Songs for the Soul, Session 01 (JB)

[Just Because]

For quite a few years music has been my only effective "spiritual therapy." One quiet afternoon in June 2015, I was getting some of that much needed therapy. After I had finished listening to a particular classical piece by the eclectic California Guitar Trio (an exception, since I'm not usually into classical), I searched YouTube to see if the group had any new videos. I soon saw a "suggested video" in the right-hand column, showing a woman performing that same complex classical piece on another instrument. I wondered how on earth anyone could play that piece on that instrument. So clicked it. Within a minute I was awestruck, speechless, mesmerized. I was even more so when the Fugue began. I couldn't get enough of watching the sincere emotions and intense concentration on her face as she plays. I couldn't get enough of watching her fingers and arms as they perform their flawless ballet moves. Equally as important, I suddenly couldn't get enough of that song. I had fallen in love with it. I had never realized how moving and inspirational it can be for me when performed by an individual or small group instead of a large orchestra.

Without further ado:

Amy Turk, harp - Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - BWV 565 (J.S. Bach)

Transcribed and performed by Amy Turk;
Filmed for acoustical purposes in St. John the Evangelist, Wotton, Surrey, UK.

P.S. Here are just a handful of the (presently) 2,572 comments on that video:

*These days I´m under a big stress. This beautiful interpretation helped me healing my soul. Thank you very much.
*Brilliant. This is the kind of performance that stays with the listener for days. I'm so much in awe that I'm starting to cry. Thanks Amy.
*Only a harp sound that will make you feel like in heaven even if you're in hell.
*Music is definitely not only an art of sound, but also visual!
*It's like your hands are dancing with each other on the strings, you are beautiful and you play so passionately.
*Amazing! Never in a million years would I have thought of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor as playable on the harp. Yet here it is...
*I started watching this video, to see how awkward it is. "Come on, it is only a harp, you cannot play a sophisticated piece such as this toccata and fugue on a harp!" But I was wrong, I'm stunned, amazed. This is just fantastic.
*This is simply amazing. I would have never guessed this piece could be translated so well onto an instrument like a harp, and yet all the passion and intensity was still there. And I love watching her face as she feels the music. I think my facial expressions were mimicking hers. I would love to hear this in person.
*When I saw Toccata and Fugue... on the HARP... I raised a skeptical eyebrow. [...] But... Sheer delight! The delicate melodies come ever more sweetly to life, often leaving me moved to tears. […] Utterly wonderful! THANK you, Amy, for this life-changing performance!
*Tears started to stream down to my cheeks when fugue begun...