A Tapestry of Memories

I was listening to Capriccio Espagnol a few days ago and, once again, the music immediately caused me to think of being at Watch Hill on a summer day when I was a kid back in the 1960’s. This is a strange thing since Capriccio Espagnol has nothing to do with the Rhode Island shoreline. It’s a five-movement orchestral suite based on Spanish folk melodies composed by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Perhaps I make this association because the vibrant opening of the first piece, Alborada, reminds me of waves crashing on the shore while the clarinet and violin solos evoke sunlight sparkling on the sea in the afternoon sun. While this interrelatedness I’ve created in my mind might seem far-fetched, alborada means sunrise in English so perhaps it’s not all that fanciful a connection after all. But whimsical or not, it seems there’s a tendency for the mind to weave our experiences together to create a tapestry of memories. These intricate combinations, unique to each of us, identify us as individuals and, at the same time, link us to each other.

East Beach looking toward the Watch Hill Lighthouse