Isn't it strange how different people can look at the same event with such different eyes? I was at my mum's house the other day and we were chatting comfortably over a cup of coffee. Amongst other things she dropped into the conversation the fact that she loved listening to Beethoven. She mused that these days she didn't really listen to music any more ...
My brother and I looked at each other. I couldn't believe that our mother's memories of Beethoven were so positive. As a child some of my worst memories were of Beethoven blasting through the house at full volume. I remember my brother and I sitting on the stairs in the dark, huddled together silently as my mum played her music in the lounge with the door tight shut. It was always when she and my dad had had a row and he had stormed out.
Now please, don't get me wrong, I hardly had a ghastly childhood. We were happy, but there was stuff going on behind the scenes that I only learned about when I reached adulthood. It does show you though how people's perspective of events can be so different. She obviously had no idea that her children were totally aware of the rows and had been sitting on the stairs ...
To her, Beethoven was comforting. To my brother and I Beethoven ... well, its certainly not a comfort! It's strange to think that the same piece of music can stir such different emotions in people who were listening at the same time.
My brother and I looked at each other. I couldn't believe that our mother's memories of Beethoven were so positive. As a child some of my worst memories were of Beethoven blasting through the house at full volume. I remember my brother and I sitting on the stairs in the dark, huddled together silently as my mum played her music in the lounge with the door tight shut. It was always when she and my dad had had a row and he had stormed out.
Now please, don't get me wrong, I hardly had a ghastly childhood. We were happy, but there was stuff going on behind the scenes that I only learned about when I reached adulthood. It does show you though how people's perspective of events can be so different. She obviously had no idea that her children were totally aware of the rows and had been sitting on the stairs ...
To her, Beethoven was comforting. To my brother and I Beethoven ... well, its certainly not a comfort! It's strange to think that the same piece of music can stir such different emotions in people who were listening at the same time.
