There used to be a CBC Radio program called “I Hear Music”. The host discussed and demonstrated the histories of various genres and their interconnections.

One of the standout episodes for me was the relationship between operatic forms, especially Wagnerian, and certain heavy metal forms. At the time, the community band I was playing in was rehearsing something by Wagner and I was having the same problem I always had with Wagner: I couldn’t find the music. I knew it was there because the music is always there, but I just couldn’t find it. And unlike previous exposure to playing Wagner, I couldn’t get away with just being technically correct with “buried” parts because I had a quite exposed passage that had to be music, not just notes in the right places.

I had enjoyed the stuff in my son’s metal collection, so after listening to that episode, I went back to that collection with new ears. What I learned there helped me find not just the music in the piece we were rehearsing, but all the other Wagner I hadn’t understood and more besides.