Ok, given this morning’s jobs numbers, we need something special for this Friday’s interlude.

In other words, it’s Mozart time.  I was saving him for when we really needed to be reminded of something profoundly beautiful.

The challenge is, of course, what piece to choose.  Huge opportunity costs here.

But this piece, the double concerto for violin and viola, has special meaning to me.  I’ve always loved but it seems to love me too.  I keep running into it.

Once, my wife and I took a much-needed vacation to the beach on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  A day or two into a week of expected relaxing bliss, we were chased away by a hurricane.  We ended up in Virginia somewhere, at some little B&B in the middle of nowhere.

We were driving around on the day we got there, missing the beach, when we stumbled on this beautiful church, a simple, wooden structure with the light streaming in through stained glass.  We walked in, and unbeknownst to us, an orchestra (and a very able one, at that) was practicing this piece for a performance later that evening.  So we sat there, taking in the music, and totally back on track, vacation-wise.

Years before that, when I was a young dude living in New York City, I was riding my bike around Lincoln Center when I noticed all this activity around the outdoor bandshell.  I locked up the bike and went back there only to see Stern and Zuckerman—the very two soloists in this YouTube clip—playing this concerto.

I wonder when I’ll run into it next?

The entrance of the two solo instruments—it’s around 3:07 in this performance—is one of my favorite Mozartean moments.

Peace.  Enjoy.