There is music that summons memories of the past. When you listen to this music, the past scenes you forgot and come back to come to life again. For me, Schubert's 'Ave Maria' is such music. Listening to this song reminds me of my father who passed away a few years ago.

In the spring of 2013, I used to play music on the hospital bed for my father, who was suffering from cancer. Even a few days before my death, I was playing songs that my father liked. Italy Cancone, opera aria, pop song, go ... … No genre. But when Schubert's 'Ave Maria' was played, my father suddenly struggled.

"Are you old?"

I didn't hear what you said at first. When I asked again, my father said, "Are you old?" You did. Alas. Come to think of it… … He composed Schubert, Kunodo and Abe Maria. I used to be confused as to whether this is Guno or Schubert when 'Ave Maria' flows as a child. At that time, my father, who told me not to be confused, was asking if this 'Ave Maria' was Abe Maria by Guno or Abe Maria by Schubert. When I answered 'It's Schubert', a laugh came out unconsciously. My father also nodded slightly with a faint smile.

I quietly listened to Schubert's 'Ave Maria' with my father. Looking back, I think that was the last conversation I had with my conscious father. Dad later fell into a coma and died after a few days. Even at the funeral, I continued playing Schubert's 'Ave Maria'. I thought my father would be listening.
[▶ Tenor Luciano Pavarotti's Schubert 'Ave Maria', a three-tenant LA concert live in 1994] A

few months after his father passed away, a duo performance by violinist Richard Yongjae O'Neill and pianist Lim Dong-hyuk was held in the Seoul Arts Center. After not seeing the performance for a while, I went to the concert hall to recharge energy with the performances of two young artists after a long time. The performance was really good. However, an unexpected situation happened on the stage of Angkor.

They started playing Schubert's Ave Maria. Even before I heard a few measures, I began to cry. Memories related to the father have been pushed like a wave on the 'Ave Maria' melody. I tried to endure it because there were other people, but it was useless. I didn't force myself to hold back my tears, but I just left myself to the music. Would you say that I had a time to remember my father again and I had time alone. After shedding tears, my heart became red and light again.

I had a chance to interview Soprano Cho Soo-mi ahead of Mother's Day last year. In an interview, Cho Soo-mi told her that in 2006, when her father died, she returned home and tried to attend a funeral, but she told her that her mother was so full that she had a recital at the Chateau Theater scheduled in Paris. She said, "My father in the sky will be more pleased that you are performing in Paris, keeping your promises with the audience."
While looking for the current performance of Cho Soomi, I also met Schubert's 'Ave Maria'. Cho Soo-mi sang 'Ave Maria' with this performance encore song. He also told the audience frankly that he had performed without attending his father's funeral. Cho Soo-mi, who sings 'Ave Maria', a song dedicated to her deceased father, was wet. I also became frustrated with this song. It was a song that reminded me of my deceased father.

[▶ Jo
Soo Mi 'Ave Maria' during the live performance of the Paris Chalet Theater in 2006] ( Jun Soomi sings here to keep the promise to the audience instead of attending the father's funeral. To the father.)
Richard Yongjae O'Neill came to Korea last week. Richard Yongjae O'Neill had a two-week quarantine period after entering Korea to perform in Korea. As soon as the containment was released, the place I found was Myeongji Hospital in Goyang, where the Corona 19 ward was located. He held a small concert in the lobby of the hospital saying he would like to comfort the medical staff dedicated to Corona 19. I went back to the hospital to cover this concert, and I met my father's memory seven years later. Richard Yongjae O'Neill played Schubert's 'Ave Maria'.

Richard Yongjae O'Neill seemed to have a special impression that he played for the first time in a few months in front of the audience, and that the venue was a hospital. His mother, a Korean war orphan adopted to the United States, is said to be fighting cancer. He said he had a lot of time in the hospital, and he glanced, saying he was very grateful for the staff's dedication to caring for the patient. All the songs were like that, but the 'Ave Maria' that he played came with a really desperate sound and a thrilling impression.

Alas. I tried to endure this time, but tears poured out. I was standing in the hospital lobby played by Richard Yongjae O'Neill, but my memory was back next to my father's hospital bed seven years ago. Now Schubert 'Ave Maria' has become an inseparable song from his father's memory. What's more, Myeongji Hospital, played by Richard Yongjae O'Neill, has been hospitalized several times in his father's life, so he feels more like it.
After the show, I had a chance to greet Richard Yongjae O'Neill for a while, but I was very grateful for the warm sympathy I heard why I was in tears. It was a little embarrassing to pour tears out of my personal memories, but thanks to him, I was able to remind myself of my father who was faintly sinking under his memory in a busy day.

'Ave Maria' is a sad song that reminds me of my father's absence, and it is also a thankful song that reminds me of my fading father's memory. I miss people who only think of music! The power of music to summon memories of the past into the present in an instant! Do you have music with this story too? What is it?