Sal Hears Heavenly Music

Lovers of choral music should rush over to the Cleveland Museum of Art by June 9th to experience the incredible Forty Part Motet.  After discovering it on a Mothers' Day outing, I decided that I must return with Sal.  I thought it would be best to go early in the day, as I was hoping to get some unpopulated photos -- and I invited a musical friend to come along, too, because I knew she would enjoy the Motet.  And I was right!  She did!

We got to the Museum shortly after it opened, but alas, we were not alone with the Motet.   A few early birds were already there enjoying the celestial melody.  It took some patience to get a few photos without people in them.  (In other words, I had to wait while people stood in or walked through my shots.  A lesson in slowing down, which I definitely need.)

This sign explains what the Motet is.  If you can't read it -- the writing is obviously quite small -- click on the link above for a nice description.  (No need for me to reinvent the wheel.)

I would never consider touching any of the works of art in the museum or putting Sal on them, but after some thought, I decided that resting her on top of some of the speakers would be okay, so I proceeded to do so.  (My apparently flawed logic was that the music itself was the art.  The speakers were just the way the art was being conveyed to the listeners, so were not intrinsically valuable, and could be touched.)  As I was taking this picture, a guard approached me and told me that I was not allowed to put Sal on top of the speakers.  Oops!

After being told that Sal was uke-non-grata on the speakers, I put her on the bench in the center of the room and took some pictures of her enjoying the music surrounding her.

As you can see, it was not possible to get any photos of the room occupied only by art -- unless you consider each human a work of art, too.  It's amazing to sit or stand in the center and hear the music surround you -- and to walk around and listen a bit to each individual voice coming out of each individual speaker.  This is not something you glance at and move on.  People stay a long time enjoying the immersive experience.

As we left the room to stroll through the museum in the short time we had remaining (I had to go to work in the afternoon), we saw another interesting view of the Motet.  Had to take a few more shots of Sal there.

We saw lots of interesting things, but I didn't want to get into any more trouble, so I kept Sal and the camera in their respective cases.  Couldn't resist taking a mummy shot, though!  No flash, of course!