I slept most of the day Monday. I’m up after midnight into Tuesday, because of not feeling physically tired yet. My daughter called from the hospital to say she’s doing better. I’m relieved. My emotions have been through the wringer, though. As a way of dealing with emotions, I’m listening to music.

“Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast.” So I’ve heard. Music indeed can calm emotional heat; contrariwise, it can increase tension and bring to a climax one’s hopes and fears. I have used it variously as lullabies, marching songs, and energetic dances. There was even a time when I chose an entire playlist of “dramatic music”, mainly orchestral from movie soundtracks, the stuff of movement, battles, conflicts, and overcoming evil.

Turns out the exact quote, by William Congreve, is slightly different: “Music hath Charms to soothe a savage Breast.” He wrote it in 1697; “a savage Breast” was likely a racist reference. It puts me in mind of Mr. Darcy in the 1940 movie, Pride and Prejudice, “every hottentot can dance.” Jane Austen’s original words in his mouth were, “every savage can dance.” That may be: my children started dancing on their own as soon as they could stand reliably, as toddlers. It does not require education to appreciate music and movement together.

On the other hand, I’m teaching music appreciation and therefore searching out videos with well-performed music and dance. Education helps. I get to expose my students to music they’ve never heard before, to cool and interesting instruments and performances. I get to explore and listen to lots of options, looking for the best ones to include. I’m loving listening to music, fabulous performances by bagpipes, organs, orchestras, and cannons.

Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture: what do you play in the orchestra?

A howitzer.