Remembering the Dead/115
As every cell in Chile will tell The cries of the tortured men Remember Allende, and the days before, Before the army came Please remember Victor Jara, In the Santiago Stadium, Es verdad – those…
Category: Music
Profession of Faith
“I believe in God—Bach’s God.” —Glenn Gould
Old Music by Colin McLaughlin
For years, I was obsessed with my mandolin. It was my travel companion–out of town, long walk, over night–I always had my trusty mandolin slung over my shoulder. It got worn down and weary looking,…
Thursday Share the Wealth with Phil Cogley: A Life in Music
Courtney Barrett is wonderfully generous in sharing the wealth of her friendships! This past week, Andrea Scarpino graced us with her poetry. Here’s Courtney on this week’s friend who will share with us: This week,…
The Gradual, Lifelong Construction of a State of Wonder and Serenity
On Tim Page, Glenn Gould: A Life in Pictures This is a book in celebration of what would have been GG’s 70th birthday; it’s a short book, consisting overwhelmingly of photos of the eccentric, the…
Tonight’s Share the Wealth Book of Mev Soundtrack
Glenn Gould, Goldberg Variations, Aria Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Eddie Vedder, Face of Love U2, All I Want Is You Violeta Parra, Gracias a la Vida Shakira, Ojos Así Duke Ellington, Take the “A”…
In Praise of Fairuz
While on my walk The soft, tender voice of Fairuz was borne to me on the breeze As if coming from an ethereal howdah: “One day we shall return to our neighborhood….” Fairuz’s voice, in…
Practice
An awed interviewer once exclaimed To the jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, “You do amazing things on the saxophone, Mr. Parker.” The musician replied, “I don’t know about amazing— I practiced for fifteen hours a day…
A State of Wonder
The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but is, rather, the gradual lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity. — Glenn Gould
Bach/Gould/Said
Bach’s music was for [Glenn] Gould an archetype for the emergence of a rational system whose intrinsic power was that it was, as it were, crafted resolutely against the negation and disorder that surround us…