Pfpfpfpfpfpfffff to sex. Music is much better!!

Could be you're right, Ludwig. I'm just listening to Mahler's 9th on ABC-FM which is probably the most beautiful and the saddest music ever written - we can argue about that. I first heard it at about the same time as I met my wife, back in the mid-sixties, and now that she is gone, it makes an incredibly deep impression on me, almost traumatic.

I play this little game - imagine you are in solitary confinement, and maybe for ten years (or having to endure a scenic tour of Melbourne): think of all the composers whose names start with A, B, etc. Then think, one by one, of all of the pieces of music by, say, Albinoni, Alcan, etc. Take your time. Ten years - or two hours in Melbourne - would go by in no time.

Back to Mahler :)

*I've got off on Mozart's 39th, a bit of Dvorak, and a Brahms piano recital*

Pffffft to Mozart, Brahms etc.I'll leave them for the old fuddy duddies :)

Music needs rythm and harmonies. Eva Cassidy and KD Lang are great,
but it depends on the moment and the company.

Just yesterday I was out in the paddocks with the buggy, sun shining,
birds tweeting, not hot, not cold, just perfect.

Fleetwood Mac were playing on the Ipod, then along came Michael
Buble and his Christmas album. Sheesh, it felt like Christmas!

Music has played a huge part in my life, and Fleetwood Mac was right up there in the 70's when I first left home and was able to play my music at the ear-splitting volume I loved....

My upbringing included a 'trendy' dad who had a quadraphonic stereo in his car, and used to play The Doors and Pink Floyd at top volume.
My Mum is a very conservative lady who loved classical music and taught us to sing and play the piano.
I loved the sad, romantic Chopin she used to play.

I named my daughter Rhiannon, after the Fleetwood Mac song.
I didn't know until later that the word 'Rhiannon' was Welsh for White Witch!

<< Pffffft to Mozart, Brahms etc.I'll leave them for the old fuddy duddies :) Music needs rythm and harmonies >>

I’m with you there, Yabs.

Now THIS has got rhythm. One of my age-old faves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwqMKf7r7Xg

Dear Ludwig,

It is interesting comparing reading with music and smells.

Music and to a lesser extent smells serve as bookmark or diary entries. Their power lies in their attachment to the experiential aspects of our lives. 

I like Midnight Oil’s music but the song ’Beds are Burning’ immediately evokes an early 80's road trip with a bunch of mates through the South Australian desert. All the cares in the world left behind, windows down, subwoofer (rare in those days) hammering hard, and voices (very croaky from the previous night’s partying) out of tune but loud.

Time and place are instrumental :) in defining the power of a particular piece of music to individuals, just look at some of the earlier posts. 

In years to come when my kids have moved on ’Dog Days’ will always bring back memories of dishes with my daughter.

It talks to a primitive part of us, our ancestors used it to drive away things that might have eaten them or evil spirits that plagued them. If you ever needed an answer as to why teenagers love volume it is right there. If you can't yet legally use other substances to keep the world at bay loud music does a pretty fair job.

But is it as transformative as reading? I would venture no it isn't. I don't think it has the power to completely rejig lives, perspectives, outlooks etc the way literature can.

Ideas gathered through reading can be mulled over, incorporated, built upon, discussed and serve as portals through which to pass and find other streams of thought. One doesn't need to work in front of them to continue the process. To me music doesn't have that power though I could be convinced otherwise.