Vocalise
Sergey Rachmaninoff wrote Vocalise in 1912 for soprano and piano. The soprano part has no words, just a single vowel continuously sung throughout this short, six-minute piece. This masterpiece has been transcribed into different arrangements in which piano, violin, or cello replace the voice solo. But I have to admit, Vocalise makes you appreciate the best musical instrument of all, the human voice.
Rachmaninoff’s genius is that only one vowel, in combination with music, can tell so many stories. It does not just make you feel; like all great art, it sends your imagination on an incredible journey (if you allow it). Though you and I will hear the same music, it will draw very different images in our minds.
Vitaliy Katsenelson is the CEO at IMA, a value investing firm in Denver. He has written two books on investing, which were published by John Wiley & Sons and have been translated into eight languages. Soul in the Game: The Art of a Meaningful Life (Harriman House, 2022) is his first non-investing book. You can get unpublished bonus chapters by forwarding your purchase receipt to bonus@soulinthegame.net.