Good Classical Music!

Classical music is not one of my favourite genres, but I have to say that sometimes I will hear a piece somewhere and it will touch me.

I remember a few months ago, I was round the house of a friend of mine. He'd been through a rough time lately but he'd recently bought an upright piano, which he told me he could play.

I didn't hear him play it until one day I heard beautiful music coming from another room to which I was in. I walked in and there he was. He played me about five pieces wonderfully; all were Bach.

I'd never experienced the privilege of being the sole audience member of a pianist before. I was very moved.

Anyway, you may have heard Saint-Saens "Le Carnival Des Animaux". Sections from it often get used for advertisements on the television. My favourite section, "Aquarium" was recently used in one of the trailers for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (excellent film by the way!).

I first heard it in primary school, many years ago. We had a very good teacher who was great at facilitating music sessions and she played us the full "Le Carnival Des Animaux" - section by section, and asked us to write down what they made us think of as we listened to them.

She didn't give us the names of the sections. They are of course all named by the animal they represent. For most of them, there was a wide range of answers. But for "Aquarium", about 90% of the class had put "fish" or the sea.

I loved this piece of music then and I love it now.

Have a listen, and feel free to listen to the other sections of the song. You've gotta love his sense of humour - "Pianists"!