Musical Peaks, Part III

Musical Orgasms

As I got older I had a few groups of friends, each unique in many ways, including their taste in music. One of these groups, consisting of three boys, Arash, Geza and Michael, was particularly strong in the music spectrum. They were delighted discovering that I listen to music the same way as they do, called it a rarity, and so the four of us would not only discuss and exchange music but share in the listening as well.

Listening to music was not something done by the way, while doing other things. It was a dedicated surrendering to the music. Each song played was a unique marvel of human creation, which had our complete and undivided attention.

Geza had his personal classification of musical orgasms, by type. The term orgasm didn’t have a sexual connotation, but rather identified the variety of exalting states of body and mind inspired or brought on by a particular musical piece.

I don’t remember all the types of orgasms anymore, but I do remember when he introduced one of his classmates to me, saying “His name is so-and-so, he always likes classic orgasms.” That meant he liked the steady climax, like in Siouxsie and the Banshees‘ “Rhapsody”, for instance, or Ravel’s Boléro. Such a preference to only one style of musical orgasm was seen as a common limitation among human listeners, almost to be expected.

Finding others who had an aural spectrum as wide as we did, appreciating various climactic approaches, turned out to be quite unrealistic. In other words, that particular group was never expanded on.

Part 4: The Quest for Musical Souls

Musical Peaks: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6