If music be the food of thought, play on…

A lot of writers use recorded music as a soundtrack for writing. Most of the story I just finished for the upcoming anthology, LACE AND BLADE (edited by Deborah Ross for Norilana Books) was written to Villa-Lobos’ “Bachianas Brasileiras” (SF Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas), but live music does even more. A few years ago, Jennifer Tifft hooked me on going to the San Francisco Symphony with her, and when she moved to Arizona (sniff), lwood picked up the other ticket. I quickly discovered that I had to take a notebook with me, because invariably, sitting there (in balcony seats behind the stage, so one is practically IN the orchestra), bathed in sound, gets the creative juices flowing even better than going for a vigorous walk.

Last night was the first of this season’s concerts for me. Since Lorrie is off at the Nordic Knitting conference in Seattle (about which I am sure she will tell you all), and my husband has a cold, I was looking for someone else to use the second ticket, and was astonished when my grand-daughter Arael volunteered. I suppose I shouldn’t have been–off and on, she has studied piano, clarinet and guitar, but two Beethoven pieces and a Brahms symphony are not exactly the “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”. But after a quick trip to Ross to find her a skirt (she having grown out of everything except her blue jeans), we BARTed across the Bay.

It was an excellent evening. She really liked being able to see what was happening in the orchestra, especially the pianist (Jeremy Denk, doing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #1, and piano sounds *so* much better live). I got out my notebook, and by the time the Concerto and the *King Stephen* overture were finished, had figured out the plot to a possible Gold Rush period YA book that my son Ian and I are considering. The Brahms went on a bit long for her– the kind of lush, enveloping sound that picks you up and carries you away. *That* one gave me a plot for a new Avalon book.

So I think the price of the tickets well spent. Now I’m looking for other things to take Arael to, and maybe see if the boys want to come along. Hmm, I wonder if I can deduct the price of tickets as a business expense on my taxes?