Symphony of Life

I had the pleasure of hearing the Hershey Symphony perform this past weekend, under the direction of Dr. Sandra Dackow. The highlight of the evening occurred when a stage full of strings performed Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium. Nothing against the choral, brass, wind, or percussion sections, but there is just something magical about the simple beauty of a stage full of strings. The piece was beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that I fought to hold back tears through most of it. It spoke so abundantly of wonder!

So today, my friend tells me that it's normally performed as a choral piece, and that Dr. Dackow arranged the orchestral version. It was a crushing bit of news. The pain of knowing that I may never hear it again, in that form, nearly moved me to tears a second time. I fear that in every sense, it was truly a one-of-a-kind, perfect piece.

But here's the thing -- do you not see the flawed reasoning above? It seems quite foolish to hang my head in despair over losing the perfect piece. I mean, I should be searching for that next piece that'll move me even more. And the fact that I went into the evening not expecting to hear such a beautiful piece should speak to me of the hope that exists for the next symphony. But in my humanity, all I desire is to hear that piece over and over and over again. I guess I'd rather be comforted by something familiar, than risk finding it in something unknown.

Photo by JK Orvik