Adventures in Listening

Last Saturday I attended my first opera. It was a performance of La Traviata at a local movie theater simulcast from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Though I write about jazz and rock most often, and listen to it most of the time, I am not a complete novice when it comes to opera. My experiences have been mostly brief encounters, however. Years ago I bought a light introduction to operatic music sub-titled “What’s All the Screaming About?” It came with a CD of highlights from the opera Carmen, with Maria Callas singing lead soprano. I confess I listen to it rather infrequently. So I went to La Traviata with a friend from church who is an opera fan and an astute listener. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience -the music and the human drama in the story. They sang about love, joy, longing, heartbreak, death, religion and the meaning of life.
Last month, while in Nashville for two meetings, I had a few hours to enjoy the area. That has not typically been the case when I have traveled to Nashville for meetings, between the meetings and the work I bring along, there is usually little time to take in the sights. With the time I had I walked to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. It was a fascinating visit. One discovery was that in 1949, Billboard magazine retitled one of its music charts, from “Hillbilly” to “Country and Western.” Before going to the museum, I was not a novice with country music either, though it has certainly played second fiddle (an apt metaphor) in my listening over the years. I have spent a fair amount of time with Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline and Lucinda Williams. Anyway, the visit inspired me to give some of my country music another listen.
So in the days after the opera I have been listening in the car to the Carter Family. They were country when it was still “hillbilly” music on the Billboard charts. In their music there are songs about love, joy, longing, heartbreak, death, religion and the meaning of life.
The voices could not be more different – Natalie Dessay and Matthew Polenzani, A.P. and Sara and Maybelle Carter. The instrumentation could not be more distinct – a full pit orchestra at the Met, guitars played with the Carter scratch. Yet in each musical form there is the human situation being expressed, the human voice striving for articulation.
It is good to hear the variety of ways the human voice has been given expression, the diverse musical cries of the heart.
Maybe these adventures in listening are wonderful preparation for the United Methodist General Conference to which I am headed.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David