Sunday, February 10, 2008
Brussel Sprouts and Bruckner
II have always believed it important to be as open-minded as possible. As I age, I realize it will be easy to follow habits to becoming a curmudgeon, unwilling to tolerate much less try new experiences and consider new ideas. So to avoid a sedentary, slothful life, not only physically but mentally and spiritually as well, I am always looking for opportunities to learn and grow.
Lately, I have decided to acquire a taste for brussel sprouts and Anton Bruckner, both of which I have contacted only minimally. I did not grow up eating brussel sprouts, meaning I lack the aversion to the vegetable that so many seem to have developed from childhood forced consumption. I am a philistine with respect to classical music, though I know that classical music is itself a misnomer covering multiple periods from the Baroque to the Romantic. Having tasted brussel sprouts perhaps thrice, I have found them to be piquant – indeed, to be the perfect food for that term. Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony, the first movement of which I have listened to several times in a fine recording conducted by Gunter Wand, has the exciting quality that I most like in orchestral works.
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