“Les éléments mécaniques“ (1920)
_________
more John Cage, if you dare
just click
with, if you can believe it, Garry Moore,
“I’ve Got a Secret“, a trip down memory
lane
also ads for Winston, and Bufferin, very
Andy Warhol, thrown in, entirely the
1950s
Richard
“Mrs Edward L. Davis and Her Son Livingston“ (1890)
______
about John Cage my mom writes,
“Hi Rick…..
When you called I had written the message but not sent it….I am trying again..
I cannot see people spending $100 or more and wasting almost 8 minutes of their time
to watch that crap…..
As for David Hockney…..well…..not my style….but for your sake I hope a lot of people like it…..
See you at 6 p.m……will give you enough time to digest what I said…..All my love….MOM….XXXX”,
most uncharacteristically, the last time
she used an epithet was when I landed
some Schönberg on her, which she
returned promptly and categorically,
that was some fifteen years ago, even
maybe twenty
bravo, Mom, for your robust opinion,
that’s what art’s about
but I’m reminded thereby that art is not
just for effetes, pretenders to arcane
insights, it’s for all of us, not getting it
is not necessarily our fault, sometimes
the artist is obtuse, even trite
what is true should be clear, I believe,
to everyone, which is why I ever adhere
to art, art cannot be anything other than
true, manifestly, else it falls apart
love you, mom
Rick
psst: if you’ve got quarters, please bring
some over tonight
“Chopin Performing in the Guest Hall- of Anton Radziville in Berlin In 1829” (1887)
__________
no sooner does one inveigh against an
attitude than that attitude turns around
and slaps you in the face, my, however
brief, enrolments at art school, musical
conservatories, and creative writing
classes, were not, I think, without some
merit, some would even say much merit,
despite my short disparagement of them
in my last blog, there are tools for every
art, schools have the machinery to
channel inspiration
Hans Hofman must’ve believed he was
painting a “Poème d’amour“ when he
painted it, why otherwise would he
have painted it, despite myriad
objections, and general
incomprehension, could he have
known that no one would get it, did
he care, who called it art
did Chopin know when he wrote his
first set of “Études”, opus 10, a
theoretical set if there ever was one,
a set of fiendishly challenging
technical exercises, that they would
define the Romantic Period, an era
given over to the very heart, he was
23, having fun
what is art, art is what works, art is a
consensus, sometimes you’ll get it,
sometimes you won’t, sometimes I
get it, sometimes I don’t, art is in the
eye of the beholder, just like beauty
and love
Chopin, the theoretician, produces a
resounding argument for the technical
side of composition, the cerebral, this
is perhaps why they are my favourites
of his compositions
but he hasn’t left out the very centre
of music, how it connects, how it can
carry you along, even to enchantment,
he hasn’t left out the enchantment,
these to me are poems of love
he calls them études, opus 10 and 25
who’d ‘a’ thunk it
enjoy
Richard
“Poèmes barbares“ (1896)
_______
if you thought that Arno Babajanian was
done with synesthetic investigations,
seeing sounds, hearing colours, here’s
his “Six Pictures for Piano“, which he
plays, all of them, himself
can a piano paint, take pictures
you tell me
something else interesting is happening
here, the six are individual pieces despite
being part of a common whole, as the title
suggests
this is the opposite of trying to integrate
movements to a continuous and unfolding
conception, something Beethoven, for
instance, pursued, indeed ardently, in his
own sublime music
dissociation seems a context, a XXth-,
a XXlst-Century, context, in our presently
more polarized world, according to, of
course, Babajanian
what might hold us together then
maybe music
incidentally, the movements to the
“Six Pictures“ here are
1 – Improvisation
2 – Folk Song
3 – Toccatine (a little toccata)
4 – Intermezzo
5 – Choral
6 – Sasoun Dance (don’t ask),
should you not be able to read Russian
note, none of these themes are
photographic
don’t either miss Babajanian‘s
“Sonata for Violin and Piano“
as played by, here again,
himself, it’s rapturous
Richard
psst: see Gauguin above paint poems
“Self-portrait with Daughters“ (1754)
______
for fathers, especially, and daughters
and all those who love them
just click
Richard
psst: in the spirit of Brain,
worthy contenders from
“Music“ (1949)
______
in the spirit of unusual juxtapositions,
the very stuff, let me suggest, of art,
here’s a “Poem for Piano, in C# minor“,
by Arno Babajanian, an Armenian
composer, 1921 to 1983, played by a
countryman of his, Armen Babakhanian
a “Poem for Piano“ begs the question,
what is a poem, can a poem be devoid
of stanzas and words, can music be a
poem
you tell me
Richard
psst: can music, incidentally, be a painting,
see here, or above
“Homage to Erik Satie“ (c. 1926)
________
the very variety, the infinite variety,
of possibilities in music, in any art,
in any craft, in any even venture,
has had me believe in a diversified
world rather than the monotheistic
one we’ve been trained to ascribe
to, I believe in Olympus rather than
in Purgatory, Hell, and Heaven, I
see many more variations on a
theme, always, than immutable
objects, we are even ourselves in
constant, ever evolving, flux, look
at me, I’m not the boy, not the even
young man I used to be, though I
was never, of course, as wise as
I am now, later in life, or so I feel
I can continue to tell myself, ha ha
on this multiplicity read the
accomplished and convincing
Martha Nussbaum, incidentally
as an example of this exuberant
fruition consider this wonderful
interplay of artists and forms,
Ysaÿe‘s “Caprice d’après l’étude
en forme de valse de Saint-Saëns“,
“Caprice on the Study in Waltz
Form of Saint-Saëns”
here’s the study, “Étude en forme
de valse, op 52, no 6“, from which
it’s taken
don’t overlook either the “exuberant
fruition” above, the Dali on Satie
or find it again right here, just click
Richard
this is for Brain, who, according
to its response to my last blog,
is about to explore Chopin, a
transformational experience,
which I’d like to encourage
and heartily abet
____________
watch, be transported
Evgeny Kissin at the piano, Zubin
Mehta conducts, Chopin’s First
Piano Concerto, an indisputable
masterpiece, just click
before this performance I will remain,
uncharacteristically, mum, let Chopin
speak for himself, from the early
Nineteenth Century, letting us know
what they were up to then
it appears to have been utterly
astonishing
Richard
psst: thanks Brain
_______
if you think I can talk, listen to Glenn
Gould tell in spades what I’ve only
ever been able to tell in clubs, or,
as we say in French, trèfles, clover,
a piece of music can say more than
just hello, great ones are oracular,
even transcendent
if ever they made a movie of my life
I want Glenn Gould to play me, even
the wonderful Colm Feore, I think,
couldn’t as effectively manage it
Richard
psst: here’s more, incandescent, Bach,
Glenn Gould playing his signature
piece, just click
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