Canada Day Ramblings

A day off in the middle of the week is unusual. I’ve always been a grinder and prefer to keep at it. Holidays bore me. Always have, always will.

A memory flashed into my mind this morning. When I was a kid, my father was into Sinatra big-time. We only had one classical record in our house - Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony, with Kiril Kondrashin conducting the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. As a child, I found myself intrigued with the album cover, which pictured a large Russian mosque. And so, intrigued, I put the record on.

I didn’t like the first movement but decided to skip it and try the second. As soon as I put it on, I was transfixed by the sounds. I suddenly felt transported into a winter forest, with birds singing. It was incredible. I memorized every note and never forgot it.

As the years passed and I got into the alto saxophone and jazz, I momentarily forgot about that album. Howeverr, in 1980, at the tender age of 22, I was reintroduced to classical music by my two bes friends, C.H. Powell and Grant Horrocks. Suddenly, I remembered that Shostakovich piece and tried to find it.

In those days, there was no internet, no phones, and very little recordings from Russia available, so it took decades, but I never gave up. I finally found the recording about 10 years ago. To put it on and hear it again was like revisiting a long-lost friend. I was instantly transported back in time to when I was a child, and the music was better than ever.

So on this Canada Day I remember that glorious composition by Shostakovich. Being part Russian myself, he is a comrade. More importantly, he moved me with his artistry, so deeply that it is still with me and will always remain so. How lucky we are to have and share music by these geniuses!