Older, but no wiser

Music is so central to my life, yet I so rarely write about it (not that I’ve been writing much about anything of late, but that’s another story).

I sit in the office, listening on headphones to music by Gerald Finzi – his Dies Natalis – on BBC Radio 3, streamed over the 'net. Listening, did I say? No; not listening, but letting the waves of sound wash gently over me, permeating my outer layers, subtly reaching a deeper part within.

The announcer referred to this as one of Finzi’s most intensely personal works. I don’t hear it as programme music, not music telling a story, not expressing particular emotions, yet I feel its personal nature. It is beautiful, but it isn't simply for its beauty that it appeals. Somehow, that intensely personal inspiration shines through the music; it’s like looking deep into someone’s eyes and finding a connection with their soul within.

For a moment, the office around me seems a very, very long way away.