2 May 2013

For today's Daily Quota, we're lucky enough to have a contribution from a very capable young lady. Madeleine is the musical equivalent of a WWE Smackdown Champion - her weapon of choice; the classical violin. 
She is also frighteningly well-read and bears a striking resemblance to Amelie. 

Today, she shares with us her passion for classical music, in particular, one overlooked composer...

Classical music is one of those things that few people encounter anymore. Unless you are, in fact, a classical musician or over the age of sixty. 

Perhaps we weren’t brought up with it playing in the house or we had a few less-than-adequate piano lessons in primary school and maybe played some miscellaneous instrument throughout High School (I was the king of the triangle - Ed). But, you could never talk during the concerts or clap when you wanted to. There were too many rules and too many pretentious people drinking champagne and wearing faux fur. Classical music became something we couldn’t relate to. Plus, most people have parties to go to on Friday nights than go to the opera or symphony orchestra concert. 

This may all very well be true. 

However, Arvo Pärt, a minimalist composer from Estonia, breaches these boundaries. His music is spacious and unpretentious. 

It breathes and gives you ample opportunity to make of it what you will. This particular piece, Für Alina, is supposed to sound like bells; particularly the kind rung in churches. 

There’s definitely a certain kind of mysticism and timelessness to this music. It is a classical music which lets you react to it however you want to without the distraction of pomp and circumstance. It was the first piece by Pärt that I heard and was immediately struck by its beauty. There’s no clutter, no over-complication. 

Just you, your thoughts and a sense of illumination. 

LISTEN TO IT HERE