I wasn't introduced to it until I was a young adult, but it quickly seduced me with its charms.
Close your eyes and visualize this:
It's a mild summer evening.
The stars are twinkling overhead.
You're sitting on a broad lawn, with lawn chairs and picnic blanket spread out.
You just ate a gourmet picnic.
You have a glass of wine in hand.
Everyone around you is happy, basking in the magic of the place.
The sun is setting gloriously behind you.
One of the world's premier orchestras in onstage, ahead of you.
They're outside, too.
The music wafts across the lawn and out into the night.
Your heart soars and dips along with the music.
The world feels still and peaceful.
You're at peace.
That's the best I can do to explain Tanglewood. It's the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. They host other performers, as well. But if you like classical music, Tanglewood is your musical mecca.
It's become a bit of a family tradition. We try to go at least once a year. This was the first year we took both girls and all enjoyed it. (previous attempts were less than successful, to say the least.) The girls picked out their favorite sun dresses. They wanted to be fancy. They danced when the music was danceable. MeToo guffawed at the giant bass drum in "Fanfare for the Common Man", she thought its sudden beats were hysterical. When the music got quieter, they colored and looked at books. When it got too dark, they wrapped themselves in the picnic quilt. When it got too late, MeToo snuggled into her stroller with her paci and doll, and put herself to bed. HeyMama followed a bit later, snuggled in the blanket. Then BestestHusband and I could finally snuggle into our chairs and just enjoy the music. Just like we did before we had kids.
I have a lot of wonderful memories from growing up, but I wonder what it would be like to have childhood memories of going to Tanglewood. That's a gift we plan to give to HeyMama and MeToo. We look forward to making those memories.
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| Celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary and Tanglewood's 75th birthday. |
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| HeyMama had a blast running races with herself on the lawn near the visitor's center. |
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| MeToo had a blast rolling in the soft grass. HeyMama eventually joined her. Check out that view... |
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| Not a bad picnic dinner... |
I remember the view so well. I think we were there in 1967 & I still remember the view across the lawn. Unfortunately the orchestra was only in rehearsals so we couldn't hear them perform, but we did hear Gunther Grass give a lecture on
ReplyDelete12-tone composition with a small women's choir for demonstration. I almost could understand it.....almost!