Music Comes to Me, Even Though I Never Had the Chance to Study It August 20, 2026 (Thursday), Reiwa 8

Recently, I have been listening more often to Fritz Kreisler's "Liebesfreud" and "Schon Rosmarin."

When I listened to the gentle and lively music of "Schon Rosmarin," I suddenly remembered a trip I took to Vienna many years ago.

I traveled to Vienna alone as part of a tour group. While I was there, I rode in a horse-drawn carriage.

I no longer remember whether the carriage was meant for two people or four, or exactly how the pricing worked. But I clearly remember that I rode alone.

I did not have much time, so rather than waiting for other people and sharing the carriage, I decided to pay more and ride by myself.

I remember thinking:

"Riding in a horse-drawn carriage in a historic city like this may be something I will only do once in my life."

So I did it.

Decades later, listening to Kreisler's music brought that memory back to me.

Music is a strange and wonderful thing.

I was born and raised in Japan.

When I was a child, I took piano lessons. But there were children who had started learning when they were very young, and naturally they were much better than I was. I felt that there was a wall between them and me. I also felt that the teacher treated some children differently.

Even as a child, I remember wondering if this was somehow connected to differences in family wealth.

A piano is a large instrument. You need enough space to keep one at home, and continuing lessons also requires money.

When I became an adult, I once thought about having my children learn the violin. But that did not continue for very long either.

Later, when I was working as a high school teacher, I became the advisor for the koto club. I had opportunities to talk with koto teachers, but because of my work, I never had enough time to seriously learn the instrument myself.

String instruments are not necessarily easy to start learning later in life, either.

Now I play the taisho koto a little.

Looking back, I think I have always loved music.

But there was a fairly large gap between loving music and actually being able to learn an instrument.

I especially felt that gap with classical music.

Could your family afford an instrument?

Did you have enough space at home?

Could you start learning when you were young?

Could your family afford expensive lessons?

These things could determine whether or not you had the opportunity to encounter music.

On the other hand, when I was teaching high school, school festivals were sometimes completely dominated by bands.

I remember girls copying songs by Princess Princess and performing them, while large groups of boys gathered to watch and cheer.

Our job as teachers was sometimes less about enjoying the music and more about controlling the crowds so that no accidents or chaos would occur.

That was also part of my own musical life.

Classical music, popular songs, rock music, school bands, the taisho koto - they are all different.

But they all have one thing in common: they can move people's hearts.

Now that I am 68, I feel differently about music than I did when I was younger.

I no longer think very much about things like:

"I wish I had started learning when I was a child."

"I wish I had been wealthy enough to have a piano."

"I wish I had been able to learn the violin."

Instead, I can simply listen to music that happens to be playing and think:

"I like this."

Then I may start wondering:

"I want to hear this piece again."

"Who composed it?"

"Why did they write it?"

"What was the world like when this music was created?"

And from there, the world of music keeps expanding.

I also have a small folding toy piano that I originally bought for my grandchild. In the end, my grandchild stopped using it, and it became mine.

I can play a few notes on it.

I can also play simple pieces on the taisho koto.

And that alone is enjoyable.

I do not have to play beautifully.

I do not need to own a professional instrument.

I do not have to take lessons from a teacher.

I have come to think that music does not belong only to people who perform it.

There is also a whole world of music for people who simply listen.

And today, thanks to the Internet and AI, there are many more doors into that world than there used to be.

When I was younger, classical music sometimes felt like something that belonged to a distant world.

But now, I can simply hear a piece playing in the dining room at my residence and think:

"I like this."

That can be the beginning.

If it is a piece by Kreisler, I can learn about Kreisler.

I can learn about Vienna.

And then I may suddenly remember riding in that horse-drawn carriage in Vienna many years ago.

Music becomes connected with memories from my own life.

When I think about it that way, perhaps I am not someone who "never had the chance to learn music."

Perhaps I am someone who has encountered many different kinds of music throughout a long life, and who has only now learned to listen to music through my own feelings and my own ears.

Music comes to me, even though I never had the chance to study it.

And now, I am finding music that makes me think, in my own way:

"I like this."

And I think that is enough.

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#ClassicalMusic
#FritzKreisler
#SchonRosmarin
#Liebesfreud
#Vienna
#MusicInEverydayLife
#TaishoKoto
#Piano
#MusicAndLife
#EnjoyingLifeAt68