tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56987288716355450112024-03-19T00:38:01.964-04:00Prufrock's DilemmaDo I dare disturb the universe?Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-78767197706688331352012-09-03T21:46:00.000-04:002012-09-04T08:33:54.437-04:00Beginning again . . .
The new edition of Prufrock's Dilemma is up and running and can be found by clicking here. I do hope you'll come visit.
Should you have any "technical difficulties," as they say, please don't hesitate to write me here or send me an e-mail, and I'll try to address them. My skills on Wordpress are as yet rudimentary, but where there's a will, no doubt there's a way.
I look forward to Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-81766910336455528172012-08-26T17:23:00.002-04:002012-09-03T21:47:41.062-04:00Will the “Real” Vinteuil Sonata Please Stand Up?
The year before, at an evening party, he had heard a piece of music played on the piano and violin. At first he had appreciated only the material quality of the sounds which those instruments secreted. . . . But then at a certain moment, without being able to distinguish any clear outline, or to give a name to what was pleasing him, suddenly enraptured, he had tried to grasp the phrase or Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-23885748331670906992012-08-18T10:02:00.000-04:002012-08-26T17:28:51.434-04:00"Let's say we had wings . . ."
Let's say we had wings, and a different breathing system, enabling us to travel through space. These would in no way help us, for if we visited Mars or Venus with the same senses we now have, we would see everything as we see things on Earth. The only true voyage, the only way to immerse ourselves in a "Fountain of Youth," would be not just to visit strange lands, but to have other eyes, to Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-11355467081906037862012-08-10T20:49:00.000-04:002012-08-18T15:59:15.003-04:00Birds in England
(If you are unable to see the slideshow, click on this post's title to bring up the post directly, or, alternatively, click here to view the photographs. Thanks to Shy Songbird for identifying that issue, and thanks to both Shy Songbird and John at Hedgeland Tales for correcting my identification of some of the birds!)
The birds in the slideshow were photographed in parks in London (Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-48453692729787560072012-08-05T22:23:00.000-04:002012-08-13T11:10:00.000-04:00Wildflowers in England
If you are unable to see the slideshow, click on this post's title to bring up the post directly, or, alternatively, click here to view the photographs.
While I remain "on hiatus," I am given to understand that there are those who would like more photographs of the trip to England. It seems I took over a thousand photographs (OK, I often bracket exposures, but just the same . . .). I willSusan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-29357873641311382512012-08-02T15:14:00.000-04:002012-08-03T17:09:38.687-04:00Friko's Castle and Garden
Many thanks to Friko and Beloved for their hospitality and for permission to share these photographs and video with you. For those who may have missed the video in the last post, here it is:
Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-61881608179312753132012-07-31T15:40:00.001-04:002012-08-02T15:23:44.083-04:00In Benno's World
We had no phone reception where we were staying, as it turned out. The day after we arrived, we drove until we found a place where the phone would work. We pulled into a parking lot, and I called Friko from there. It transpired that we had parked right below her house. "I'll be down in five minutes," she said.
I looked up toward the footbridge and spied a fine black labradorSusan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-34663455982246595082012-07-25T23:04:00.000-04:002012-07-31T22:08:43.991-04:00Bang on a Can ExuberanceWhile I am working my way toward a blogging hiatus, I could not resist sharing this with you. Thanks to Thomas Deneuville at I Care If You Listen, all of us who didn't get to the 25th Bang on a Can Marathon can get a glimpse of it: exuberant, joyful, zany, miraculous, wacky, over-the-top, everything. Who says classical music can't be fun?
Video + Editing: Thomas Deneuville
Opening Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-4825234956939074522012-07-23T20:42:00.000-04:002012-07-25T23:45:19.884-04:00In Friko's World
Sometimes a picture must tell the tale, so here is one: Friko's castle, from her garden. Our visit with Friko, Beloved, and Benno was a golden time, and Shropshire is beautiful.
The poet of Shropshire, A. E. Housman, wasn't actually A Shropshire Lad, but it seems not to have mattered. I'll confess I found the poetry, well . . . I didn't get it. Not until I heard it sungSusan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-21173428343882900562012-07-02T18:13:00.000-04:002012-07-23T21:52:15.308-04:00Taking A Break . . .
Great Blue Heron at Innisfree Garden
Starting tomorrow, I'll be offline for a couple weeks or so. I've enabled comment moderation, but I'll make sure any comments Prufrock's might be lucky enough to receive are posted once I'm back online.
I look forward to catching up with one and all when I'm online again.
Meanwhile, at our house: Bluebirds and Two Bonuses (not Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-73115047692792391232012-06-29T15:21:00.000-04:002012-07-02T18:18:31.050-04:00Guest Post: In C, The Gospel According to Dylan Mattingly
You simply have to relax and trust in that flow, let the music fill you and believe that it will take you places. Because it will.
—Dylan Mattingly
—Post by Dylan Mattingly
The thing about In C that is so incredible to me is that it is completely radically different every time it's played. In C is a byproduct of its performers and location to the extreme. The performers Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-46017677149799231632012-06-27T21:48:00.001-04:002012-06-29T15:57:03.185-04:00Variations on a Blue Guitar
They said, “You have a blue guitar,
You do not play things as they are.”
The man replied, “Things as they are
Are changed upon the blue guitar.”
And I am merely a shadow hunched
Above the arrowy, still strings,
The maker of a thing yet to be made;
The book and bread, things as they are,
In a chiaroscuro where
One sits and plays the blue guitar.
Here I inhale profounder Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-36343926625552894482012-06-24T22:23:00.000-04:002012-06-27T22:05:33.166-04:00In C
A music broke out
and walked in the swirling snow
with long steps.
Everything on the way towards the note C.
A trembling compass directed at C.
One hour higher than the torments.
It was easy!
Behind turned-up collars everyone was smiling.
—from Tomas Tranströmer’s C Major
A salutary thing it is, to throw out the rule book and start anew. Terry Riley did it with the piece Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-23327336960280786622012-06-21T15:59:00.000-04:002012-06-24T22:33:44.038-04:00Wales Diary, From Celtic Village to Castle Gardens
St Fagans Castle Grounds
The sun continued to shine for the remainder of my stay. Nothing short of miraculous, and it created a conundrum for my last day in Wales. I pored over the train and bus routes, but to no avail: a stretch of wild Welsh coastal path where I might ramble as I quoted from Dylan Thomas (or something of the sort) was simply out of reach.
St FagansSusan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-37814141564849725882012-06-17T16:07:00.000-04:002012-06-21T16:16:17.268-04:00Wales Diary, Art and the Aquabus
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
And lo, the sun shone on Cardiff once again. Not just a dry day, but another blue-sky sunny day. Nonetheless, I had one important indoor activity to which I needed to attend. The one-day stoppage was over, and the National Museum Cardiff demanded to be seen: in particular, the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection bequeathed Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-85101415598375692932012-06-13T18:08:00.000-04:002012-06-21T16:11:08.628-04:00Wales Diary, the Covered Streets of Cardiff
Morgan Arcade
My third day in Cardiff was again glowering and rainy, but I had the absolute best of indoor plans. I was going to spend the day at the National Museum Cardiff. Just for starters, thanks to the Davies sisters, the National Museum has one of the largest collections of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art outside of Paris. Some say the largest, but I’m from Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-51352547727139359762012-06-09T21:30:00.000-04:002012-06-21T16:09:25.283-04:00Wales Diary, Cardiff Castle
—for Hilary and her mother
My first attempt to breach the walls of Cardiff Castle didn’t work out quite as planned. When I returned from walking the barrage, it wasn’t yet 6 o’clock, and the sun was still out, so I thought, why not hop over to the castle and take a look? The hotel’s front desk staff recommended a taxi over the bus, and I thought, OK, just this once. I’ll Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-46463181254692411942012-06-05T00:07:00.001-04:002012-06-21T16:05:28.756-04:00Wales Diary, Cardiff Bay Barrage
Cardiff Bay Barrage
I’d not been in this position before when traveling: my evenings while in Wales were, by and large, spoken for with Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music concerts, but I’d nothing planned for the days.
I’d left the days open largely because of the weather, but also because I have a decided gift for getting lost, so I knew a good bit of time would be required toSusan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-18865397278459451182012-05-29T12:02:00.000-04:002012-06-12T20:17:26.894-04:00Worlds Entwined
Wales Millenium Centre, Cardiff Bay, May 11, 2012
Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music
The closing concert of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music was held in Cardiff Bay, at the Wales Millenium Centre’s BBC Hoddinott Hall, home to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. This time, as I was staying in Cardiff Bay, my own two feet were my transportation. The day was fine, Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-90040130243131312122012-05-22T18:39:00.000-04:002012-05-29T12:20:47.785-04:00Ancient Instruments, Timeless Sounds
St. Donats Arts Centre, Llantwit Major, Wales, May 9, 2012
Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music
I’ve not learned to drive on the “wrong” side of the road. That meant cadging a lift to Llantwit Major for my first Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music concert. Thank goodness for Festival staff member Cathy Morris, who did the driving, for the evening was rainy, and Llantwit Major is Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-80606226300229850382012-05-17T20:59:00.000-04:002012-05-29T12:15:34.470-04:00Crossing a Bridge of Dreams
All Saints Church, Penarth, Wales, May 10, 2012
Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music
The taxi driver knew exactly where to find All Saints Church in Penarth. “I was married there,” he said. When we told him we were going to a concert of choral music, he seemed almost as excited as I was. It transpired he’d sung in a choir as a boy, at least until his voice changed. “Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-47777780255708121872012-05-12T15:18:00.000-04:002012-05-25T21:33:56.683-04:00Gertrude’s Gloire
Gertrude Stein, sculpture by Jo Davidson
I’d been warned that the exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum, The Steins Collect, was vast and, not only that, but also full of explanatory text. “You can spend all your time,” said my artist-friend Barbara, “just reading the text.”
I freely admit that I’m not a member of the Gertrude Stein Adoration Society. Sure, there are legions of Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-62117634077369970022012-05-03T16:53:00.000-04:002012-05-25T21:34:35.659-04:00Gathering Blossoms While I May
Central Park Conservatory Garden
(if you can't see the photo slideshow above, try clicking here.)
Traveling Music
(No, not a misprint: the musical form is a palindrome, and the title is a palindrome, as well.)
So, off I go to the Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music. I'll look forward to catching up with you on my return from Wales.Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-63925001875804039062012-04-25T19:48:00.000-04:002012-06-05T07:48:12.098-04:00The Welcoming Spirit of Composer John Metcalf
John Metcalf
Composer and Artistic Director of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music
On May 7, I'm heading to Wales to attend the last three concerts of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music. The Festival, which this year runs from May 1 through May 11, is dedicated to celebrating the work of living composers from all over the world. This year, for example, two of the Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698728871635545011.post-48868387262651559272012-04-24T08:37:00.000-04:002012-05-25T21:43:32.196-04:00And On To a Dazzling CD
cover art by George Mattingly Design
the full CD jacket booklet can be found here
Today, April 24, is the official release date for the first CD from Contemporaneous: Stream of Stars, Music of Dylan Mattingly. To mark the day, a big day for my personal musical history book, I am taking the unusual step of re-posting what I wrote earlier this month about Stream of Stars. Susan Scheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com6