# reasons to go to church



## science

A man named Shayne Barker, writer and director of the future-classic indie film _The Comic Book Lady_, had a big influence on me when I was an impressionable young man.

Digression: Someone recently said that their favorite classical music labels are the "indie labels," just ratcheting up the pretention. On the one hand we lament that more people don't like classical music, but then we go out of our way to humiliate anyone who approaches it with less than perfect knowledge from the womb. Increasingly I feel about classical music the way I feel about the Philadelphia Eagles: love the team, hate my fellow fans. Of course the majority of the fans are great, but the vocal minority.... I used to spend a bit of time with fairly successful musicians-my father even thought Hilary Hahn had a crush on me, though he definitely misunderstood the situation and I'm sure she forgot about me within a week of meeting me. That's about my best name-dropping, so I hope I have gained enough status to have established my bona fides. Of course that will never happen, someone's nose will always be craned up higher than I can reach. The point is, I never detected the tiniest hint of condescension from the real musicians, and I knew even less then than I do now. But then, I guess it is a human thing to seek status, and we all have our thing. The big time musicians don't need to flaunt anything, like Warren Buffet doesn't need to drive a Ferrari. I wish we could all get what we need, but it's a zero-sum game, isn't it? Fortunately we will all die, and then we'll be properly humble. "Finally brethren, after while, the battle will be over. For that day we shall lay down our burdens, and study war no more." And since the experience of being condescended to makes me look forward to death's catharsis, then I'm obviously taking the game too seriously as well. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. But I simply cannot give up all my bourgeois Deutsche Grammphon recordings to reach that level of enlightenment, so I'll stake out the low ground for the unrepentant philistines. I'll never surrender the low ground.

Back to Barker, who said memorably that although he didn't believe in God, Bach and Stravinsky made him want to go to church. At that time I did believe in God, but the line stuck with me. At this time I don't believe in God, but I do miss church, and not only the music. Anyway, the line comes to mind anytime I hear something like Allegri's Miserere, as I did last night.










Forget church, this makes me want to go to heaven.

That rivals Byzantine Chant for me, which is high praise, because if I had to place a bet on what music God listens to, I'd bet it's something along the lines of Marie Keyrouz' Chant Byzantin.










Nice to see that's been re-released, in Hyperion's pink series. Deserved it.

Not all music makes me want to go to church. Listened to Uchida playing Mozart's 8th piano sonata tonight, and that makes me want to go to piano lessons.










Is it possible that this work deserves more attention than it gets?

But today's winner is music that makes me want to go to the opera.

Some background: I have not been a fan of Gardiner, largely because of the butchery he inflicted on Mozart's Requiem. I really believe that no recording has ever disappointed me half as much as that one. Here it is, in case you're as stubborn as I am and want to hear it for yourself - after all, some people like it. (But then, there are all kinds of perversions out there.)










So I generally dread hearing Gardiner recordings. If that had been my first exposure to Mozart's Requiem, I might not like it, but fortunately my first exposure was Karajan's old, old one, and yes I like it very much. (I've appreciated the kind attempts to persuade me that I shouldn't. We're already clear here: I'm a reprobate. Your kindness is wasted on me.) No other recording by Gardiner has been nearly so disappointing, but there haven't been any that I just downright love. My favorite Gardiner recording has probably been Bach's Mass in B minor, but even there I think I prefer every other recording of it I've heard!

Several months ago I bought Gardiner's recording of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, but I've been so scared of it I've been unable to bring myself to hear it until last night, when I bit my lip and took the leap.










Wow. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Beautiful singing from every single part, beautiful playing-especially from His Majesty's Sackbuts and Cornets. I look forward to hearing this many more times.

No indie labels in this post, friends. I feel pure and radiant, like a blazing incarnation of the righteous vengeance of a holy God. Let there be justice, though I too perish in the flame.


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