We really have it lucky nowadays. If I want to hear a piece of music – any piece of music – all I need to do is search for it on my phone, and less than 10 seconds later, I’m listening. 15 years ago, it would take a 5-minute download on a 56k modem. 25 years ago, it would be a 1-hour trip to the store. 150 years ago, if you wanted to hear music, you either had to make it yourself or listen to a live musician.

In this video, the audio is an actual recording of the one and only Scott Joplin playing his own composition, “The Easy Winners.” Joplin was, of course, known for his ragtime piano compositions, which are studied and played by pianists of all ages.

Note the slow, relaxed tempo.

Most performances today are nearly twice as fast. (If you MUST hear it fast, you can set the play speed to 2x – and hear it become inappropriately comedic.)

I’m sorry. I just really don’t care about sports.

Two years ago (Superbowl 48, or XLVIII, as the sportsters like to say) the big deal (in the art music world, at least) was that opera superstar Renée Fleming sang the national anthem. It was the first time an opera singer performed at a superbowl, and was probably the first time most football fans ever heard something akin to opera (with the exception of “kill the wabbit“, of course).

This year, Gustavo Dudamel conducted the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles in the superbowl halftime show (though you wouldn’t know it, since they barely get mentioned. Forget these young people and their passion for art. Gotta leave plenty of room for … Coldplay …)

Dudamel is the rock star of conductors. He skyrocketed to fame through his success with the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan youth orchestra (which is no longer a youth orchestra – the band was so good, they grew up together and became a world-renowned pro orchestra.) Now Dudamel is working his magic with the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, which provides free instruments, music lessons, and academic assistance to underserved communities in LA.

but … Coldplay … ?

Hats off to Dudamel! Here’s him conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar in a performance of a dance by Meixcan composer Arturo Marquez.

… Cold … play …

I know it sounds tacky, or clichéd, but, like a good book, music can transport you to worlds you never knew existed.

Read a good book, and you are right there in the action. When the characters cry, you weep with them; when they are overjoyed, you are elated too. And when the action is intense, you stay up all night reading until the conflict is resolved.

Listen to some Salsa, and you are in Havana, with a Mohito in your hand. Listen to a Gamelan ensemble, and you can practically smell the incense of a Buddhist temple. Listen to one of Brahms‘ Hungarian Dances, and all of a sudden you are an Eastern European peasant, with a killer ‘stache and an awesome hat, or maybe a ridiculously flowery dress.

Lace up those boots and get your Csárdás on!