Today is my birthday. I’m not really into birthdays, despite what my wife will tell you. The natural thing for a birthday, I suppose, would be to post my favorite piece of music, or perhaps a piece that is who I am. This, of course, brings up all sorts of questions: who am I? who am I supposed to be? who do you expect or want me to be? whose opinion matters, anyway?

It feels a bit clichéd, but Wagner‘s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde speaks to me more than any other piece of music. The Prelude begins not knowing where it is going, and after a long twisted journey, the only resolution you get is a return to the beginning state of unknowingness. And then, the Liebestod: possibly the longest delayed climax in history (4 hours) – but when it hits you, it’s like bliss you never even knew existed. Crying, of course, is optional.

Personal preference for this piece – the brass can simply not be loud enough. If the trombones haven’t made you deaf, then it’s a failure.

Nobody understands me …

Well, Berlioz, let’s start with your hair. With a haircut like that, nobody is going to take you seriously!

Forget my hair! The hair is nothing. What I want is for people to understand my music!

Fair enough. So, what sort of music do you have for us today?

Ah, it’s my Damnation of Faust! I just adore this book by Goethe, even though it’s by a wretched German. As soon as I read it, I knew I had to write music for it.

Sounds good! So what did you write? a Faust Symphony like Lizst? an opera like Gounod?

Of course not! It has soloists, a choir, an orchestra …

Ah, so you wrote an oratorio! You know Schumann did that too …

Absolutely not an oratorio! Nobody wants another bloody boring cantata. My audiences made that clear when they first heard my masterpiece.

An opera then?

Well, it’s … eh … sort of … a “dramatic legend.”

Ok. So it’s an oratorio.

No, it is much more than that. My roles are to be acted and lived, not merely sung.

Ok, so let’s make it an opera.

We tried that already. My music is too magnificent to be brought down to the level of mere tomfoolery on a stage with idiotic costumes. *sigh* nobody understands me …

*pause* Well then, let’s talk about ways you might improve your hairstyle.

As an organist, people often say to me, “wow, how do you play with your hands and feet at the same time?” Honestly, it’s not so hard. The feet are just like having two extra fingers – clunky, long fingers – but really it’s just a matter of an extra iota of coordination.

However, as an accordionist, I am truly blown away by this performer. He’s taking what I do with ten fingers and two feet, and doing it without the feet, while providing his own air supply. He makes it look easy, but let me assure you, this guy is one in a billion (literally … this is some seriously virtuoso accordioning; there can’t be more than 7 in the world who can play like this.)

this is good, but even more impressive is his rendition of Messiaen’s “Dieu parmi nous“