Lust For “Moonlight”, The Crucible

There won’t be a lot of this here. Music is something I prefer to enjoy alone. The music I listen to creates a kind of cocoon for me. Not unlike the place I dream of when reading a play. Speaking of which…

The theater of mind, the darkened place where long, black curtains turn into silly prankster friends… I re-read The Crucible the other night and got to thinking about American girls. I miss them dearly and wish them all well. But I will never return to the antics because I was never worthy… I guess.

Oh yeah. Music.

It’s hard when one has become set in her/his ways. It’s not that I despise the iPod-slash-corporate cultists out there, although you might catch me enjoying a cup of coffee or two on their tab. It’s just that, those stupid little memory sticks re-produce music so poorly. I mean, do you, dear (worst)reader, even know how MP3 works? No? Imagine this:

The reproduction of sound is about highs and lows of vibrating signals. MP3 music avoids all the lows and a few of the things in between. In a way the stuff that is important to re-producing music is turned into something virtual. How convenient, eh? A computer algorithm interprets only the highs and the lows of what the human ear can actually “hear”. I don’t trust that type of technology when it comes to my cocoons. It’s unfortunate that listening to music has taken this “digital” turn. But don’t get me wrong. I’m not against progress.

But then again there’s my itching toward Luddite.

A better - or less (worst)written explanation about MP3 is here. Anywho.

While reading about American girls in The Crucible I started thinking about one of my favorite Beethoven pieces. Don’t ask me why. But if you know this piece then maybe you understand. Or if you know The Crucible… Anywho. I adore Beethoven’s Piano Sonata 14. It’s better known as the Moonlight Sonata.

While chasing yet another magnificent cocoon I quickly realized that my classic collection of CDs no longer included Moonlight. Aghast! Must have lost it in all the moving around; in all this consumerism. Certainly I’ll be out next week - when all the stores in Germany open again after the holidays - getting a new copy and acting like a copy. Until then, I have to rely on MP3 and other superficial but highly stock-market profitable technologies. I guess.

Calming the beast,

-tgs-