tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post805883857172519521..comments2024-03-01T06:20:29.087+00:00Comments on qualia and other wildlife: music as presencerosellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-44969437450133046892014-01-12T16:14:29.504+00:002014-01-12T16:14:29.504+00:00David, just listened - thank you - that was superb...David, just listened - thank you - that was superb. Lovely interpretation - and right tempo! And as for the grammar in the above comment of mine! - insert the 'once' between 'I' and 'had' in the 2nd para, and exchange 'our' for 'out' in the last para! Mindful, or wot? - Rushing to get dog out, plaster veg garden with 18 sacks of seaweed, and put in my garlic before the forecast rain!rosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-4277898912722982252014-01-12T11:10:49.864+00:002014-01-12T11:10:49.864+00:00David, oh yes - thanks! No 5's my favourite. (...David, oh yes - thanks! No 5's my favourite. (And I have grown over the years to like 3 very much, too.) Shall listen to that version. I swither between Trevor Pinnock and Christopher Hogwood as interpreters - very different - and am always happy to hear other versions.<br /><br />I had a lover who was (is) a professional cellist once. On my birthday, as a surprise, he drove the 200 miles from London to Dartmoor early one morning to - get this - wake me with a live rendition of the Cello Suites! What a man. What a lovely man.<br /><br />If you like other music of that period (and also a little earlier) and you don't know him, look our for Jordi Savall, Catalan string-player (viola da gamba etc). I have a number of his CDs and I think they're exquisite...rosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-52225639072254225072014-01-12T02:05:48.991+00:002014-01-12T02:05:48.991+00:00Great post, Roselle! Its hard to imagine a life wi...Great post, Roselle! Its hard to imagine a life without music. I love the Brandenburgs - so energizing and uplifting. (Here's one of my favourites <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK6-x9sdEYo" rel="nofollow">No. 5 in D Allegro</a>)David Ashtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18339979176989832285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-26516870366727052662014-01-10T15:21:58.963+00:002014-01-10T15:21:58.963+00:00B, I was partly thinking of you and the importance...B, I was partly thinking of you and the importance of music and sound in your life (your highly-tuned sense of hearing!) as I wrote that, also knowing that you are in opera season.<br /><br />So glad to hear the music's been so inspiring! - Will email this weekend. Love, Rxxrosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-83641718023184889802014-01-10T14:26:54.683+00:002014-01-10T14:26:54.683+00:00Sadly I cannot compete with your and Miriam's ...Sadly I cannot compete with your and Miriam's scientific discourse on music:(, but I loved your post Roselle, and we had the most wonderful gig last night: Verdi 'un ballo in maschera' - an almost archetypal story, tragedy at its deepest set into the most gorgeous sounds and melodies, sometimes simple es folk music, serene, Italian (!), superbly sung and played - it sent shivers down my spine and I could have cried for bliss!<br />Love B xxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-35056013181933936832014-01-09T17:35:20.959+00:002014-01-09T17:35:20.959+00:00Yes, you're right, the one out of 4 was a blok...Yes, you're right, the one out of 4 was a bloke! 'nuff said!<br />M again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-12088044241356489022014-01-09T16:56:19.830+00:002014-01-09T16:56:19.830+00:00Vikram Seth! And what about Tremain (is it Restora...Vikram Seth! And what about Tremain (is it Restoration I'm thinking of?). There are others. Will think.<br /><br />You're right that it's a mystery, and should remain so - but I so love looking for all the hidden connections in apparently disparate subjects... Bartok makes my head hurt! I mean literally, because of my synesthesia (though there are 'worse' composers).<br /><br />I'll bet you're nothing like as rusty as YOU think you are!<br /><br />Thank you, as always, Miriam. With love - Rxrosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-73595232655939473682014-01-09T16:37:38.466+00:002014-01-09T16:37:38.466+00:00Another from Miriam:
Forgot to say, Roselle, what ...Another from Miriam:<br />Forgot to say, Roselle, what a fantastically liberal and varied musical experience you had from your parents. I can appreciate how your experience of playing must feel (I'm so rusty now, I too limp more I'd like and feel ashamed); and I think J would identify strongly with your feelings. He never had the opportunity to learn an instrument but developed a love – passion sometimes – of and fascination with music from adolescence and student-days. Sad that he won't dance (he says he has no sense of rhythm – not true!) but sings heartily and rather well (he'd disagree!) round the house and when we're walking (hymns, often, which can make me laugh and join in!)<br /><br />As for 5ths and 3rds, well, it's all about the mystery of how music affects the soul, isn't it? You have to experiment with improvisation and find whatever sounds work for you. Bartok had a knack for clashing sounds that do work and thrill, I think, but they take some getting used to. We can't explain it, always; even understanding harmonic analysis doesn't explain why some music has this particular effect – different – for everyone – on the soul. This aspect of music, I think, lends itself well to metaphor through poetry, painting, weather, colour, mood – but that's a truism. All part of the challenge I've set myself.<br />I wonder which authors you think can write about music really effectively in fiction? So difficult to do. Ian McEwan isn't bad and Alan Hollinghurst is excellent. Anyone else you can think of?<br />Looking forward to more discussion.<br />LOve, M.<br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-30690767134861699052014-01-09T16:02:52.939+00:002014-01-09T16:02:52.939+00:00So glad you responded, M - and indeed how could yo...So glad you responded, M - and indeed how could you not? And I really have to try to 'get' the late Beethoven. Trouble is it's the baroque and early music periods that I'm steeped in; I can JUST get the Brahms Requiem, but that's about it for later-than-baroque, though there is much C20th classical music - to my surprise - that I love (I mean Part, Glass, Jarrett, Taverner and a few others).<br /><br />Gosh, overtones and equal temperament - look forward to hearing more...! And I envy you playing with others. As regards sex, was the one-out-of-four a bloke? ;-)<br /><br />Love - Rxrosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-37482373106742243582014-01-09T14:50:34.990+00:002014-01-09T14:50:34.990+00:00From Miriam, of course!
How could I ignore this p...From Miriam, of course!<br /><br />How could I ignore this post for long, and in my sleepy postprandial state shall add a few things and hope to come back once J wakes up and I can hit the piano! 5ths in the bass sound so primitive and bare, don't they. The effect they have under melodies reminds me of hurry-gurdies or anything with, what's known as, a drone bass. It's their elemental bareness (a sort of pleasantly hollow sound), that absence of the middle note, or 3rd, that they seem to allow. Something to do with overtones, which is physics, of which I'm shamefully ignorant. (Could never retain anything more than a sketchy understanding of the science of Equal Temperament.)<br />As you know, I'm very interested in the emotional/psychological effects of music and how to express these effects in words without naming specific compositions (esoteric and a bit too easy, perhaps). Interestingly, lunching with friends yesterday, the 'orgasmic' qualities of late Beethoven came up (no pun intended! and yes, for some people, they do seem to get the juices going). Three out of the four of us yesterday agreed that some music was so transcendental as to be as good as, if not better than, sex. And I do agree about the sensuality of playing. I am so lucky to have been able to play music with friends over many years. I'd love to talk much more with you about this fascinating subject – try to find some way of getting late Beethoven into your soul (I think you said he just didn't 'do' it for you – and that's fine, of course; there's plenty of music that leaves me cold.) Late Schubert's another passion and Brahms. Much to try and do with all this in my novel. Such a challenge.<br />As for the harp – well, good for you to try, I've always wanted to play it, but have been discouraged by the technical difficulty. But to learn anew instrument at any time demands courage. Good luck with it. Your gift for playing by ear is bound to help.<br />This may not be the only response from me on this subject!<br />Thanks, Roselle. With love from M.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com