Magic of Yanni

Opening music: Nightingale-Yanni.
Opening mood:Reflective.

They say, sometimes when you don't know what you're looking for, but still continue looking, you are likely to find the most interesting of things.

That was true in my case.

Way back during by 10th summer holdidays, I was ramshackling my grandma's cupboard hoping to find something interesting inside. I found a lot of old utensils, some old photographs, necklaces of beads and a few music cassettes..Most of them were Mukesh's Dard bhare geeths.
But there was one cassette which surprised me - "Dare To Dream" by Yanni.

I had not been exposed to the world of western music as yet. So listening to Yanni was like some sort of an eye opener.. The music was so rich.. So many instruments being played in tandem, and how well they all synchronized.. It was like poetry , only without words but sounds..

I do remember most of the songs from that album. There was Once upon a time, So long my friend, A love for life, Face in a photograph, Aria, In the mirror, Felista and few more.. I simply enjoyed it. It was definitely a treat for the ears..

That cassette was quite a rage when I was in First year engineering.. I remember, borrowing the cassette player from Adarsh's room on those rainy evenings,when we could not go out to play, just to listen to Yanni's music.

During my next visit to bangalore, I bought the whole of Yanni's collection.. And it was, trust me , mindblowing ...

Some lovely songs like Keys to Imagination, Nostalgia, Nightingale, One Man's dream.. Songs are like anthems, which will inspire you , and lift your spirits whatever the initial mood be..

When I think of Yanni, I can imagine the music starting off with one piano , and slowly the violins emerge out of nowhere, and then there will be a magical flute, and the drums chip in, with some occasional clap of hands, and a sudden silence with the piano going solo again for sometime, but not for too long.. the violins come along, complementing, filling the gaps,creating a perfect balance between sound and silence.. and then there'll be a long pause.. You'll be waiting and suddenly the music follows as if nothing ever happened.. The pitch slowly rising, the confluence of the instruments, and you find that all the instruments are being played in tandem and there is a crescendo... My god, the experience is simply exhilarating..

It is said, that the ancient Indian mystics,especially the buddhists, used to meditate for hours together, to unlearn and empty their minds of thoughts so that it would be clean and fresh again for a refill.. In my case, the music of Yanni does the same. Switch on the comp, put on the headphones, load the xmms playlist with Yanni , just close your eyes and allow the music to lead the way. You don't need to think. The music creates the thoughts. The images are formed and broken, you see darkness, you'll see flickers of light and all of a sudden a bright beam of light
simply blinds you. This happens when the instruments reach the crescendo. The clinging of cymbals , creates the images of waves crashing against the rocks with great force and then slowly receding..

Whether it's the haunting oriental flute of "Nightingale" creating images of a samurai's sword swiping its way through the bamboo field, or the piano refrains in "In the mirror" reminding you of a wind chime slowly rotating about its axis , each sound fits in so beautifully and yet each one manages to create an identity of its own.

You simply cannot feel sad when you listen to Yanni. Atleast I can't. Either the songs are inspiring you to go ahead and dream big, or they are consoling you when one of your dreams hasn't come true, but they never plunge you into depression nor do they crib about losses.

I am no great connoisseur of music, but this kind of instrumental music makes me happy. Whether it is great or not, simply doesn't matter. Its good enough for me. And I hope in the future, it'll continue to be.

2:45 P.M
3rd April 2006