At the chink: a reflection on music
I see a voice: now will I to the chink, To spy an I can hear my Thisbe’s face. (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act v Scene i).
One of the most painful consequences of losing my hearing was no longer being able to listen to and so to experience music; one of my greatest regrets is that I had not been taught to read a musical score and ‘hear’ it in my mind, as I can still hear words spoken when I read them. Most of the music I am able to recall is, therefore, vocal, nearly all of it associated with hymns whose words and music are so lamentable I would, I think, almost rather have forgotten them! For the rest, I can still remember what it felt like to listen to, say, Bach’s double violin concerti, but I cannot recall the music itself.
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