Mellow D

The night before, i could not get any sleep. Not because i was perturbed. Just that there was a disquieting quiet in the campus. So i logged on to youtube and came across a melody that made me, for some reason, nostalgic. That's when i realized i had heard it before. It was one of the tunes in an obscure collection that a teacher (non-academic) had once given us to help us concentrate. I was 15 then and my mind was too full of 'activity' to find that 'concentration technique' very useful. But i remember it made me feel a certain way. A way very, very few music compositions make me feel.

The night before, too, i felt that certain way when i heard the piece. 

I googled it and found out that it is the most famous piece of music called 'Canon in D' by German composer Johann Pachelbel. Call me illiterate, but i had never heard his name before. But this post is not a wiki post so i will not delve into the factual/ technical details of it. What amazed me was that of the thousands of music compositions that i have heard, very few have remained with me the way this one has, AND it turns of to be one of the not just most famous or acclaimed, but also most POPULAR (liked by normal people also and not just connoissiers) classical compositions. A composition played not only in concerts but also at weddings! So what was amazing about that? That there probably IS something fundamental about us as human beings,no matter which part of the world we are in, that makes us naturally like certain compositions. I probably knew this fact before, but saw it in action only the night before.

But before i make this a post about music, psychology and ethnicity, which will be like talking about how an alphonso tastes instead of tasting it, i will share some renditions of it with whoever's accidently found this post.

Sit back. Close your eyes. Dream.

Warning : Do not have alcohol in the vicinity. May make you tearful!  (except link no. 5, which some may find kitschy)

1) From London Symphony Orchestra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Af372EQLck&feature=related

2) A beautiful fingerstyle guitar interpretation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pCiCsGVsrw&feature=channel

3) A piano version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSEXefwPpJI&feature=PlayList&p=0D062602C4A5DB71&index=21

4) A celtic/ wedding version!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvtdqPKHk8c&feature=related

and also....

5) A Violation???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWitXo2sgJ0