The conservatorium and true beauty

I wandered aimless and haphazardly with no destination in mind and no need to get there with any haste. One moment I was with nature, in the gardens, surrounded by green things, damp earth from the rains overnight and the singing of birds; the next, amongst structures of metal and stone that towered over me, pointing skyward into the deep blue as if up there, far above them, was something they wanted. I found beauty in both, but it was from within the latter, one of those stone buildings, that today's true beauty came.

My wanderings, whilst aimless, had a purpose today; I had my camera and was looking for something to photograph.

The Botanic Gardens were green, but as yet there's not a lot of colour so I walked across the road to the Adelaide University grounds to see what I could find. As I walked around the deserted University grounds I snapped a building here and there but didn't find much inspiration at all until...the faint sound of something beautiful reached my ears. Without conscious thought I followed and as I came closer to one of the buildings the sound became clearer, louder, and it touched me inside.

The building in the image is the Elder Conservatorium of Music in the heart of the Adelaide University. It's history goes back to 1883, Australia's oldest tertiary music school. It's quite a beautiful building but today it was the music that struck me so profoundly. I sat outside, leaned up against the wall of the adjacent building, and didn't move for forty five minutes.

The music was one of my very favourite tracks of all time, the hauntingly beautiful My Immortal - by Evanescence.

There were four involved, to the best of my knowledge, clearly practicing for something: A pianist, violinist, cellist and vocalist, although there may have been a fifth I guess. They'd start playing and then stop as if someone had halted them to explain something or offer some instruction. Sometimes the vocalist would sing solo and sometimes not at all. As I sat and listened, the music echoed off the buildings around me and I felt like I was in the centre of it, like I was cocooned within the music itself. I closed my eyes, sat back and fell into the beauty of the moment.

They'd played and sung all the way through the song several times and I wanted more however my free concert came to an end eventually. I sat a little longer though; if I'm honest, I wanted to see the people who had given me that moment, thank them, but they didn't emerge and I drifted away with the haunting music still echoing in the recess of my mind.

I began to learn to play the piano around the age of four and played for many years working through the conservatorium-administered exams to get my gradings and becoming rather proficient. I play a couple other instruments also, although not as well as the piano. My life has been surrounded by music of all sorts and I find beauty in it, solace and comfort. My musical tastes are varied, I'm not at all a one-dimensional chap, in anything, and I like it that way; having an appreciation for all sorts of music allows me to find much more pleasure and enjoyment, just like today.

Yesterday I wrote a post about creating and shaping one's life, you can see it here if you like.

Life is moments, threads we weave into our life's tapestry, and I work hard to design mine the best I can. That doesn't mean that random or spontaneous things aren't welcome though, in fact it's in those moments that the true beauty of life can be found, and when they happen they need to be enjoyed, held close and remembered fondly...like my musical moment today.