MUSIC FOR TAURUS – Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Magnificent Piano Concerto #1 in B Flat Minor
Astrological Symbol for Taurus
MUSIC FOR TAURUS – Note by Nancy:
This piece of music is extremely powerful and therapeutic! Be sure to read DR. KAY’S EXPLANATION first, then listen to the music allowing your emotions to move along with it. I experienced the music much like I have experienced the cleansing effects of the Transmuting Flame, Groaning/Toning, and journaling deeply honest feelings. Ride the musical waves and experience how allowing self to express and release what we tend to consider “negative” emotions–rather than repressing them–leads to feelings of tranquility and the knowing that we can move forward in our lives in a beautiful, triumphant manner!
MUSIC FOR TAURUS: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Magnificent Piano Concerto #1 in B Flat Minor
Re-blogged from Dr. Kay’s blog
http://www.drkayjg.com/blog/25-peter-ilyich-tchaikovsky-s-magnificent-piano-concerto-1-in-b-flat-minor
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a Russian romantic composer, was born on May 7, 1840, in Vyatka, Russia. Considered the most popular Russian composer in history, he composed six symphonies and some of the world’s most performed ballets including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty.
Today we are concentrating on his passionate First Piano Concerto in B Flat Minor, composed in 1874 with orchestrations written in February of the following year. This three movement concerto has one of the most memorable openings in classical music history – beginning with a French horn fanfare punctuated by orchestral chords. It is magnificent!
Tchaikovsky himself had limited piano skills, so he wanted the great Russian pianist and director of the Moscow Conservatory, Nikolay Rubinstein, to play the premiere performance of the concerto. Rubinstein declined the offer. The premiere performance actually took place in Boston, Massachusetts on October 25, 1875. The piece was immediately embraced by audiences the world over. It would become perhaps THE most popular piano concerto ever written.
You may remember that Harvey Van Cliburn, an American concert pianist, won first place in the first International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in the Soviet Union in 1958. This event took place during the Cold War Period between the United States and Russia. From a propaganda perspective, this was a huge achievement for the USA. Van Cliburn returned to America a major hero. He was the first musician to ever receive a New York City ticker-tape parade.
If I had to assign an Astrology sign to this particular piece of music, I would choose the stable, dependable fixed earth sign Taurus. Taurus is determined, yet peaceful. It appreciates the earth and the spiritual. It loves making a thing beautiful and appreciates color and pleasing sounds. Taurus is of the earth, inviting us to experience all of our emotions – and appreciate them.
If I had to come up with three or four adjectives to describe this amazing piano concerto, I would choose powerful, passionate, beautiful, and controlled. The first three adjectives are understandable, but my choice of controlled may need more definition.
I chose controlled because as one listens to the beauty – the passion – of this remarkable piece, it always has the musical emotion under control. After a powerful and passionate page or two, Tchaikovsky will suddenly go into a soft, soothing passage.
Whenever I hear this particular piece I wish all of us on earth had the same control of our emotions. We could then experience even the strongest of emotions, but never let the emotion take us over. Listen to this piece again to see what I am talking about.
Since music is an emotional medium it has the potential to take us “over the edge” without us even agreeing to it — or knowing it. Great classical music never lets that happen.
I will end my blog here and let you ponder my last few paragraphs. Whether you agree or not, I hope you will spend some time at least thinking about it.
Enjoy the heavenly sounds of the piano, Tschaikovsky, and Van Cliburn – an amazing trio!
Be blessed.
