Last week, through another LJ I won't mention I came across the new CD of Bernstein's Peter Pan. I heard a clip of Spring Will Come Again, which is the last track on that CD (you can listen to a clip here). That tune was one I knew well, although I could not remember in which Bernstein piece I had heard it. So, partly out of intellectual curiosity and partly because I hadn't heard it in a long time, I put on Bernstein's Mass and listened with joy, melancholy, and remembrance of things past.

My college chorale sung the Mass in New York the year before I entered college. As things go, my director recycled pieces of the Mass throughout my tenure there, but I never got to sing all of it (I'm sure mrfantasy remembers this well). As I grew up on West Side Story, it seemed only fitting that I become involved with his Mass as an adult. I became so enamored, that when I finally did get a CD player, Mass was one of the first CDs I purchased and cherished.

My most poignant experience with it, perhaps, was a memorial service we sang in "Lenny's" honor at a temple in Northern NJ, which included, among other things "Simple Song." My director, you see, had studied with Lenny, and chose to mourn by celebrating his works in a worshipful setting.
In many ways, then, I feel have a personal relationship with Bernstein that I do not have with other composers.

In the meantime, completely apart from this, Fred sent me an article discussing the relationship of classical music to CDs and Ipods (or more precisely, digital music). This was a follow-up from a discussion we had had about the feasibility and desirability of the SCC recording another CD. I googled for articles further discussing the new patterns of music buying (which I spent much time studying when I was working on Media Player), and stumbled across the highly enjoyable On an Overgrown Path. I read the latest entries in the blog, but it wasn't until today, when he referenced his own post about Mass that I felt compelled to comment. My comment was largely comprised of the most of today's entry, so you needn't go read my comment, but you should peruse the blog. The author of the blog contacted me and thanked me for my comments, which is a new experience for me, and quite welcome.

I just couldn't believe that a series of random events had sent me back down a such a familiar road. I had not been listening to as much Bernstein of late, because I had OD'd at times in the past, but I so very rarely get tired of anything of his. In addition, I've found a CD I want to buy, a new Blog to read, and I've made a new virtual acquaintance. I guess it is true that if you stay true to the things that you love good things will happen to you.

By the way, the tune from Peter Pan that started me down this path is one from "Chichester Psalms." It is track 5 of this CD.