Life on Three-Quarter Time

Last night Suzanne surprised us with tickets to hear the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden in the large golden concert hall of the Musikverein. They were standing room tickets, some of the best in the house, I'm convinced. Where the true music lovers lurk.

We'd been walking around all day but it didn't matter. I felt like I was floating with the music. Because I didn't book the tickets I wasn't sure of the program. But with the first three notes I knew it was the waltzes from Der Rosenkavalier. To hear such music in such a place gave me chills. It brought everything about Vienna together.

It is life on three-quarter time, the life force meter, a swirling, dizzying cadence. It is how I want to be now. A little unsure of myself, spinning and twirling and not letting go. It is not the surety of common time, 4/4. Or the breathlessness of 2/4, split time. It is the emphasis on the first beat, ONE, two, three, TWO, two, three. On what is important, knowing the rest will follow. And the waltzes of Der Rosenkavalier are the waltz in its grandest, most imposing form. A perfect metaphor for Vienna.