When I threw out KISS and threw in Mozart

When I was a twelve year old boy the walls in my room were covered from top to bottom with posters of the rock group KISS. If there was the tiniest spot uncovered on the wall, there was shortly covered by an image with KISS.

When I was thirteen I took all posters down – I had discovered of my own, LP record boxes my mother had won or bought, but no one ever listened to as I can remember. When I was still twelve heading towards thirteen, I had fallen totally for the music on those LP collections of the “classical music compilations” of Mozart, Johan Strauss and Chopin.

All posters went down and I read from first page to the end page a huge thick book at the time, with everything about the classical music composers. Their music, list of their compositions and their life in short. I dived in and got amazed and inspired.

When I was thirteen I learned how to juggle with oranges and decided while doing it, to become an artist, painter. I started to dream of going to Paris, France, Rome in italy. To sit at the cafés where all other artists had sat and creating the “big art”.

One thing I early on started to do, and did way up into my late 20´s was to put on a classical record and listen to the music without interruption to the whole LP record. Later CD´s. I can still recommend doing it. To lay down straight on the floor on your back flat out and listen. So much of my own work of art and being artistic have come from that.

I still listening to lots of other types of music. Rock, Jazz, Pop and so forth. And enjoy it as much as classical music.

Classic music as good as it is, is still very much about the interpretation of the score. And when and if comparing the same piece performed by several interpreters, you really see and feel how magical music can be in the right hands. Here is a wonderful piano concerto composed by Rachmaninoff performed by the great pianist Sviatoslav Richter (a favorite).

Here is a you tube clip with him playing. Enjoy!

Stefan Lindblad
Illustrator, artist & graphic designer
www.canvas.nu