Welcome……

The piano – its technique, teaching, style and repertoire – has been, for such a long time, so much of an all-consuming part of my life, that this will form a large part of the flavour and content of this site. The larger part will be music itself and specifically, aspects of the connections, between music and the spiritual or, at its simplest, the unquantifiable: the how, why, and where, of how music makes such a lasting and deep impression on us.

Music and spirituality – what does this mean, and where might a start be made to explore these ‘aspects-of’ and ‘connections-with’?
A good place might be with the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer where we are told that:

 ‘…music gets, to the heart of the matter.’

– but, which particular ‘heart’ and of what particular ‘matter’? 
and where exactly is this place, that we are being ‘got’ to?

It seems evident that music has special characteristics, something that enables it to move and affect, evoke and arouse.
Might it be that this ‘heart of the matter’ is in fact a place that music, with these special characteristics, easily exposes and identifies, 
– a place where words find difficulty of expression?

The question, or the heart of the matter, is simply this: why does, how does, and where does, music, make such an unusual and lasting impression upon us?

I intend to attempt to answer this through written word, blog, and spoken word/YouTube and I have identified, a wide variety of musical examples – from the broad sweep of musical history – for discussion, appraisal, analysis and appreciation, within these contexts, choosing examples which I feel have something to contribute to the already existing opinion. I have left aside any examples, where I feel there is already sufficient material and discussion, or where anything I could add, has already been said.  

There will also be examples taken from literature and art.

Thank you for taking the time to visit this ever-evolving site.
I hope that you have found it to be a stimulating and thought-provoking encounter,
– and that you visit again.