[Helen Morrison:] Nietzsche famously said that without music life would be a mistake.

German philosophers tend to exaggerate.

But he did have a point. I know that without music my own life would’ve been incomplete in some fundamental way. Like if I’d had no friends or no memories.

I even tried to be a pianist for a while until I realized just how fragile piano playing really is.

[Helen Morrison:] It’s been said that over the music of Beethoven is spread the twilight of eternal loss and eternal hope. The same goes for life, I suppose. Except for the eternal part.

German composers are good company.

It’s hard to explain how I felt as Henry Cole played that night. What does great music feel like? Like a form of knowledge, maybe, or even wisdom? But it isn’t wisdom of course, nor anything else I can put into words.

The best I can do is to say that it’s somehow about what it feels like to be alive. That music was filled with grief and longing and dogged resolve. And as I listened, I felt suddenly richer, more compassionate. And I wanted to share the moment with the whole world.

I guess the word I’m looking for is gratitude. Gratitude for Schumann, Bach, Beethoven. Gratitude for Henry Cole and all those who celebrate the music of life.

[Helen Morrison:] Some pianists are cerebral, others sentimental. Henry Cole is an existential pianist. He plays with his whole life.

Of course, being existential about anything, can be complicated.

[Henry Cole:] There is a lot to be said, for staying at the surface of things.