There is nothing better than hearing live music performed where it was intended to be heard. Fife & Drum is best on an open field, traditional Celtic music is best in a dark, small pub over a few pints, ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ is best with peanuts at the park, root’n on the hometown boys, and Vivaldi is best in Venice with the sound of the un-amplified strings reverberating off stone statues within a charming church just a few meters from the Grand Canal.
Here’s the first movement from a concerto in d minor.
Today, walking through Dorsoduro, just around the corner from the Santa Maria della Salute, we happened upon a couple playing on my two favorite instruments, flute and guitar. They were really superb and they chose a courtyard with perfect acoustics, which you can hear nicely in the recording. I would have recorded more, but my phone was almost dead. Uhg. Here is the bit I did record and posted to soundcloud:
Diane and I went to church this morning…in Venice! It was the best way to experience the Basilica of San Marco, a gem of Byzantine architecture. I’ve never been in a more grand building, that is, until just shortly after we left church and went to the Doge Palace.
Words, pictures and sounds won’t do the Basilica justice, but I can tell you that the inside glistened as light poured in and reflected of the gold lined domes in the basilica. And when the service started we were treated with a earth moving pipe organ, and a angelic choir, singing in Italian, of course. Now why don’t we do church music like this at home? Very inspiring indeed.
I did my best to discretely record the service and take some pictures, although neither were allowed. But, I did ask for forgiveness while I was there.
You can hear the recording at http://soundcloud.com/baconworks/basilica-san-marco
