Second audiobooks session with Harriet, re Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) - A History of Western Philosophy (1945), now
Part I. The Pre-Socratics
CHAPTER I The Rise of Greek Civilization
Looking forward to a bit more on Thales of Miletus (c. 624 - 545 BC), above;
plus current stirring oration from Volodymyr Zelensky (b. 1978),
broadcasting his case to a joint session of Congress and later
with Lester Holt (b. 1959 -- of African-European-Indian-Jamaican ancestry!) noting that "World War III may have already started"...
At least Joe Biden (b. 1942) has called Vladimir Putin (b. 1951) a "war criminal"...
Leaving all this for a bit,
Harriet and I embark on the
34th Vacaville Streets Walk,
this time
parking on Grand Canyon and walking
southeast via Sequoia
to
Yosemite
(the strange geography of this town)...
Reversing course,
we right-angle northwest,
going for the gold at
El Dorado,
on this glorious 26th day of summer
high up 3 to 77 --
the 271st birthday of
James Madison (1751-1836), whose wife,
Dolly, is well memorialized in
Edwin London (1929-2013) - Portraits of Three Ladies (1967): II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMl5MR60lHA
(@ 5:24)
on the poem found in Book of Americans (1933) by the wife-and-husband team of
Rosemary Carr (1910-1987) and
Stephen Vincent Benet (1898-1943):
Dolly Madison
(Dorothea Payne),
Married, was widowed
And married again.
Passing by other
More dashing names
To set her cap
For “the great little” James.
She loved fine clothes, T
hough she was a Quaker.
She wore linen masks
So the sun wouldn’t bake her.
Her eyes were large,
Her manners urban,
And she posed for her portrait
Wearing a turban.
She brushed her satins,
Tended her beauty,
Smoothed her laces,
Minded her duty.
But, though fine and grand
On her at-home day,
She could still take snuff
With Henry Clay.
When the British began
To cut more capers
And burned the White House,
She didn’t have vapors.
The roofs fell in
And the cut-glass burst—
But she saved George Washington’s
Portrait first.
She didn’t talk much.
She eschewed all tears.
She went to a ball
At fourscore years.
But her very last words
Set us staring—for—
“There’s nothing in this life
Worth caring for.”
Said by a lady
Who loved her life
And, more than most,
Was a perfect wife,
Make us wonder a little,
Though with no stigma,
If Dolly could have been
An enigma.
Ah the madness of media! Also including
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) - Double Mandolin Concerto (1708),
Josef Bayer (1852-1913) - Puppenfee (Puppet Fairy) (1888),
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) - Suite No. 1 in Eb Major, Op. 28 (1909),
finishing up the Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) Symphonies with No. 4 ("Deliciae Basilenses") (1946 -- more on this later...) and
No. 5 ("Di Tre Re") (1950),
back and beyond to Henry Cowell (1897-1965) - Symphony No. 2 ("Anthropos") (1958),
Kurt Weill (1900-1950) - Youkali (1946),
not-quite-as-mysterious-as-he-used-to-be
Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988)
Predludi per Pianoforte Serie I (1940),
Douglas Lilburn (1915-2001) - Symphony No. 2 (1951),
Lou Harrison (1917-2003) - Symphony No. 3 (1982), and
another great
Family
Zoom.
The new compositiion of the day is
A Delicate Balance, Op. 393 (2002),
title inspired by a misreading of the Honegger 4 above (which actually translates from the Latin as "Delights of Basel" -- but this piece rather a klangfarbenmelodien of
Edgar Varese (1883-1965)
Deserts (1954)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cnEo7-g880
Also update the Works site re
L.A. Stories, Op. 50 (1994),
grab that fresh text for
Book of Dreams, 2022, Op. 376 (2022)
March 15-16
6am We Are Robin-Hood Rogue Types Making Daring / Ingenious Escapes From Large Tent-
Like Medieval Barracks-Encampment, Then Re-Apprehended, Harriet and I Relieved of
Apparel, She Extraordinarilly Rubineseque, We Are to Face a Small-Dinosaur Chase Ordeal,
Harriet Says She'll Pass and Wait Here, Have Fun... They Say They Will Track Us Down,
Down to Our Community, We Say Such Things Are Not Done, We'll Sue...
Down the Street Southwest (Yellowstone from Town Center), Scott Brady Chose to Kill
Those People, We'll See...There Is a Long Time-Lag... Imagination Run Wild,
Rampant... Pulsations... Off to the Social Security Office in Suisun... SFCCO, She Will Be
Standing Up... No-Office-Holding President Has Turned 85 Yet,
Time to Take Matters in Hand... The Computer Screen Suddenly Goes Dark,
But White Letters Appear as to How Situation May Be Rectified....
These Last Few Inspirations as Attempts in Re-Sleep, I Am Blessed for 20 Years....
Tomorrow Will Have Challenges of Its Own, We Lost... Russian Airline in Trouble,
Extra-Safety in Abrupt Close-Ups... During the Golden Gate Ceremony in Philadephia,
It Is his Duty...The Doctor is in the Horse...
8am Push Air, It's Deteriorated, Know What I Mean, Here's the Deal... Too Kind...
complete the Horn part for
Zoom plan for the upcoming Opus 94 concert (8pm, Saturday, April 23, Center for New Music, San Francisco)