The Music by Linda Stowe
Saturday is the longest day of my week. None of the podcasters I regularly follow posts new material. I don’t follow much on TV, so that’s a dead end. The only thing constant on Saturday is that it is the day I refill my pill caddy for the week.
I take 12 pills daily, so it takes about twenty minutes to refill the caddy. While I perform this tedious but important task, I usually turn on the radio and listen to classical music. Today, as cold and grey as it has been, I felt uplifted when I heard the beginning notes of my favorite piece, Finlandia by Jean Sibelius. If you have ever heard Finlandia, you know what I mean.
Although Finlandia was one of a series of short pieces Sibelius wrote in 1899 for a concert to benefit journalists, many of his countrymen felt the uplifting music reflected their desire to break away from Russian rule. They saw it as a protest song, and it has ever since been played as a patriotic piece in Finland.
The music was later appropriated for the Christian hymn, “Be Still My Soul.” Same stirring music but repurposed for a different audience. I remember singing it in church, unaware of the rich history of the music. Other music has been used this way to reach new audiences, and each new audience connects with the music in new ways. One generation felt Marvin Gaye’s pain of betrayal when he sang “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” while the next generation pictured dancing raisins and thought of breakfast.
There is a saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” I don’t think that’s true.
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Another thought-provoking piece by Linda.
What struck me the most was two different things.
The first was that the same “thing” — in this case, a song — can be interpreted in many different ways by many different people. Especially over time.
The second thing was her thought about “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” I don’t think this is true either. I don’t think anything remains the same.
The Music by Linda Stowe
