Whoops! Not us, who seem fine, but
the U.S., which after 4 horrific years of the Lying Occupant Psychopath's "administration," seems to be on the rebound of truly Making America Great as Before and Beyond, thanks to Joe Biden, the American people, and
tragically,
Putin's atrocic (OK not a word yet, but atrocious is not strong enough) war on Ukraine.
Nothing like horror,
one supposes,
to bring
people
together --
even if
one doubts
the sincerity of
certain opportunists on the right,
but it's a start.
Compose
On a Scale of 1 to 10, Op. 388 (2022) --
title bounced off of Gyorgy Kurtag (b. 1926) - Játékok (Games) for Piano, Book 1: LIX. Scale from One to Eight --
going for a 10-equal tone mode, roughly as
0 C C
120 C# + .2# C 3/4#
240 D + .4# D 1/4#
360 E - .4b E 1/4b
480 F - .2b F 1/4b
600 F# F#
720 G + .2# G 1/4#
840 G# + .4# A 1/4b
960 Bb - .4b B 3/4b
1080 B - .2b B 1/4b
1200 C C
mapping over the beginning of Charles Ives (1874-1954) -
Three Quarter-Tone Pieces (1925), now orchestrated with new rhythms, tempo, and temperament.
Also begin update of
Missa California, Op. 35 (1988) and
then some for
Book of Dreams, 2022, Op. 376 (2022)
February 28 - March 1
2am John Lewis "We've Been Surprised in the Path of Yokels"...
3am Elders: "Eat My... Cross My..."
4am State Departments and Aeronautics Announcements Alternating w/ Scenery...
8am Travel On Foot / In Car From Dead Sea to Philistia, Impossible Boulders on Path,
In Company of Hindu Mystics, Very Quick Through Jerusalem, Some Bombed Truck Ruins,
Temple Remains in Canyon, Of Course Difficulty with Camera...
Ridiculous Rock-Hopping w/ Dad and One of the Yogis, Olive Trees....Declivities...
9am Wagers / Pictures on Israeli Ruins, Some Photos Impossible to Take at Present,
Most Possible at End of an Online Site...
Before and after State of the Union,
news of the unprovoked war against Ukraine
continues to dominate,
as well it should --
and there's a sense that the ulimate Hitleresque goal
is anihilation, called to mind in the indescriminate bombing
of the nightmarish Babi Yar (Granmother Canyon) Holocaust site, which has been further memorialized by
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) - Symphony No. 13 in Bb Minor, Op. 113 (1962).
Seems serendipitous that the day's playlist also includes the composer's Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93 (1953), with its veiled references to Stalin's related brutal totalitarianism.
More antidotal are listenings of
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) - Symphony No. 6 in C Major (1816),
Julius Rontgen (1855-1932) - Piano Concerto in D, Op. 18 (1879),
Edward Elgar (1857-1934) - Wand of Youth, Suite No. 2, Op. 1b (1907): IV. Fountain Dance, and
Douglas Lilburn (1915-2001) - Suite for Orchestra (1955).
Also encouraging: the subpoening of 6 o' the (US) Megalomaniac (as opposed to his Russian pal) seditionist-traitor team (the crimes are now clearly not only national but international),
on the
17th day of
summer,
high again 77 --
also the birthdays of
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849 -- whoa! Neither the '65 nor '95 World Books mention this in the March article -- so, let's at leat add a little of this composer belatedly to the listening-du-jour, with
Rondo, Op. 1 [1825]),
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1876-1907 --
sculptor par excellence not only for Diana, 1893, as well as the
Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment, 1886... OK, better reflect on seeing this in Boston Common and re-listen to the
Ives - Three Places in New English [1914]), and wonderfully krazy (w/ no less thatn 4 K's)
Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) - seen here in his politically-charged Self-Portrait of a Degenerate Artist (1937),
he perhaps the most loyal lover of Alma Maria Schindler Mahler Gropius Werfel, Op. 232 (2014), though certainly not without obsessiive trials in her loving, as envinced by the double portrait
Bride of the Wind (1914), but at last retainling a certain beautific peace,
seen here in 1963 -- 1 year before outlving Alma by 16 years...
Hmm, perhaps it's time to revive some of Alma, as San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra is now officially scheduled to have its Spring 2022 Concert at Lakeside Presbyterian Church, thanks to the good graces of John Beeman, ably assisted by Lisa Scola Prosek... Then again, even better to cosider offering up 3 George Crumb Tropes from The Decameron: Fifth Day, Op. 247 (2015)... Hmm, perhaps this will constitute a new piece?...