Self-Introduction Part 2: Music Man

Although words have been my main interest and my vocation, the wordless expression that we call music has been an integral part of my life – one of my chief sources of joy. I say "wordless" because, although I appreciate some songs with lyrics, I prefer music that consists of sound patterns that evoke whatever images my mind can create without words to tell me what it means.

I did not come by this appreciation of music naturally, nor did I acquire it by an extensive regimen of formal study. I did play the trumpet when I was younger, but I was a terrible musician. I couldn't play without the notes on paper in front of me, I have a poor ear for music, and I can't sing worth a damn. Yet I had the good fortune in my youth to be exposed to many different kinds of music, and I grew to love it – some kinds more than others.

My introduction to classical music came by playing in the high school symphonic band , where we had band arrangements of certain orchestral pieces such as Sibelius' Finlandia or Tchaikovsky's March Slav, so my original taste was for bold, brassy, and loud. Over time, however, the infinite variety of classical music won me over to much wider appreciation.

Though I'm still likely to return to pieces that I liked at once on first hearing, I learned an important lesson – some music needs a little time for one to get used to it. Originally, I thought that baroque music was simply too weird, and I could hear little in it that appealed to me, but my taste developed, first by hearing modern arrangements of centuries-old classics and then by acquiring a taste for the original versions.

An appreciation of good music is, for most of us, an acquired taste, and I feel very sorry for the many people who deny themselves the pleasure of good music because they are convinced that it "isn't for me" or "I just don't get it." They haven't given it a chance. Perhaps it was force-fed to them and they rebelled, perhaps they somehow got the idea that only snobs and phonies listened to the classics, or perhaps the one or two performances they heard were not well done. That's very unfortunate; they are missing a huge amount of pleasure because of a few negative experiences.

This goes for other kinds of music as well. We can develop our tastes only if we give everything a fair hearing. That is not to say that we will come to like everything. I still don't appreciate grand opera, though I can say that I've given it a fair shot and have even come to enjoy some lighter opera. I do not like rock or rap music at all, though I've certainly heard enough of it (who can avoid it?). I don't share the enthusiasm that some of my friends have for jazz, but I can listen to some types with a degree of pleasure. I enjoy dixieland, but again in small doses and probably only because I played for a while in an amateur dixieland band. I am very fond of some of the instrumental music classified as "New Age," but a lot of it doesn't appeal ro me at all.

A particular project of mine underscores how personal musical taste can be. For several years now, I have put together collections of Christmas music (first on tape, then on CD) to hand out to friends. As this practice has become a tradition, the list of recipients has expanded to 80 to 100 individuals. It's all traditional holiday music (I shun the novelty tunes and the short-lived pop Christmas songs), but I'm always seeking new arrangements that people are unlikely to have heard. Although everyone seems to appreciate these collections and though they are all familiar songs, there is absolutely no consensus about what people like best. One person may rave about a particular arrangement of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," for example, while another may say, "Why did you put that on there?" Try as I may to please everyone, it's just not possible.

I can state with confidence, however, that music – especially wordless music – is a universal language. I will never understand its power to move people, but there is no question in my mind that it does. Tastes differ widely, but we do a disservice to ourselves if we don't at least try to develop an eclectic appreciation of music.