Well, that was embarrassing. I found myself moved after Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra finished Mahler’s Symphony no. 10 (Cooke III version) so, naturally, I stood during the ovation. And nobody else did. And for some reason nothing was moving on the stage. And I sat down again, not entire sure that it was over, even though they’d come to the last pages of the score and I was certain that all of the movements had been played. And then some other people started standing and finally I got over myself and stood again only to feel a jolt shooting down my sciatic nerve. And then my knee started to get really sore. And I started worrying that I wouldn’t be able to walk to my car to go home. Thankfully, I stretch some and was able to walk out of there with everyone else. For some odd reason, my big toe on that side still hurts, but I’ve done some stretches at home now and everything seems fine. Fortunately, I have a chiropractic appointment for Monday. Yeesh! Anyway, clearly the lesson here is to have the courage of one’s convictions and not to back down so easily in the face of uncertainty.

The music, though, as I said was moving. I’ve only heard this piece a couple of times in recording and even though it was most likely one of Deryck Cooke’s performance versions each time, I’m not entirely sure. The first two movements had my mind resting in a very pastoral scene but when the third came in with its sardonic tone, I found myself taken on a very moody ride. It really was wonderful.