tag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:/blogs/about-this-and-that?p=2About this and that...2024-01-13T14:20:55-06:00James Gaertnerfalsetag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/73335152024-01-13T14:20:55-06:002024-01-13T14:20:56-06:00A New Beginning<p>I am glad I discovered this poem by Irish philosopher and poet John O'Donohe. Its theme resonates at this time of the year, when we make resolutions, imagine possibilities, and, at least for a while, view the future with wide open eyes and a beginner's mind. Even if a new beginning in one's circumstance is not possible, maybe a new beginning in one's attitude is. I originally wrote “<a class="no-pjax" href="/track/725767/begin-again" data-link-type="track" data-link-label="Begin Again">Begin Again</a>” and “<a class="no-pjax" href="/track/969420/once-again" data-link-type="track" data-link-label="Once Again">Once Again</a>” with that in mind. </p><p style="text-align:center;"><i>In out-of-the-way places of the heart,</i><br><i>Where your thoughts never think to wander,</i><br><i>This beginning has been quietly forming,</i><br><i>Waiting until you were ready to emerge.</i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i>For a long time it has watched your desire,</i><br><i>Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,</i><br><i>Noticing how you willed yourself on,</i><br><i>Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.</i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i>It watched you play with the seduction of safety</i><br><i>And the gray promises that sameness whispered,</i><br><i>Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,</i><br><i>Wondered would you always live like this.</i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i>Then the delight, when your courage kindled,</i><br><i>And out you stepped onto new ground,</i><br><i>Your eyes young again with energy and dream,</i><br><i>A path of plenitude opening before you.</i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i>Though your destination is not yet clear,</i><br><i>You can trust the promise of this opening;</i><br><i>Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning</i><br><i>That is at one with your life's desire.</i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i>Awaken your spirit to adventure;</i><br><i>Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;</i><br><i>Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,</i><br><i>For your soul senses the world that awaits you.</i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i>John O'Donohue</i><br><br> </p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/71818862023-03-31T12:26:43-05:002023-10-16T09:47:27-05:00Spring Intermezzo<p style="text-align:center;"><i>Exhilaration is the Breeze</i><br><i>That lifts us from the Ground</i><br><i>And leaves us in another place</i><br><i>Whose statement is not found --</i><br><br><i>Returns us not, but after time</i><br><i>We soberly descend</i><br><i>A little newer for the term we spent</i><br><i>Upon Enchanted Ground --</i><br><i> – Emily Dickinson</i></p><p>A feeling of exhilaration accompanies the arrival of spring. I found this feeling expressed musically in Betty Jackson King's “Spring Intermezzo,” a piano piece I discovered after hearing it played frequently in recent months on my local classical station WCLV FM.</p><p>It was recorded on the album <a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc1_OSzT3CA" data-link-type="url"><i>Black Renaissance Women</i></a> by Dr. Samanthe Ege. I found the printed music at Jacksonian Press. I've enjoyed playing this piece, as well as the three other compositions in the compilation <i>Four Seasonal Sketches. </i></p><p> </p><p> </p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/70929652022-11-01T09:27:20-05:002022-11-01T09:27:20-05:00The Peace of Wild Things<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Nature is what we know --<br>Yet have no art to say --<br>So impotent Our Wisdom is<br>To her Simplicity.</em></p>
<p>When I read these words of Emily Dickinson, I can't help but recall Wendell Berry's reflection on nature and its capacity to refresh us and rejuvenate us. An escape from the chaotic noise of our "connected" world is right through the door - outside, in the presence of "wild things" that we'll never fully understand.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>When despair for the world grows in me<br>and I wake in the night at the least sound<br>in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,<br>I go and lie down where the wood drake<br>rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.<br>I come into the peace of wild things<br>who do not tax their lives with forethought<br>of grief. I come into the presence of still water.<br>And I feel above me the day-blind stars<br>waiting with their light. For a time<br>I rest in the grace of the world and am free.</em></p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/70067822022-07-03T10:04:18-05:002022-09-13T15:50:12-05:00The Bliss of Solitude<p>I wrote my piano piece <a contents='"Daffodils"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/2990097/daffodils" target="_blank">"Daffodils"</a> in response to William Wordsworth's poem of the same name. Written in 1804, the poem was inspired by the poet's wandering and discovery of a field of daffodils by a lake. The vision was a gift that kept on giving. As expressed in the final stanza, the memory of this event pleased and comforted him when restless or lonely or bored. Such is the power of nature if one pauses, pays attention, and notices what's right there to see. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">I wandered lonely as a cloud<br>That floats on high o'er vales and hills,<br>When all at once I saw a crowd,<br>A host, of golden daffodils<br>Beside the lake, beneath the trees,<br>Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Continuous as the stars that shine<br>And twinkle on the Milky Way,<br>They stretched in never-ending line<br>Along the margins of the bay.<br>Ten thousand saw I at a glance,<br>Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The waves beside them danced, but they<br>Outdid the sparkling waves in glee;<br>A poet could not but be gay<br>In such a jocund company.<br>I gazed - and gazed - but little thought<br>What wealth the show to me had brought.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">For oft, when on my couch I lie<br>In vacant or in pensive mood,<br>They flash upon that inward eye<br>Which is the bliss of solitude;<br>And then my heart with pleasure fills,<br>And dances with the daffodils.</p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/68647052022-01-10T15:56:00-06:002022-01-10T15:56:00-06:00Random thoughts on Stephen Sondheim<p>When faced with a creative block, I often ask myself, "What would Sondheim do?" This in no way is an attempt to position myself on a level even close to Sondheim. I'm not in his talent or skill set ballpark. Not many are. But I have taken to heart and attempted to apply the principles he lists at the outset of his book <em>Finishing the</em> <em>Hat</em>. He insists that these principles are necessary for a lyric writer:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Content Dictates Form<br>Less Is More<br>God Is in the Details<br>all in the service of Clarity</p>
<p>Easier said than done, of course. But invaluable guidance from the Master? Yes</p>
<p>Following his recent death, I turned to YouTube to sample the myriad videos of tributes, interviews, biographies, clips of his productions, and segments of classes he taught. One could easily binge on Sondheim!</p>
<p>My favorite so far is the <a contents='documentary of the recording of the original cast album for "Company."' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=original+cast+album+-+company+1970+documentary" target="_blank">documentary of the recording of the original cast album for "Company."</a> In it he gives notes to the singers, interacts with the producer and his music director Harold Hastings, and discusses the project with Hal Prince and George Furth, his collaborators. He is, in turn, frustrated, pleased, seemingly never completely satisfied, always clear and precise.</p>
<p>When I play the piano for pleasure, I often pull out one of his musical scores (I have them all!) and try to sight read and practice his piano accompaniments. I also like to play along with the recordings to see how his excellent orchestrators arranged the music for the pit bands of various sizes that accompanied the shows. I always learn something new, get ideas, and come away even more impressed with his compositions.</p>
<p>He was generous with his time, eager to share his knowledge, and encouraging in a practical way to the writers and composers hoping to follow in his footsteps. Those of us who love musical theater are grateful for the words he wrote, the music he composed, and impact he has had on the performing arts.</p>
<p> </p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/66635832021-06-18T13:52:39-05:002021-06-18T13:52:39-05:00Heaven...Harmony...Simplicity<p>Having recently completed a road trip replete with the sights and sounds of the great outdoors, nature in all its resplendent beauty, mysterious, healing, and intoxicating, I am reminded of Emily Dickinson's poem and that I, too, do not have the "art to say" and express what I've experienced.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Nature is what see<br>The hill - afternoon -<br>Squirrel - Eclipse - the Bumble bee<br>Nay - Nature is heaven -</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Nature is what we hear -<br>The Bobolink - the Sea -<br>Thunder - the Cricket -<br>Nay - Nature is Harmony -</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Nature is what we know<br>Yet have no art to say -<br>So impotent our Wisdom is<br>To her Simplicity.</p>
<p>It does not require a road trip to access this ironic simplicity. It is there in our backyards if we will open our eyes and ears, and pause to notice it.</p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/65612062021-02-28T14:53:40-06:002021-02-28T15:01:58-06:00Immersed in the sound<p>More than 60 years after leaving Russia, Vladimir Horowitz marked his return in 1986 with a concert at the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. One can stream videos on <a contents="YouTube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad22A-mm8xM" target="_blank">YouTube</a> and other platforms of this legendary concert. PBS devoted a "Great Performances" episode to it. </p>
<p>In a program full of musical highlights, I keep returning to his opening piece: Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata K. 87 in B minor. This is another example of a piece most pianists can play - that is, they have the technique to play the notes. But as Horowitz shows us, that's where the musical journey begins. To borrow Emily Dickinson's phrase, his performance "takes us many lands away." </p>
<p>We won't reach his destination. But that doesn't matter. What's wonderful about music is that those of us who practice and play can aspire to approach those distant lands that Scarlatti and the other great composers discovered through their compositions. We travel on our own musical journeys, reveling in the experience, immersed in the sound. </p>
<p> </p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/65046342020-12-21T12:11:37-06:002020-12-21T12:14:33-06:00In an Unpredictable World...<p>In <em><span style="color:null;">Music and the Mind, </span></em><span style="color:null;">psychiatrist <a contents="Anthony Storr" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Storr" target="_blank">Anthony Storr</a> explores the power of music to stimulate the mind, captivate the heart, and nurture the soul. He writes, "Music exalts life, enhances life, and gives it meaning...For those who love it, it remains a fixed point of reference in an unpredictable world. Music is a source or reconciliation, exhilaration, and hope which never fails."<br><br>Musicians and ensembles of all kinds throughout the world have risen to the challenges imposed by this pandemic and have kept this "fixed point of reference" and source of hope fresh and alive. If you are a musician, you are driven to do what it is you do - make music. And so, virtual concerts and streams of live and recent performances abound on the internet. Two of my favorite sources for these are <a contents="The Orpheus Chamber Singers" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.orpheuschambersingers.org" target="_blank">The Orpheus Chamber Singers</a> located in Dallas and <a contents="The Cleveland Orchestra" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.clevelandorchestra.com" target="_blank">The Cleveland Orchestra</a>. But myriad opportunities exist to experience the magic and calming effect of good music that transcends time in these chaotic times. I urge you to seek out and support your favorite ensembles and musicians from your preferred musical genre....and keep the music playing!</span></p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/63446612020-06-06T13:13:19-05:002020-06-06T13:13:19-05:00Quartet for the End of Time<p>A global pandemic, protests that one hopes will galvanize systemic changes and encourage conversations so long overdue, a world in flux...It may seem like the end of time as we know it.</p>
<p>In 1940 in a Nazi prison camp in Poland,<a contents=" Olivier Messiaen" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.oliviermessiaen.org" target="_blank"> Olivier Messiaen</a> composed and, with three fellow prisoners, performed "Quatuor Pour la Fin du Temps" ("Quartet for the End of Time"), his musical response to and reflection on his world in flux. He wrote, "I am convinced that joy exists...joy is beyond sorrow, beauty beyond horror."</p>
<p>I have listened to this composition many times, and was recently moved to send for the score in order to explore it and gain a deeper understanding of it. With considerable practice, I could probably deliver a passable amateur performance of the challenging piano part. But two of the movements -- V. and VIII., both transcendent in beauty -- are readily "playable." So while listening to the recording, I have played along with the cello in the first movement and the violin in the other. This has been a musical meditation for me - a brief and welcome respite from the noise of the world...the kind of mindful pause that music engenders.</p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/62628702020-03-26T15:36:04-05:002020-03-27T12:18:31-05:00One Step Backward Taken<p>In the midst of this global pandemic, we are being asked to...pause, to simply...stop (not so simple to do), or, as <a contents="Robert Frost" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poet/robert-frost/">Robert Frost</a> so eloquently expresses in his poem, step backward. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Not only sands and gravels<br>Were once more on their travels,<br>But gulping muddy gallons,<br>Great boulders off their balance<br>Bumped heads together dully<br>And started down the gully.<br>Whole capes caked off in slices,<br>I felt my standpoint shaken in the universal crisis.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">But with one step backward taken<br>I saved myself from going.<br>A world torn loose went by me,<br>Then the rain stopped and the blowing,<br>And the sun came out to dry me.</p>
<p>I think of my piano piece <a contents='"Rapids"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/762929/rapids">"Rapids"</a> as a soundtrack for his "universal crisis" and <a contents='"How the Sun Rose"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/762935/how-the-sun-rose">"How the Sun Rose"</a> as an underscore for the aftermath.</p>
<p>My favorite line from John Donne's "No Man is an Island" is "For I am involved in mankind." Let's step back for a while, acknowledge and celebrate our common humanity, and know that the storm will stop, and the sun will come out to dry us...together.</p>
<p> </p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/62170902020-02-16T11:17:13-06:002022-09-13T15:50:12-05:00A single string stirring neutron dance<p>I have always liked that phrase from Michael Shorb's poem "Geese." I often reflect on it when observing flocks of birds soaring as one during migrations. There is a rhythm and harmony to this "dance" that is musical. In hindsight, I think this must have been part of the inspiration for my piano composition <a contents='"Stirrings."' data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/762925/stirrings">"Stirrings."</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">GEESE by Michael Shorb<br><br>Just north of Valley Falls<br>rust mustard hue of<br>fading autumn<br> chills the marsh<br>last storm of<br>Canadian geese<br>stuns the flyway<br>imprinted engines of feathers and cries.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">I wonder how they'll<br>thread their way<br>how instincts born of spanning<br>northern frosts and raw<br>walnut air<br>navigate interstate<br>haze to pinpoints in<br>South American distance<br>zeroing back with<br>each unerring swoop<br>to splashdown<br> on a mountain lake<br>where reeds bend<br>mirrored in watery<br>reflections<br>of their own swaying</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">they and the vanishing geese<br>a single string<br>stirring<br>neutron dance<br>shifting<br>branches of the actual<br>surrounding me like<br>breath returning<br>when everything else<br> is gone.</p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/59120722019-10-01T17:07:37-05:002019-10-01T17:07:37-05:00Mont Blanc Soundscape<p>My daughter and I celebrated milestone birthdays recently with a grand adventure: the <a contents='"Tour du Mont Blanc,"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.autourdumontblanc.com" target="_blank">"Tour du Mont Blanc,"</a> a long-distance hike that circles the Mont Blanc massif and passes through France, Italy, and Switzerland. The daily hikes were challenging and exhilarating. And that's what we wanted. Embarking early each day, my daughter seemed to view every lengthy ascent as a personal affront as she aggressively attacked them Though not quite as aggressive, I was able to keep up. We packed lightly, but were glad we had our rain gear up in the chilly cloudy mist of Grand Col Ferret, our first aid kit for a minor mishap, and ample water. We arrived a few hours before dinner at our hotels, each a unique and charming postcard property, where we enjoyed the warm hospitality and delicious meals. We took far too many pictures - who could resist?! But I will particularly relish recalling the sounds along the way: the rustling leaves, the streams and waterfalls, the buzzing bees among the wildflowers, each friendly "bon jour" from fellow hikers, my huffing and puffing, the church bells, and above all the cowbells ringing in the distance. In the coming months I will attempt to express my impressions of our tour in music. One thing is certain. The orchestration will include cowbells!<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/153287/5dc55c140c45585762fb4a749f7644299e3a4085/original/img-1850-2.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/58508082019-08-07T17:24:04-05:002022-05-11T13:47:09-05:00The Rapture of Music<p>I am compelled to post this verse from the <em>The Radiance Sutras</em>.<br>It speaks for itself and for all of us who have been privileged to experience, if only momentarily, James Joyce's "aesthetic arrest" when carried away and lost in music. Once again, as Emily Dickinson wrote, "stunned by bolts of melody."</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Immerse yourself in the rapture of music.<br>You know what you love. Go there.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Tend to each note, each chord,<br>Rising up from silence and dissolving again.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Vibrating strings draw us<br>Into the spacious resonance of the heart.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The body becomes light as the sky<br>And you, one with the Great Musician,<br>Who is even now singing us<br>Into existence.</p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/57135022019-04-09T16:58:01-05:002019-04-09T16:58:01-05:00Live from Here<p>I've been a fan of <a contents='"Live from Here," the weekly PBS radio show' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.livefromhere.org" target="_blank">"Live from Here," the weekly PBS radio show</a>, since it filled the time slot claimed for years by "A Prairie Home Companion." Every week I'm newly amazed at what <a contents="Chris Thile" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.christhile.com" target="_blank">Chris Thile</a> "comes up with" on his mandolin - creative arrangements, dazzling dexterity, new musical ideas. So to witness the live broadcast from the second row in Dallas last week was a joy. As is the case with music, a live performance takes it to another level. The enthusiastic audience was treated to folk, garage grunge, new age, classical, Texas swing, C&W, and R&B musical genres - all performed by expert musicians and sparked by the infectious energy of the host. And they even performed a poignant piece - relevant in these times - tied to an Emily Dickinson poem....</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br>Much Madness is Divinest Sense<br>To a Discerning Eye -<br>Much Sense - the starkest Madness<br><br>'Tis the Majority<br>In this, as all, prevail<br>Assent - and you are sane - <br>Demur - you're straightway dangerous<br>And Handled with a Chain</p>
<p> </p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/55688072018-12-25T13:45:06-06:002018-12-25T13:45:06-06:00Hodie<p><em>Hodie</em> - "This Day" </p>
<p>I have two Christmas musical traditions: raising my voice enthusiastically - though not always accurately - in the superb Dallas Bach Society's annual Messiah sing-along, and listening to - actually luxuriating in - my recording of Vaughan Williams' Christmas Cantata, <em>Hodie</em>.</p>
<p>Composed when he was 82, Vaughan Williams juxtaposes words from the Scriptures with secular poetry penned by Milton, Hardy, Drummond, Herbert, Ursula Vaughan Williams, and others. Joyful, dramatic, and majestic - subtle, haunting, and sublime, this radiant work never fails to move and inspire me. As Michael Kennedy writes in his album notes, "Hodie is the music of goodwill, from the heart and mind of a great English visionary." The final chorus exclaims:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br>"Ring out, ye crystal spheres,<br>Once bless our human ears,<br>If ye have power to touch our senses so...</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">"And heaven as at some festival,<br>Will open wide the gates of her high palace hall."</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Merry Christmas</p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/55136142018-11-14T13:24:34-06:002018-11-14T13:43:04-06:00Fire-fangled Feathers<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Of Mere Being</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>The palm at the end of the mind,<br>Beyond the last thought, rises<br>In the bronze décor.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>A gold-feathered bird<br>Sings in the palm without human meaning,<br>Without human feeling, a foreign song.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>You know then that it is not the reason<br>That makes us happy or unhappy.<br>The bird sings. Its feathers shine.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>The palm stands on the edge of space.<br>The wind moves slowly in the branches.<br>The bird's fire-fangled feathers dangle down.<br> - Wallace Stevens</em></p>
<p>This poem is a favorite of mine. <a contents="Wallace Stevens" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/wallace-stevens" target="_blank">Wallace Stevens</a> gives us facts simply stated. There's the tree; there's the bird; the wind moves through the branches, etc.</p>
<p>We instinctively use our minds eye to picture the scene he paints with his words. But where is this scene? He says: "...at the end of the mind, beyond the last thought...on the edge of space..." That is, beyond words.<br><br>What we do, or think, or feel doesn't matter. These things simply exist. They just are. And as <a contents="Emily Dickinson" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/emily-dickinson" target="_blank">Emily Dickinson</a> wrote:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Existence - in itself<br>Without a further function -<br>Omnipotence - Enough - </p>
<p>So how do we access this elusive space beyond words, between thoughts, where we simply exist, just are, and mere being is enough?<br><br>For some, meditation. For others, prayer as presence and contemplation. Through dance. And for many of us, through music, the language that begins where words leave off.</p>
<p> </p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/53582242018-07-23T11:00:56-05:002018-09-10T10:56:05-05:00The Poetry of Earth<p>The sounds of nature are all around us all the time wherever we are. But we have to pay attention and somehow listen through the noise of our daily lives. Hearing the music of bird songs, waterfalls, and wind through the trees on a recent trip to <a contents="Kings Canyon National Park" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.nps.gov//seki/index.htm" target="_blank">Kings Canyon National Park</a>, reminded me of <a contents="John Keats" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.John-Keats.com" target="_blank">John Keats</a>' poem "On the Grasshopper and the Cricket." Evidently taking on a challenge by a fellow poet, he wrote this in an hour. The prompt was to write a sonnet about a grasshopper and a cricket. Clearly John Keats was in tune with the sounds of nature. Here are fourteen lines that remind us to be grateful for the music, the poetry, the gift the earth gives us everyday.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The poetry of earth is never dead:<br>When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,<br>And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run<br>From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;<br>That is the Grasshopper's - he takes the lead<br>In summer luxury, - he has never done<br>With his delights; for when tired out with fun<br>He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.<br>The poetry of earth is ceasing never:<br>On a lone winter evening, when the frost<br>Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills<br>The Cricket's song, in warmth increasing ever,<br>And seems to one in drowsiness half lost,<br>The Grasshopper's among some grassy hills.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/52454602018-05-20T12:38:17-05:002018-05-20T12:38:17-05:00A Die Walkure to Remember<p>"This high-intensity performance will surely rank as a legend in Dallas musical history."</p>
<p>So writes Dallas Morning News Special Contributor Scott Cantrell following the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's concert performance of Wagner's <em><a contents="Die Walkure" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Walkure" target="_blank">Die Walkure</a> -- </em>a performance I was fortunate to witness and experience. During the last decade outgoing Music Director <a contents="Jaap van Zweden" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.jaapvanzweden.com/" target="_blank">Jaap van Zweden</a> has molded the DSO into a first-tier ensemble. And along the way he has delivered numerous legendary performances. While difficult to rank, I cannot imagine a concert topping this one in sheer intensity, musical expression, and emotional impact. The story may be convoluted, but in Wagner the music tells the story. Van Zweden read the story and communicated it in spectacular fashion guiding the singers and super-sized orchestra to the delight of the appreciative audience. Soon he leaves for his new post as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. He ends his Dallas run with performances of Beethoven's Ninth. I eagerly anticipate the open rehearsal I will attend later this week. I suspect that true to form he'll deliver a Ninth to remember!</p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/50477612018-01-27T17:11:58-06:002018-01-27T17:22:07-06:00What does it mean?<p>Recently I heard a series of episodes of <a contents='"Exploring Music"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://exploringmusic.wfmt.com" target="_blank">"Exploring Music"</a> in which Bill McGlaughlin investigated music and meaning - certainly an elusive concept.</p>
<p>Soon after, I attended a concert and was moved by performances of <a contents="Francis Poulenc's "Stabat Mater"" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/poulenc-gloria-stabat-mater/265263968" target="_blank">Francis Poulenc's "Stabat Mater"</a> and <a contents="Herbert Howells' "Hymnus Paradisi."" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/video-of-the-day-howells-hymnus-paradisi" target="_blank">Herbert Howells' "Hymnus Paradisi."</a></p>
<p>The tragic events many years ago that precipitated the compositing of these dramatic works by these composers were similar. The performance by the orchestra, soloists, and choir under the directions of a fine conductor was first rate. And for whatever reason, I was in a receptive frame of mind that day, ready for immersion in the glorious sounds that enveloped me.</p>
<p>So what did the music mean?</p>
<p>An answer is not easy to express in everyday language. Poets and philosophers have responded eloquently to their impressions of musical moments in their lives.</p>
<p>For me on that particular day, any meaning arose from the depth of my experience of the music. And I guess this experience occurred at the intersection of the composer's inspiration and craft, the performers' interpretation, and my (the listener's) context.</p>
<p>Now I'm listening to <a contents="John Coltrane" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/xYEjO2-SEFw" target="_blank">John Coltrane</a>. What does this music mean? I can't readily say. But I know I like it.</p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/48736312017-10-02T12:10:12-05:002020-03-26T15:06:52-05:00"It tolls for thee."<p>I wrote the piano piece<a contents=' "It Tolls for Thee"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/1236919/it-tolls-for-thee"> "It Tolls for Thee"</a> as a response to the killing of five police officers in Dallas in July of 2016. However, it could have been written in reaction to the mass shooting in Las Vegas today or the myriad other tragic events in recent history. In all of these instances I am reminded of the words of John Donne expressing our common humanity and our ultimate connection with each other.</p>
<p>"No man is an island, entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thine own or of thine friend's were.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Each man's death diminishes me for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bells tolls. It tolls for thee."</p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/47748442017-07-11T10:52:13-05:002017-09-29T15:27:38-05:00Dale Cook<p>Our musical community lost a friend and colleague to a freak accident. Drummer Dale Cook played with Peter Nero and Doc Severinsen, among others. He was a first call session player, and can still be heard on many familiar sports themes, network production tracks, and ads. Upon reflection I realized that he played on every one of my recording sessions over a 35 year period. He delivered the life, the soul, and the groove - no matter the style of music. A consummate practical joker, he had a wonderfully mischevious sense of humor. A great talent, a great guy, and a great loss. The music lives on.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/153287/5095cb4021b3f53e5eda1425f2021aa8014c1700/original/d.jpg?1499788240" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/47327112017-06-03T18:56:11-05:002017-06-03T18:58:29-05:00What a Musical Week!<p>It's been a musically exhilarating few days. I caught the excellent documentary <a contents='"Chasing Trane"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://coltranefilm.com" target="_blank">"Chasing Trane"</a> about John Coltrane - his life and musical journey. And subsequently purchased two more of his albums. I'm streaming the <a contents="2017 Cliburn Piano competition " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://cliburn2017.medici.tv" target="_blank">2017 Cliburn Piano competition </a>and watching jaw-dropping performances by young pianists from throughout the world. And I'm completing a project in which I get to record with three of my favorite musical cohorts. Amidst all the nonsense, chaos, and endless chatter that surrounds us, we still have music!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/153287/bb6d2d5b07ff84140400a5448fa3d6c3c70076c1/medium/img-0037.jpg?1496534112" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/47106432017-05-16T10:22:09-05:002017-05-16T10:22:45-05:00Good Morning, MidnightEmily Dickinson wrote many of her poems in a hymn-like form - with four line stanzas, rhyming schemes, and meter. In her poem "Good Morning, Midnight" her words "sing" in the form of The Blues. What she says and how she says it begs for a musical interpretation. My <a contents="piano piece of the same name " data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/1236915/good-morning-midnight">piano piece of the same name </a>is my attempt to express her lament. Now I just need someone to sing it!<div style="text-align: center;">Good Morning -- Midnight --<br>I'm coming Home --<br>Day -- got tired of Me --<br>How could I -- of Him?<br><br>Sunshine was a sweet place --<br>I liked to stay --<br>But Morn -- didn't want me - now --<br>So - Good night -- Day!<br><br>I can look -- can't I --<br>When the East is Red?<br>The hills -- have a way -- then --<br>That puts the heart -- abroad --<br><br>Your are not so fair -- Midnight --<br>I chose -- Day --<br>But -- please take a little Girl --<br>He turned away!</div>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/46017702017-02-22T10:37:03-06:002017-02-22T10:37:03-06:00PossibilityI am always encouraged and rejuvenated after reading this poem. To me it extols creative expression in poetry, music, and the visual arts. It communicates a refreshing attitude toward life.<div style="text-align: center;">I dwell in Possibility --<br>A fairer House than Prose --<br>More numerous of Windows --<br>Superior -- for Doors --<br><br>Of Chambers as the Cedars --<br>Impregnable of Eye --<br>And for an Everlasting Roof<br>The Gambrels of the sky --<br><br>Of Visitors -- the fairest --<br>For Occupation -- This --<br>The spreading wide my narrow Hands<br>To Gather Paradise --<br>...Emily Dickinson</div>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/43700382016-09-13T12:01:17-05:002016-09-13T12:01:17-05:00The Saddest Music Ever WrittenThat title caught my eye. Yes, it refers to <a contents="Samuel Barber's" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/124272297/the-life-and-music-of-samuel-barber" target="_blank">Samuel Barber's</a> <em>Adagio for Strings</em>. Certainly, anyone compiling a "top ten" list would have to include this piece at or near the top. But what is it about this music that moves us so, that makes it the default soundtrack for communal grieving on so many occasions? What is its place in Barber's oeuvre? How does it "work" musically? In his <a contents="book Thomas Larson" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com/Saddest-Music-Ever-Written-Barbers/dp/B00A16MP5G" target="_blank">book Thomas Larson</a> probes these questions and more. This is a memoir, a biography, a discourse on aesthetics, and personal reflection on one hundred years of cultural history. But even more, it is an invitation and reminder to listen to this masterpiece with fresh ears and revel in its mystery. Larson cites Leonard Bernstein: "Why do so many of us try to explain the beauty of music, thus depriving it of its mystery? He directs readers to landmark performances conducted by <a contents="Schippers" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV3490TlX_8" target="_blank">Schippers</a> and <a contents="Slatkin" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4PWdOoOQjI" target="_blank">Slatkin</a>. Both outstanding and sublime. I have to admit I only knew Barber's <em>Adagio</em> and his <em>Piano Concerto</em>. The book introduced me to his vocal music, in particular, <a contents="Knoxville: Summer of 1915" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJjXadvkohk" target="_blank"><em>Knoxville: Summer of 1915</em></a>, a setting of a James Agee poem, and <a contents="Dover Beach" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lafN9noPX6U" target="_blank"><em>Dover Beach</em></a>, based on a poem by Matthew Arnold. I have gladly added these to my recordings.James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/42534302016-06-28T12:18:29-05:002016-06-28T12:18:29-05:00The Joy of MusicFor expressions of sheer joy, just look at the faces of the artists in the documentary <i><a contents="The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.silkroadproject.org/posts/the-music-of-strangers" target="_blank">The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble</a>. </i>The documentary tells the story of the <a contents="Silk Road Project " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://youtube.com/user/silkroadproject" target="_blank">Silk Road Project </a>from its beginning in 1998, focusing on the stories of several of the key players. The outreach and music-making continue today building cultural connections and celebrating our common humanity through the language of music. From the web site: "We know that music cannot stop a bullet or feed the hungry, but it can bring empathy and joy to places where they are in short supply."James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/41125452016-03-30T12:46:25-05:002016-03-30T12:46:25-05:00"For Eileen"My mother celebrated her 90th birthday recently. Those family members who could came and ate and laughed and retold the timeless stories that never seem to age. And neither does my mother. <a contents='"For Eileen"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/969529/for-eileen" target="_blank">"For Eileen"</a> is based on a song written years ago for another occasion. My mother has often encouraged me to "do something with it." So I did. You can't turn down your mother!James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/39888202016-01-14T15:28:59-06:002018-12-27T05:02:41-06:00Fireworks in the Brain!Check out this TED-Ed video - <a contents='"How playing an instrument benefits your brain."' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/R0JKCYZ8hng" target="_blank">"How playing an instrument benefits your brain."</a> Then dust off some music and practice it. Give your brain a workout! fJames Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/39605512015-12-11T12:01:05-06:002016-03-30T12:17:20-05:00"I'll tell you how the Sun rose..."I won't claim that Emily Dickinson's poem was the conscious inspiration for my piece <a contents='"How the Sun Rose,"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/762935/how-the-sun-rose" target="_blank">"How the Sun Rose,"</a> but I am sure it was "working" in my subconscious.<br> <div style="text-align: center;">I'll tell you how the Sun rose --<br>A ribbon at a time --<br>The steeples swam in Amethyst,<br>The news, like Squirrels, ran --<br>The Hills untied their Bonnets --<br>The Bobolinks -- begun<br>Then I said softly to myself<br>"That must have been the Sun!"<br><br>But how he set -- I know not --<br>There seemed a purple stile<br>That little yellow boys and girls<br>Were climbing all the while --<br>Till when they reached the other side<br>A Dominie in Gray --<br>Put gently up the evening Bars<br>And led the flock away.</div>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/39041212015-10-23T11:33:28-05:002017-02-05T00:02:08-06:00"Art is long, and time is fleeting"Stop time for moment. Take a time out. Listen to the Brahm's timeless Intermezzo Op. 118 in A major. Here are two performances. One by <a contents="Arthur Rubenstein" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqBzK5tKFVc" target="_blank">Arthur Rubenstein</a> and another by <a contents="Radu Lupu" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4Re5WBEAc" target="_blank">Radu Lupu</a>.James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/37798752015-07-16T09:57:26-05:002015-07-16T09:57:26-05:00"...what would the Dower be, had I the Art to stun myself with Bolts of Melody!"What a phrase! Pure <a contents="Emily Dickinson" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/emily-dickinson" target="_blank">Emily Dickinson</a>. With irony she expresses the emotional content of the encounter between artist and spectator in an art form. <em><a contents="Philosophy Now" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://philosophynow.org/" target="_blank">Philosophy Now</a> </em>devotes much of its current issue (#108) to essays on art. What is art? Who decides? What is art for? Why does art matter? Thousands of years ago, what compelled our ancestors to draw on the walls of caves? And what were they expressing? We view these drawings and recognize in them a common humanity. This connection, this encounter permeates art in all its forms, and we are the richer for it. <br> <div style="text-align: center;">
<em>I would not paint - a picture -<br>I'd rather be the One<br>Its bright impossibility<br>To dwell - delicious - on -<br>And wonder how the fingers feel<br>Whose rare - celestial - stir<br>Evokes so sweet a torment -<br>Such sumptuous - Despair -<br><br>I would not talk, like Cornets -<br>I'd rather be the One<br>Raised softly to the Ceilings -<br>And out, and easy on -<br>Through Villages of Ether -<br>Myself endued Balloon<br>By but a lip of Metal -<br>The pier to my Pontoon -<br><br>Nor would I be a Poet -<br>It's finer - Own the Ear -<br>Enamored - impotent - content -<br>The License to revere,<br>A privilege so awful<br>What would the Dower be,<br>Had I the Art to stun myself<br>With Bolts - of Melody!</em><br><br> - Emily Dickinson</div>James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/36694632015-04-21T12:17:10-05:002015-04-21T12:22:37-05:00"Music's language connects us with the stars."Such reflections populate Ethan Hawke's joyful film <a contents='"Seymour: an Introduction."' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h6l2F0DNwk" target="_blank">"Seymour: an Introduction."</a> The thoughts are those of <a contents="Seymour Bernstein" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://seymourbernstein.com" target="_blank">Seymour Bernstein</a>, once an acclaimed concert pianist, now a beloved teacher, mentor, coach, and philosopher. In the film, Mr. Bernstein shares his invaluable insights on interpretation and technique in master classes and private lessons. He converses with former students about the piano, aesthetics, and life. He meticulously selects a Steinway for an upcoming performance. He practices a tricky Scarlatti phrase and probes passages of Brahms and Schuman for the meaning behind the music. This film connects us with a star - a guiding light for musicians and art lovers. Where's my piano? It's time to practice!James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/35150672015-02-08T16:23:31-06:002015-02-08T16:29:20-06:00The Healing Power of Music<div style="text-align: center;">
<em> "Music is a therapy. It is a communication far more powerful than words, far more immediate, far more efficient."</em> <br><a contents="Yehudi Menuhin's" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.menuhin.org" target="_blank">Yehudi Menuhin's</a> observation attests to the healing power of music. <br>Pianist Greg Howlett has published a web site - <a contents="healing music.org" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://healingmusic.org" target="_blank">healing music.org</a> - that explores the topic with essays and testimonials and contains links to musical resources. <br><br><em>"You can look at disease as a form of disharmony. And there's no organ system in the body that's not affected by sound and music and vibration."</em><br><a contents="Mitchell Gaynor, MD" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://gaynoroncology.com/services/mind-body-spirit/" target="_blank">Mitchell Gaynor, MD</a> </div><br><br><br><br> James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/33507152014-12-02T10:45:28-06:002016-03-30T12:18:23-05:00Coast the WindHart Crane's images in this poem are so vivid and true. I suspect the song and the bird in the first stanza inspired me when writing <a contents='"Coast the Wind."' data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/725777/coast-the-wind" target="_blank">"Coast the Wind."</a><br> <div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Forgetfulness is like a song<br>That, freed from beat and measure, wanders.<br>Forgetfulness is like a bird whose wings are reconciled,<br>Outspread and motionless, --<br>A bird that coasts the wind unwearyingly.<br><br>Forgetfulness is rain at night,<br>Or an old house in a forest, -- or a child.<br>Forgetfulness is white, -- white as a blasted tree,<br>And it may stun the sybil into prophecy,<br>Or bury the Gods.<br><br>I can remember much forgetfulness.</em><br>- Harold Hart Crane</div><br> James Gaertnertag:jamesgmusic.com,2005:Post/32624472014-11-02T10:26:06-06:002014-11-13T10:23:33-06:00Jazz Fantasia<div>I never fail to hear Miles or Charlie Parker or <a contents="Satchmo's Ban" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WPCBieSESI" target="_blank">Satchmo's</a><a contents="Satchmo's Band" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WPCBieSESI" target="_blank"> Band</a> while reading this terrific poem. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br><em>Drum on your drums, batter on your banjoes</em>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><em>Sob on the long cool winding saxophones.<br>Go to it, O jazzmen.<br><br>Sling your knuckles on the bottoms of the happy tin pans.<br>Let your trombones ooze,<br>And go hushahusha-hush with the slippery sand-paper.<br><br>Moan like an autumn wind high in the lonesome tree-tops,<br>Moan soft like you wanted somebody terrible,<br>Cry like a racing car slipping away from a motorcycle cop,<br>Bang-bang! You jazzmen,<br>Bang altogether drums, traps, banjoes, horns, tin cans -<br>Make two people fight on the top of a stairway<br>And scratch each other's eyes in a clinch tumbling down the stairs.<br><br>Can the rough stuff...<br>Now a Mississippi steamboat pushes up the night river<br>With a hop-hoo-hoo-hoo...<br>And the green lanterns calling to the high soft stars...<br>A red moon rides on the humps of the low river hills...</em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Go to it, O jazzmen!<br><br>- </em>Carl Sandberg<br> </div>
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<br> </div>James Gaertner