In
recent weeks, I’ve been thinking of our relationship to our natural world, and
in particular, how we have lost so much knowledge about how nature “works.” This,
combined with what seems to be some sort of modern fastidiousness about what is
“ugly” in nature, and misplaced fear (born of ignorance) about animals and
natural phenomena, underlies much destructive behavior. The results of this
disconnect are really distressing. Our common knowledge about the natural world
has evaporated.
Reflections and meditations on music and singing, birds in my life, books and literature, reading, art and art history, history and humanity, words and writing, and things that catch my eye or cause me to wonder.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
"A fresh seed"
“A
new word is like a fresh seed sown on the ground of the discussion.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein, Viennese
philosopher (26 Apr 1889-1951)
Labels:
Quotations,
Wittgenstein Ludwig,
Words and Language
Sunday, April 24, 2016
“Was ever anything so civil?”
“What
on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of
coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
—Anthony
Trollope, English author (1815-1882), from The
Warden
Oh,
how I love Trollope’s Barsetshire series! I knew nothing of it when, years ago,
I picked the slim and slight-seeming novella The Warden, the first of the six novels that comprise the series. I
knew The Warden to be about a
choirmaster in the Anglican Church in the mid-19th century, but
I never imagined what a wonderful world it would open up to me. Each of the novels
is wonderful, though The Warden and Barchester Towers will always be my
favorites. And of course of course, the BBC dramatization known as
The Barchester
Chronicles is perfect – perfect in its casting, costumes, settings, and
most of all for capturing Trollope’s razor-sharp satire of the Church, tempered
by many comic moments and a tender affection for the characters that people
these novels. And any dramatization that brings together Alan Rickman, Nigel
Hawthorne, Geraldine McEwan, and Donald Pleasance has got to be worth
watching.
My
pleasure in the Barsetshire novels led me on to the Palliser series, and to
several other novels in Trollope’s oeuvre,
all of which I read (and re-read) with great pleasure. Someday I will read them
all.
In
honor of Trollope’s 201st birth anniversary, which is today, April
24, I will watch the Barchester
Chronicles again as I prepare dinner.
Friday, April 22, 2016
Renewing their Vows
Almost
exactly two years ago, I wrote about the feeding rituals that Northern
Cardinals display in the spring. Cardinals mate for life, and each spring they use
specific feeding behaviors to refresh and strengthen their pair bonds. Read the
whole thing here: http://quodlibet-sarah.blogspot.com/2014/04/to-refresh-and-strengthen.html
This
year, the Cardinals that nest in and around our yard have been displaying this
behavior since January – much earlier than I’ve seen before. Here’s a pretty
pair that was having a breakfast date on our deck this morning:
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Choir Moon
Choir Moon © Quodlibet 2016 All rights reserved |
I’m always in a rather exalted state after choir rehearsals. Not exalted as in above it all, not elevated, not superior, but exalted as in expanded, brightened, and feeling somewhat unearthly. Not unearthly as in heavenly, but unearthly as in not of the earth.
“No net ensnares me”
Charlotte Brontë was born on this date in 1816 – exactly 200 years ago. That’s reason
enough to write about one of my favorite novels, her Jane Eyre. Since I first read it at about the age of twelve, Jane Eyre has been a sort of touchstone
in my life. I’ve probably read it twenty times or more, and in fact I enjoyed
another survey of its pages just a few months ago.
Labels:
Books and Reading,
Brontë Charlotte,
Quodlibet,
Quotations
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Gaze Not on Swans
April is National Poetry Month, so here's a poem. But why limit your enjoyment of poetry to any particular month, or day, or hour? Find a poem to enjoy any time it pleaseth thou so to do.
Encore!
[During the time when I was
unable to update this blog, I set aside many drafts, topics, and items of interest
to write about later. Among the items I saved were responses that I had posted to
ChoralNet in response to questions from other members of that forum. Here’s one
of those Q&A items, edited slightly for publication here.]
***************************************************************************
Question: How important/necessary is it to have an encore
prepared for a choral concert? We have a
tradition of closing our Christmas concert with a piece about peace, which is usually
fairly quiet and contemplative. I have difficulty
finding a suitable encore, and sometimes wonder if it’s really necessary. Is it perhaps better to send the audience out
with peaceful sounds, and just conclude with the applause and the presentation of
flowers, etc.? Would the audience feel cheated? What is your practice and your experience?
My Answer:
Scientists “Discover” Forgotten Human Knowledge
Excerpts
from a research summary published in the
Washington Post:
Living closer to nature is better for your health, new research suggests — and may even extend your life.
Labels:
Human Nature,
Knowledge,
Nature,
Science,
Thinking About...
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
Resting Shopping Face
The
other day as I was doing the grocery shopping, I moved up and down the aisles, deep
in thought about several pressing problems – some personal, some professional,
some musical. I was by myself, and busy with my thoughts about shopping (check
prices, ingredients) and the various issues on my mind.
Untitled
I
guess I’ve reached the point in my life where it’s easier, and sometimes a
better choice, to stop caring so much about things. What is gained by investing
emotionally or intellectually? What difference is made? Not much that I can
see. Investment implies a return, and where there is no return, or where there
is a negative result, it is wiser not to invest.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Not Excited
I finally have gotten the strength to confront this blog and delete delete delete anything related to my association with certain choral ensembles and their directors, since it just makes me sad.
Some of the essays are, I think and hope, valuable in and of themselves, so I've edited many of them to delete references to those ensembles and persons.
Ooh, just found this in my draft folder - what the hell. It's a few years old, but it's a perfect example of how even the highest standards for a choir mean nothing if there is no follow-up to hold people accountable. And how the double standards and inconsistency can breed discontent and resentment among those who do invest in doing the right thing. It used to matter to me, I guess. Funny how angry I was, when in the end it did not matter at all.
Some of the essays are, I think and hope, valuable in and of themselves, so I've edited many of them to delete references to those ensembles and persons.
Ooh, just found this in my draft folder - what the hell. It's a few years old, but it's a perfect example of how even the highest standards for a choir mean nothing if there is no follow-up to hold people accountable. And how the double standards and inconsistency can breed discontent and resentment among those who do invest in doing the right thing. It used to matter to me, I guess. Funny how angry I was, when in the end it did not matter at all.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Everybody goes Awww!
Why
do I so love the paintings of Jackson Pollock? I suppose it doesn’t really
matter why, only that I do.
Storytelling and Religion
Yesterday, in the context
of writing about Galileo, I explored a few ideas about free thought. This
morning, when browsing through some unfinished essays, I found the following
fragment, which seems substantial enough to publish on its own. I wrote this a
few years back in response to an online discussion about how religion consists
merely of stories but relies on the ability (?) of people to accept the stories
as real.
Labels:
Commentary,
Religion,
Science,
Thinking About...
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Free Thinking
It
was on this date in 1633, April 12, that the Italian astronomer, mathematician,
engineer and philosopher, Galileo Galilei (1564-1662) was brought to trial by
the Inquisition. Of course, Galileo’s heliocentric theories, observations, and assertions
undermined the geocentric perspective that had originated with interpretations of the Bible, so the
Roman Catholic Church couldn’t allow that sort of free-thinking.* He was
eventually found guilty of heresy and was forced to spend the remainder of his
long life under house arrest.
English
novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) offered this observation: “If
Galileo had said in verse that the world moved, the inquisition might have let
him alone.”
*
Think for a moment, about that concept – free
thinking. If our thinking is not free, what is it? Bound? Constricted?
Limited? Why would anyone choose to
be limited in thought, in the exercise of the brain, the act that most
profoundly defines us as individuals? To what end? Religions that suppress and punish free thought are dangerous and anti-human. Where would we be today without the benefits of ideas from the scientists, poets, artists, musicians, humanists, leaders, and regular people who have enriched, enlightened, and elevated our lives?
Portrait
of Galileo Galilei (1636) by Justus Sustermans (1587-1681). This is a copy by
Niccolo Cecconi (1835-1902) of Sustermans’ original, which had been painted
during the period of Galileo’s house arrest. Sustermans’ portrait hangs in the Uffizi
Gallery in Florence; Cecconi’s version is held by the National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, London.
Labels:
Galileo Galilei,
Hardy Thomas,
History,
Poetry,
Religion,
Thinking About...
Monday, April 11, 2016
Storm
The
rain rained
The
wind wound
The
night blew
With
a blowing sound
What
did I fear
In
the blowing night?
The
darkest dark? or
The
flash of light?
Much
is hidden
In
the dark
Much
revealed
By
lightning’s spark
Though
darkness
yet
appeals to me
the
day reveals
what
I must see
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Subtle Lunacy
Did I write this?
While clearing and
cleaning and classifying this afternoon I found a folder marked “Miscellaneous”
– oh, that label is like unexploded ordinance, unearthed while cleaning the
yard after a long and messy winter. I opened the folder, afraid to the point of
stomach-churning nausea at what I might find inside
Poetry.
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