Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony

So here I am, calmly bopping along some lonely rural two-lane, out in the middle of nowhere, returning from Canandaigua after having the interior of my car detailed.
I hardly ever play the radio. My car has Sirius, but I’m not signed up. Why bother? I’d never play it anyway.
I turned on the radio. It’s tuned to WXXI, the classical-music radio-station out of Rochester (NY) I listen to.
Is it working? Deafening silence.
All-of-a-sudden BLAST! All stops, full volume. I’d recognize that organ-blast anywhere. It’s the finale of the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony.
(That different-coiored text is a “link;” click it with your mouse and your browser will redirect to the YouTube video of the Finale of the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony. You may hafta watch an ad — YouTube is doing that. Otherwise hold onto your hats! Many of my blogs are full of links; look for the vari-colored text.)
I was suddenly transported back 50 years to my alma mater, Houghton College (“HO-tin;” as in “hoe,” not “how” or “who”), south of Rochester.
Classmate Harold Baxter was leading me to his room in town.
Bax knew I was a pipe-organ freak.
“You have to hear this,” he said. “It will knock your socks off.”
He unsleeved the record and put it on his hi-fi turntable. (Remember vinyl records?)
We paddled though the first segments. It’s a long symphony, an orchestral work that happens to include a pipe-organ.
Not very inspiring, but “Don’t worry; here it comes!” BLAST!
Suddenly Baxter was flailing about, eyes closed, conducting the orchestra.
Sweeping arm-movements, cuing the trumpets and cymbal-crashes.
To my humble mind, Baxter’s record didn’t do justice to the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony. You could barely hear the organ.
I never bought the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony for my massive record-collection, mainly because I was always suspicious the organ would be outplayed by the orchestra.
Recent recordings seem to give the organ more prominence. Like what WXXI had been playing.
I had my stroke October 26th, 1993. It was caused by an undiagnosed heart-defect, a Patent Foramen Ovale (“PAT-tint for-AYE-min Oh-VAL-eee”).
Apparently right after you’re born this hole between the upper chambers of your heart, which allows you to use your mother’s oxygen in the womb, is supposed to seal closed.
Well, mine didn’t, nor did Tedi Bruschi (“brew-skee”), linebacker for the New England Patriots. The PFO is fairly common, with no symptoms.
My stroke was fairly serious; it paralyzed my left side, and threw off my speech. A clot had formed in my legs and passed through the PFO and gone to my brain.
My speech’s timing had been thrown off. I was talking too fast, and in a monotone. Sometimes a stroke-victim loses speech altogether, but I hadn’t. I was just trying to talk too fast, and had just returned from an exciting train-chase of a restored railroad steam-locomotive across West Virginia. I was so wired they thought I was worse.
Somewhat recovered, I was returned home, and one day I had on WXXI. “I recognize this,” I thought; “it’s the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony.” I kept listening, and predicted where the organ-blast would occur.
BLAST! Right on cue, despite a stroke I recognized the piece, and could still follow it.
I used to feel Piotr Tšaikovski’s 1812 Overture, what began my appreciation of classical-music, was the most inspiring music ever written.
But now it’s a toss-up. BLAST!

• I had a stroke October 26, 1993, from which I pretty much recovered. Bruschi also recovered, well enough to go back to playing football with the Patriots. He as since retired from football.
• I’m a railfan, and have been since age-2. (I’m 71.)