sobota 17. júla 2021

Sober Reflecting

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Lord%27s_weathervane.jpg
The weather wane at Lord's Cricket ground. (Wikipedia / Hamilcarsouth)
 

"Do you feel like returning the medal?", I was asked right after the race. It was a shrewd question given that my previous attempt was 57:04 minutes and my current one was 1:06:47. 

piatok 16. júla 2021

How do you feel?

Abram’s new-Spock would likely use this moment to cry and deliver a soliloquy about his feelings. With old-Spock - proper Spock - you get an eyebrow. Leonard Nimoy, fuck yeah!
So, how do you feel?
Created by Abel M'Vada. Thanks to Sapo for showing me the video.

How does one feel when they are moving house? How to express some of these hard-to-track, hard-to-understand states of the mind if you cannot put a name on them? 

Music – without lyrics – is a good medium for such expressions. These are the pieces I played right before I left my old flat.

Bourrée in E minor (from BWV 996) is a notoriously known piece by J.S. Bach. Forget about the Jethro Tull version if you can and imagine the stately procession of tonesThe fact that the piece keeps moving can be felt even on a solo line. And I also find it non-committal in its mood.

 

My colleagues and neighbours have heard me play Podzimní (An Autumn Tune) many a time. Tichota's adaptation from a renaissance lute tab speaks of melancholy.

The lyrics (Malá and Tichota) also reflect passing of the time and disquiet in the soul. And even these are the underlying tones, the bridge is uplifting and playful.

 

And the biggest all-time recorder hit. Daphne (or Doen Daphne d'over schoone Maeght in full) is a real deal for a lover of old music. Granted, every recorder player and their dog know Jacob van Eyck's masterpiece, but it is so awesome it would be churlish if they did not. It has a hauntingly sweet melody and it subtly changes and shifts from one part to another. It is also fun (read challenging) to play. And what what does it communicate? Lyrics aside, based on the fact that main motif keeps coming back, it has a feel of permanency but one of a change as well. Evolution and reinvention? 

Let's see what I will play in the future.