Emmanuel Pahud & Christian Rivet

I have been dreaming a lot of the sea recently, of my father, of old friends, of long conversations and good company.

It was good to make those dreams real and (apart from the sea) to meet many of them once again these past few days, and perhaps some more in coming days.

Below is an 11 second video I took at Wigmore Hall by the virtuoso flute player Emmanuel Pahud accompanied by Christian Rivet on guitar. They were excellent! I went with my father and one of my earliest friends from schooldays.

It was an eclectic performance varying from the excitement of Piazzolla's tango music to the very modern as if a baby were playing with the instruments, along the way the dulcet tones of Handel and the slavonic dances of Bartok.

This is a full version of the above from a different recording which was played as an encore:
Ibert — Entr'Acte

Finally, a live recording from Pahud's YouTube channel which he also played tonight.
Bartok — Pe Loc

Beautiful Stained Glass (Jesus College)

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub041pseYJc

Photos courtesy of TheRevSteve on Flickr. 
How TheRevSteve took such great photos:  http://quotidiancleric.wordpress.com/... 

Music by Jesus Choir at Compline

Stained Glass designs mainly by William Morris & Edward Burne-Jones

(in order of appearance)

Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon

Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham

Four Cardinal (Human) Virtues: Temperance, Justice, Fortitude, Prudence & their opposites: anger, slander, timidity, stupidity

Three Theological Virtues: Hope, Faith & Charity, with corresponding vices underfoot

Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Powers, Dominions across the first row. Principalities, virtues, archangels, angels, imago dei across the second.

St. Ursula, St. Dorothy, St. Radegund around whose convent now the chapel Jesus was built, St. Cecilia, St. Catherine across the first row. St. Jerome, St. Gregory, Bishop Alcock the founder, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine.

Bishop Alcock of Ely, founder of Jesus College

Angel playing violin

Angels playings cymbals & harp

Angels playing dulcimer & double-pipe

John, sibyls alongside

Luke, sibyls alongside

Mark, sibyls alongside

Matthew, sibyls alongside

Crest of Hugo de Balsham who founded the first Cambridge college (Peterhouse) in Bishop Alcock's chapel in Ely Cathedral

The baby Jesus, with mother Mary and shepherds adoring

The young Jesus confounding the scholars in the temple of Jerusalem

Inner chapel window, Agnus Dei (lamb of God) at the centre of a cinquefoil rose

Patience, Obedience & Docility

The original stained glass designs were destroyed by Puritan fundamentalists under Cromwell during the English Reformation. The new designs were done mainly by William Morris & Edward Burne-Jones in the 19th century. Notice the duality, good often literally stepping over evil. Notice the female saints are positioned superior to the male. Perhaps this is because they were literally there first — Jesus Chapel was originally a convent of St. Radegund (6th century) before it was appropriated to be the centrepiece of Jesus College, founded by Bishop Alcock (16th century). We might conjecture that the ordering left to right is chronological, but interesting that the right-most (right sometimes considered dominant) of these windows reads out: Solomon, Wisdom, Love (in the sense of charitas, or agape in Paul's letter to the Corinthians). Love is indeed the highest theological virtue, Wisdom the highest cardinal (human virtue) and Solomon a symbol of wisdom. All very fitting for a place of learning!

Tu Chiami Una Vita (Salvatore Quasimodo)

Paintings by John William Waterhouse. Set to music by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek. Poem by Salvatore Quasimodo. Sung by April Armstrong. Video by Accabadora.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAyfpmo5Q18

Salvatore Quasimodo (1901-1968)
— Tu Chiami Una Vita (You Invoke a Life)

Fatica d'amore, tristezza, Labour of love, sadness, 
tu chiami una vita You invoke a life
che dentro, profonda, ha nomi That within, deep inside, has names
di cieli e giardini. Of skies and gardens.
E fosse mia carne And were it my flesh
che il dono di male trasforma. Which the gift of sorrow transforms.

Valentina Lisitsa

If you've browsed around piano music on YouTube, you've probably come across the name of Valentina Lisitsa. Of Ukrainian birth, living in America, she's been playing piano since the age of three, but unlike most of the other, often younger, YouTube talents, she was never signed to a record label and only came to public recognition because of her networking success, building up a huge following of listeners through her YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter accounts. She has now signed to a record label, and it's wonderful to see her piano dream come true... from YouTube to the Royal Albert Hall!

You can see her full live concert here, but it's expected to be taken down very shortly (officially today), available then on CD and DVD. If any of you are interested, I hope you can catch some of it. I was there:) http://youtu.be/_pCQ1f520o4?t=18m9s

Published originally on Buddhist Travellers in 2012.

Montserrat Figueras (1942-2011)

I was very sad to learn that the singer of early music Montserrat Figueras had passed away at the end of last year.

 If you have ten minutes, you might enjoy her "Song of Sibil", composed in the 13th century, that was banned for several centuries because it was in Catalan. http://youtu.be/iF1VClOAeyE
 

It is a liturgical piece about that day when "the eternal king will come dressed in our mortal flesh...to pass judgment on the century", ending with: "You who have heard all this, pray passionately to God with all your heart and devotion to bring us salvation".

In this short interview she gave in 2010, she discusses how her music crosses cultures and boundaries, reflecting our common aspirations. In the background she plays and sings a piece from "Francisco Javier - La Ruta de Oriente" with Jordi Savall and the Hesperion XXI ensemble.

Would You...?

This is a reading of a love sonnet "In the Eyes of Your Desire, Would You...?" accompanied by the piano piece "Danse Bohémienne" by Debussy. The video is of the Spanish sea crashing against the rocks to set the mood and the painting is Ekval's "Fisherman and The Siren".

The poem had its origins in a dream I had a few days ago (edit: it only occurs to me now that this must have coincided with hurricane Irene in the U.S. which I was not really aware of). There were two seemingly opposing aspects to the dream: "erotic passion" and "the bailing out of water", and my intention over the following days was to try to work some alchemy out of these two base emotions which I realize afterwards to be simply love and fear. I would hope that the result is gender-neutral so the voice of the poem could be either male or female, depending on how we would like to imagine it, and not necessarily one or the other. Perhaps something is lost because of this wish to universalize, but I feel I must. No doubt there is room for further improvement... and exploration... and any ideas are most welcome!




In the Eyes of Your Desire, Would You...?
 
On siren rocks, worn down by cruel seas,
Would you nestle, head arched back, chest bare,
Tempting Fate your carnal lust to please?

Should your longing rise with body fair,
Would you turn away or would you seize
The moment and no seduction spare?

When passion's grip leaves you gasping air,
Would you try to run with shuddering knees
Or would you stay and your passion share?

If you sense your yearning is a tease,
Would you, with wet hands, brush back the hair,
Unveil each round breast and firmly squeeze?

Would you in Love's consummation dare
Stake your life, your all, for Beauty's care?

—okei 

The Waking (Marceline Desbordes-Valmore)

This is a reading of a new better translation of "Le Réveil" by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786-1859). My old translation of this poem among others by her can be found in my previous post. There is precious little by her in translation either published or online for reasons explained there.

The music is Rachmaninov playing the end of Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 in E Flat Major.




The Waking

Upon this bed of reeds, could I go back to sleep?
I sense the fragrant air surrounding your body;
Your mouth, it is a flower whose perfume devours deep;
Come closer, oh my treasure!, engulf only me.
Awake to my melody!

But this breath of love, this kiss which I desire so,
On your lips I still dare not relish. I wait by.
With your heart’s consent, I would rise and heaven know;
Yet your sleep goes on, and this waiting makes me die:
I dare not relish what is nigh.

Under banana trees, we’d find a shady place.
The birds will sing at the sight of our lovers’ play.
The sun is jealous; in a cloud it hides its face,
It is in your eyes only that I seek the day:
Come light my love! I will stay.

No, no you sleep no more, you share my violet flame;
Your kisses are the nectar whose pollen makes bloom.
Your heart sighs; do you know my spirit feels the same?
Here take it from my mouth; it would dispel your gloom.
Hide me under your perfume!

Chopin - Kobayashi, Igoshina, Lisitsa & Rubinstein

I've been listening to a lot of Chopin the last few weeks.
The delicacy of Valentina Igoshina I shared in a past video post:

Nancy said: She IS Chopin.... This was playing when we wandered through the garden of Żelazowa Wola, his birthplace....lovely... okei said: :))))

It turns out there's another talented Valentina: Valentina Lisitsa. Her finger-speed is quite special, and she seems especially good at the fast, complicated, powerful pieces
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi5VTBdKbFM

And then there's the master Arthur Rubinstein, here performing in his last recital at the age of 89!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twW1WXltX90
He played the same piece in the 1950 film Carnegie Hall when he was only 63. And he also played it here to the Moscow Conservatory in 1964. You can tell he knew how to have fun...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsl7XDTBaJo

And maybe... this is the future? :^)