I have had an ear for classical music since childhood. No doubt that was because my parents listened to it, although my sister has never been all that keen. It also appears that I come from an artistic family, as everyone can paint or has musical ability. This has carried though to everyone in three generations. There was no musical training however in my parental home.
I can only think of four stories my mother tells about my very young years. One which she still repeats often is the fact that when the Trout Quintet by Franz Schubert was played, my parents would ask me in German; "What is that music?"
"Those are the fishes by Schubert", I replied.
Later at age twelve I would sit with my father in the evenings and listen to classical music. My favourite was dances by Franz Schubert, which would always stir deep emotions.
Later, I really wanted a piano, which I finally got before age sixteen. Although it was too late to become a virtuoso, I learned quickly and could play grade five pieces within 6 months. I also started writing music.
I never had any theory training but taught myself to write music. When I read that Franz Schubert could write without a piano, that is what I trained myself to do. To hear the notes and write them on a staff.
During early adulthood I wrote a few waltzes in the style of Franz Schubert. I wrote a song making fun of an aquaintance and seriously applied myself to learning sonata form. I got back into writing music in my early forties. There was composing software on a computer which I bought. I emailed two of my compositions to a friend and she was impressed. Later she told me that she thought that in a previous lifetime I was one or several of the great composers. She said "but I won't tell you who."
"Oh you mean Franz Schubert?" I asked.
"How did you know?" she asked in amazement.
That is much of the explanation of what this site is about. I could add a lot more in terms of personality traits, but currently this site consists of a series of comparisons of portraits of people who lived one, two or three hundred years apart. Each page also features one of my short compositions, and where possible a photo of the beautiful lady who inspired me to write it.
