In the Name of Art

 I am a bit tired today because we wound up running late at Orchestra rehearsal last night.  "We" being myself, and two other locals who make a weekly trek over to the next state to participate in a community orchestra there.  The person who originally snagged me into joining this orchestra hasn't gone in a while, being particularly busy lately with personal commitments, but there are still a couple of folks from my neck of the woods that continue to participate.  It was rainy for the drive back, but not too bad, fortunately.

Now, lest one think that "classical" music (that performed by a modern Symphony Orchestra or a group modeled on same) is stuffy and just for snobs who are connected to it professionally in some way, this particular group happens to be made of of amateur musicians, either retired or professionals in a non-musical career who simply like to play, and gather for the fun of it.  We've played a variety of venues and types of concerts, ranging from seasonal (Christmas or Patriotic themes) to "pops" (not strictly classical, but employing similar forms and instruments) to more high-minded concerts with proper Classical music. 

I happen to generally like the proper classical stuff the best.  In fact, I'm all for making sure to get a little dose of Culture in your day, so with that in mind, I thought I'd share a little video below.  There is not, unfortunately, a recording of our particular group performing this piece, though we have performed it on one very memorable occasion.  However, as this piece holds a very important  place in the Classical repertoire, I scoured YouTube and, happily, managed to locate a video of an excellent performance.  So, for our mutual enrichment, I present Concerto Gross, composed by Robert Hirsch: