A Symphony of Love
By Dr. Charles D. Schmitz and Dr. Elizabeth Schmitz
"the marriage doctors" and Authors of the Book
Golden Anniversaries: The Seven Secrets of Successful Marriage
(Available at Amazon.com) .
Tonight, we heard the sounds of love! Over the years we have seen love, felt love, heard about love, and been in love. But tonight, we heard the sounds of love!
We heard love tonight through the magnificent sounds of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the second oldest symphony orchestra in the United States of America. Former Maestro, and now Conductor Laureate, Leonard Slatkin conducted the Symphony tonight – a homecoming of sorts. Leonard spent 25 years with the orchestra before becoming conductor of the National Symphony in Washington, DC. Tonight from the podium and following the encore after three standing ovations, Maestro Slatkin said “ . . . it feels good to be home again!” The audience obviously adored the Maestro, and the feeling was clearly reciprocated by him.
But how you say does this have anything to do with love? Our response – it has everything to do with love! The beautiful sounds we heard tonight were about joy. They were inspiring. They were heart pounding. They gave you cold chills. They made you feel good all over. They sounds we heard from this magnificent orchestra tonight were the sounds of love. The reciprocal relationship between orchestra and conductor was a clear demonstration of the power of love.
Music has a way to touch your heartstrings. It has a way to make your heart sing. Music, perhaps more than anything else, has a way to magically transform your body and soul to a place of love, peace, and serenity. Tonight, we heard the sounds of love. We experienced the throbbing pulse you feel every time someone you love walks into the room or into your life.
For many years, we have viewed a symphony orchestra as a metaphor for love. Every player has a part to play. No one player is more important than the other. Each person playing an instrument must play his or her part. When one doesn’t, or when they play it badly, the music written by the composer suffers. Beautiful sounds become noise. Harmonic structures sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. But when each player plays his or her part to perfection you hear lovely music, like we did tonight.
Which brings us to the point of all this. Tonight at the symphony concert we experienced a special moment. We saw a full house of people at magnificent Powell Symphony Hall in St. Louis, Missouri, fall in love tonight. The conductor was extraordinary, the orchestra played wonderfully, and the audience responded with love, affection, and admiration for both. Love was in the air. You could feel it. You could sense it. You could hear it.
Following the final standing ovation, exultation and joy was present everywhere. It was like love. It was amazing. We heard the sounds of love tonight and it felt good.