When I was a kid my parents were the kind of mod, hep, happening type young marrieds who prided themselves on their stereo setup and their record collection. I was allowed, nay encouraged, to play their vinyl–folk music, swing, show tunes, the lot. We had a multi disc Treasury of Light Classical Music that I played all the time, especially Saint-Saens’ “Danse Macabre.” I don’t know why I loved that particular piece of music so much but I’d listen to it over and over until I had it note perfect in my head.
Eventually, those vinyl discs got so worn they were completely unplayable, so I began collecting various versions of the “Danse Macabre,” but they never sounded right to me–something was always “off.” No version I found (and I’ve listened to probably a hundred different versions and have maybe 25 or so around the house in various formats) ever sounded like it was “supposed” to, when I’d check it against my memory. The violin wasn’t tuned right, the pace was too staccato, the instruments were not what I was expecting, it wouldn’t have the richness I remembered. After forty odd years I was beginning to think I had a chimera in my head and that my sense memory had gone way past its shelf life!
So just today I located a lossless FLAC version of the piece–it was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, check… Eugene Ormandy conducting, check… from 1964–okay, right then I got a little excited. Long story short, when I played it–it sounded RIGHT! Damned if I didn’t just find a master copy of the exact recording of the “Danse Macabre” that I listened to so often as a young child.
Wow, just… wow. My memory is exact, there are all the little odd grace notes I was expecting and it sounded perfect. I’m in a geeky little chunk of heaven here, shaking my head at how fortuitous life can be sometimes.
Am I alone, or has anyone else been gifted by the internet with an old and cherished memory?
