"Not too much, or the soul could not sustain it"

After my weekend fling with opera I went through Monday and Tuesday wishing real life were like that, with passion and tenderness and great loves instead of house hunting and craft projects and work deadlines. I thought the cure was to listen to music that wasn’t opera–I pulled out The Song of the Earth, the Missa Solemnis, unaccompanied Bach–but instead of helping I think that gave me Stendhal Syndrome.

So it’s a good thing that going through the blog archives yesterday to find a picture of that jacket, I found this quote from An Equal Music:

Music, such music, is a sufficient gift. Why ask for happiness; why hope not to grieve? It is enough, it is to be blessed enough, to live from day to day and to hear such music–not too much, or the soul could not sustain it–from time to time.

(Related, and probably adding to my music issues this week: Does anyone out there need a semi-professional grade violin? I have mine up for sale; it’s German, and does wonders with gut strings. Email me through my portfolio site in the right sidebar if you want more info.)