If only all classical music were as accessible

My mom sent me this video, and I loved it. Patrick and I were speaking the other day about how there is so much beautiful, passionate classical music out there, but people tend to think it's boring and unrelatable. A lot of the wonderful stuff is Russian (see Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, to name just a couple), and I wish symphonies would play more of that, along with pieces like the one shown below, the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.


All these pieces give me chills for various reasons when I hear them. Beethoven's Ninth with the glorious chorus at the end, Night on Bald Mountain in the beginning with the creepy violins that build into that demonic brass chord series (Patrick played this gorgeously), and Scheherazade for its arrogant sultan's tones (also played to perfection by my very own spouse a while back).

I wish classical music was portrayed in a better light. Maybe more of these flash mob-type things would help. And if classical stations would quit playing that intensely boring stuff that is like one flute and a couple violins for 30 minutes straight. Give us some meat and brass! I never properly appreciated trombones until I married someone who plays one professionally. Now I do. There is no instrument in the orchestra that can deliver power like a trombone.

In other musical news, we finally got our piano tuned. The process was utterly excruciating, but it's now finished and I can play the damn thing without wanting to stab myself in the eyeball because it's so horrendously out of tune.

Along with people sniffles in our house, we have kitty sniffles. Widget has gotten over her cold, but now Gurgles has it. Sigh. I guess it's that time of year. Hopefully all the illness goes away before the holidays. I hate being sick when I'm supposed to be eating piles of food. Kinda makes Thanksgiving dinner a little pointless if you can't taste any of it.