Jordan Hall

Time really flies when you are busy!

Over the last week several friends have come up to join us in Boston for a meal, an afternoon or  day.  It has been so nice to share the city with them.  I enjoy doing things by myself but it is MUCH nicer to have a companion!

Last night Bill and I went to Jordan Hall for 'First Monday' - a free concert put on by the faculty of the New England Conservatory.  The building is absolutely beautiful.  Rather intimate for a concert hall and marvelously constructed.  The acoustics are just amazing.

The 'M.C' and organizer introduced the concert by talking about why they had selected each piece and how they fit together.  That was quite interesting and it definitely added to my enjoyment of the music.  I would like it if they did something (brief) like that at other concerts as well.

The music was really beautiful.  One of the instruments was a 'fortepiano' which is somewhere between a harpsichord and a piano.  Very nice sound.  It's interesting to see the development of some of the instruments that we take for granted - like the piano.

The first piece was Syrinx by Claude Debussy.  It is a very short piece for flute.  It is the story of a young woman who was turned into reeds to hide from Pan.  But he found her and turned her into the first flute.  Very plaintive and beautiful music.

Later pieces took a theme from one song and showed how it influenced later composers and shows up again and again through the years.  Quite interesting.