24:

And so, naturally, to Modest Mussorgsky. ELP led me to 'Pictures from an Exhibition,' I did the rest. This was my first ever live piece of classical music. Well, I say that - there must have been other items on the programme that night, but I don't remember any of them. Perhaps my father would remember - he took me to the Music Hall in Aberdeen - my parents were regular attenders (and, as far as I know, still are) at the (R)SNO's concert seasons; I must have used my mother's ticket that night. I presume that they were under Sir Alexander Gibson, but I really only remember the music - the familiar 'Promenade'; the scuttling chickens; the Great Gates of Kiev... I wonder now why I didn't start going more often - that single concert made a strong impression on me. Maybe it just wasn't 'cool' enough; maybe I was too much into too many other things. I missed a lot, though.

(Of course, now I've written this, I remember being taken to see Hephzibah Menuhin at an age when I was still learning piano; so around 10 or 11. The chief memory of that evening, of course, is that I was asked to present Miss Menuhin with her bouquet at the end ('oh, look, there's a presentable child in the front row. Ask him') and my piano teacher, who was also in the audience, didn't recognise me. Just call me Zelig.)