This week, my husband and I and his parents attended a special piano recital by Stephen Hough. One of the things that I love about my husband is his love and appreciation for beautiful music, especially of the classical type.

On many evenings, after dinner, he puts on some of his favorite symphony and piano concertos and it’s a great way to unwind and relax after a long day. Listening to a piano song through speakers in my living room is nice but nothing can replace real life live music. The cool thing was this recital was not very crowded and so it almost felt like a private recital.

Mr. Hough even stopped and talked to us (and the rest of the audience) about the music and it was so cool to be able to interact with him like that. Especially considering this a man who has played in some of the most elite musical halls and concerts of our time. He explained the music in a way I’d never even thought of before – like a beautiful poem and story about a father’s memory looking back through his children’s childhood.

While he played, I let the music take me far away, to place where my memory and imagination could meet and dance together. It made me remember my own childhood and also gave me a chance to ponder upon the childhoods of our own four children.

I wonder what they will think of when they are older and looking back. What will they remember? What feelings will their childhood memories evoke? What colors would they see in the flashes of their memories? What song would capture this beautifuly, yet fleeting, time of their life?

I watched Mr. Hough’s fingers glide and dance across the keys, eloquently telling me the story of a beautiful childhood. As I listened and watched, I saw my own memories resurfarce under the grave of adulthood. I breathed it in and let my childhood come out and play. Music is the dance of my soul.

Claude Debussy’s Children’s Corner (1908) perfectly puts music to the memory of childhood in a way no words or a movie could on their own. The beautiful painting accompanied with this video depicts a fantasy childhood in a lovely way.

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