A Life Not Lost

     At last Sunday's matinee concert, as we played the final burnished chords of Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs with soprano Elza van den Heever, a sustained hush lasted a good while before the audience began to applaud.  As we were taking our bow, my stand partner, Charles, pointed out an elderly woman in the fourth row in the orchestra section of the audience.  She looked like she had fallen asleep, head back and mouth open.  But as the applause increased when the soloist and conductor came back on stage for a second bow, the woman did not move.  We could see that she was white as a sheet.  When the ovation had finished and the audience members got up for intermission, the woman still did not move.  An usher was summoned who then called 911.  A short time later, the paramedics arrived and tried to revive her.  A good twenty minutes later, when it was time to start the second half, they were still working.  Finally, someone saw the woman move slightly and then the EMS personnel got her onto a stretcher.  They wheeled her out of the hall and the whole audience applauded as she rolled by, color back in her cheeks.

     Many of us had been afraid that she had passed away.  Some people commented that that is how they would like to leave this earthly life: sitting in a concert hall without a  care in the world, listening to beautiful,  poignant music.  Others thought that dying is a very personal thing and should be experienced in private, surrounded by loved ones.  Either way, I wondered about the act of applauding for the lady.  Was that a rather crass form of expressing relief?  Or perhaps it was good for her to know that everybody cared about her and was happy that she had been revived.

     Great symphonic music can elicit very strong emotions in the listener, feelings that words cannot adequately express.  But it is rare for emotion to surface during an intermission.  In this particular case, the Songs were the last that Richard Strauss wrote.  He was near the end of his life, and our elderly patron, though granted a reprieve, is nearing the end of hers.   We are hopeful she will fully recover and be able to return to the Symphony to hear more evocative and powerful music.