The Sunday Sound: Night Music

A few weeks ago, thanks to a generous man, I attended a performance of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the first time. Beethoven and Haydn were obviously delightful, but I was most moved by Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3. The second movement, Adagio religioso, nearly brought me to tears (not an easy task). Bartók wrote this concerto in the final months of his life as a gift for his wife.

When I am moved by something, I become just the slightest bit obsessive. So I came home and read all I could about Bartók. It turns out he was responsible for pioneering a musical style called Night Music which is characterized by "eerie dissonances providing a backdrop to sounds of nature and lonely melodies." Ahhhhh, yes. Right up my alley.

In an effort to do something constructive with my new obsession, I composed today's sixty seconds from a few of my favorite sections of Adagio religioso and set them among the very literal sounds of the night. Enjoy.

THE SUNDAY SOUND: April 3, Night Music
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