Fur Elise

        Clearly music invokes emotion. Everywhere we go there is a beat, tone, or melody to a specific time. When we walk, how we speak, even when we eat there is a rhythm. Most of us are so enthralled in the trivial points of life we can't hear the music. Let's just imagine for a moment you spent your entire life around music, and music was your entire life. Then one day for whatever reason you actually lost your ability to hear. Your love of the music is so grand that you go on to write and perform literally hundreds of compositions, and become one of the most famous composers of all time. Despite being deaf, this was Ludwig Van Beethoven.

       Today I played the celebration of life for a gentleman who was the patriarch of 4 living generations. This gentleman lived 87 good years. This service was a joy for me. It was clear from the beginning the family wished this to be a celebration, so my tune selection was much more open than usual. I was able to play more of an upbeat selection to set a happier tone. I would play for thirty minutes before the service as people arrived to help celebrate this gentleman's life. My pipes locked in early and played rather tight today. I find it impressive how the weather has so much influence over the instrument. I was told this family would spend time in Nova Scotia. I would have to imagine today's weather is quite common there. Could there be a coincidence? I was contacted about this event by chance, from a woman I had met by chance on social media. We both belong to a debate forum and have had some great discussions. We have a mutual friend that would connect us, as she did not know any bagpipers in the area. As it turns out we graduated high school together in 1989. She is the granddaughter of the gentleman we were celebrating today. She would introduce me to her father and her daughter prior to the service. It is clear to me she is an intelligent well read woman who apparently does hear the music. This is a beautiful family whom to me, seemed very close and quite supportive of each other.  As I understood, her daughter, like her is a musician. She practices the clarinet and plays the piano. She would play a tribute to her great grandfather during the service. When I looked at the spelling of her name and that of her great grandfather, it seemed to me she was his name sake, only strengthening my thought of how close this family is.

       I mentioned how I felt the granddaughter was intelligent and well read, none of this is lost on her daughter, along with her general concern for others. The young girl and I had a brief but interesting discussion on Bagpipe lung which is a disease that bagpipers can get from not having proper care techniques for their instrument. As our conversation continued she explained how she would play the piano today for her great grandfather. She was a delightful young girl with honest eyes. She seemed ready to tackle the world. She was to play Fur Elise, one of Beethoven's most famous and complicated pieces. It is believed to have been written for a love interest of Beethoven, Therese von Rohrenbach zu Dezza. She was a friend and student of Beethoven's to whom he proposed in 1810, though she would turn him down to marry an Austrian nobleman. It is also believed that when the composition was transposed, the name was mistaken for Elise and not Therese. Clearly this young girl would master the piece. As the four of us stood talking you could see the levels of respect and admiration they each had for one another. How each of them felt for the man we all were about to celebrate. From the great granddaughter to the granddaughter, both looking up to the son as all of them playing the music of life for the father. Spending those moments with them was my favorite song of the day.

Peter