I had been listening to music most of the day, though only in the background. It brought me pleasure, though I didn't really notice it. I had much to do and music filled the blank spaces. But it was not satisfying. Not in the way music can immerse you in its spell.
I needed a break from a long day of staring at the computer screen, pecking at the keyboard, reading words. Music Room One beckoned me.
The lights lowered. Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Orchestra immersed me in the stirring opening of the Mahler Third. The solitary horn sang its melody, answered by two thumps of the drum and I was hooked. Hardly background music.
There is a time and place for all music, background or immersive. But few times, that are not live, rival the quality of a high end music system; nearly indescribable to those who have never felt its power of engagement.
And for the fortunate few, we have this magic at our fingertips.
