Howard Popeck:
I exist partly because of Tchaikovsky’s 4th, 5th and 6th Symphonies (Vladimir Ashkenazy), and The Who playing 5.15 (from Quadrophenia) and Christine Collister sing ‘Two Time Tango’ of the Live 94 CD, and, and……
The point being for me at least that while listening to music is NOT a validation of civilised behaviour (classical music played for the Gestapo dignitaries in Concentration Camp Orchestras, US Airforce pilots listen to Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In the Wind’ when piloting their F4 Phantoms back from a bombing run in North Vietnam, and so on) being two instances from many, it can at least prove to be some salvation for the civilised.
In times of despair, which I suffer from occasionally, but not currently, I turn to my first love. Music. I cannot recommend the art form highly enough. And I make no apologies for lumping The Who in with Tchaikovsky in the same sentence. Both do it for me. But they do it in different ways.
