times I struggle to be “proper” because I want to dance and mourn, in all my ungainly, unskilled movements, along with the music. I don’t (in the concert hall at least 😉), but I allow my body to move with the music in my seat. Sometimes I feel self-conscious when I realize that almost no one else is doing the same 😨, but bucking conformity brings it’s own satisfaction. It’s worth discomfort to feel the texture of the music in my flesh.