Music Post

Sadly, considering the fact that I studied piano for years, I don't know much about music, so any music posts of mine are bound to be uninformative (to put it nicely). Still, I feel inclined to follow my hermit friend's example by sharing and commenting on some youtube videos.

First, a video of Glenn Gould playing the first movement of Bach's harpsichord/piano concerto in D minor. I found it a striking and pleasing recording the first time I heard it, and the feeling hasn't worn off yet. A lot of credit is probably due to the fact that a piano was used instead of a harpsichord, but Gould's articulation surely contributed significantly as well. In any case, several parts that are unremarkable in other recordings become interesting and meaningful in this version. It's not so background-musicky, to put it simply.

Next are two "Liebesleid" videos: The first is Fritz Kreisler playing his own composition. The second video is Sergei Rachmaninoff playing his arrangement of Kreisler's piece. I include these two mainly because of the novelty of having both composers play their own versions of the song.
The title notwithstanding, the piece doesn't sound particularly tragic to me (probably it isn't supposed to). Melancholic, perhaps, but not without a healthy amount of optimism. Perhaps the song of a spoiled person who has come across some temporary love-related obstacles . . . Someone who keeps forgetting that he's supposed to be sad, because he doesn't actually have a good reason to be sad in the first place . . .

Now for two Hungarian dances by Brahms: the fifth, as played by Yehudi Menuhin, and the seventh, as played by Jascha Heifetz. What interests me about these two videos is the different approaches to tempo.
I think it has more to do with the piece than the interpretation, but I find the Hungarian dance #5 too rushed and hectic. The piano, especially, seems to be labouring to keep up at times. An unsettling effect on the whole.
In the Hungarian dance #7, on the other hand, I really like the variations in tempo, and I find the piece much less disjointed and much more dance-like.

On a different note (ho ho ho), here are two Händel videos, to illustrate my unreasonable prejudice against operas written in a language I understand: First, "Tornami a vagheggiar" from Alcina (sung by Joan Sutherland), which is in a language I *don't* understand, and which I enjoy. Normally, arias are not my cup of tea, but this one is an exception; it grew on me.
The second, "Happy We" (from Acis and Galatea) begins about five minutes into the video, and is a prime example of the occasional operatic silliness that becomes more evident if one understands the language. It's not that I don't understand the reasons for repetition in opera. It is usually done well, too (in Acis and Galatea, and elsewhere). However, repeating a word as ordinary and childish as "happy" so often is a bit much. If one considers the scales and flourishes, too, some parts of the duet verge on parody.
If I don't understand the language, I don't see the words as words, but as part of the music. Consequently, I am not bothered by incongruous mundanity; no ill-fitting associations or connotations intrude upon my appreciation of the music.

Anyway, one final violin video in honour of slides -- those ever-amusing representations of an old-fashioned and somewhat exaggerated sentimentality: In this video, Heifetz appears once again, this time playing Schubert's Ave Maria. Apparently he was only sixteen years old at the time of the recording.

And, just because it's so delightful (if, as my hermit friend says, one hasn't heard it fifty times), here is an encore: Kreisler playing "Schön Rosmarin" (again, his own composition).

Family Photos

For many months after our move, the walls on our new apartment were relatively bare. It was only a matter of weeks ago that my mother went around hanging up various photos, paintings, and drawings. What follows is a sampling from the living room, which contains -- apart from paintings and other odds and ends -- plenty of old photos and portraits of my family and my ancestors (mostly from my father's side of the family).

To begin with, since I intend to do this in chronological order, here are three portraits of Moses Mendelssohn (my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather). They were taken at various ages, as you can see. Mendelssohn, by the way, seems to have experienced the proverbial rise from anonymity and poverty to renown and influence. Not "only in America," apparently.






The next photo depicts my great-great-grandfather (a banker) and his family. The eldest daughter is my great-grandmother, and it is through her marriage that our last name changed from Mendelssohn to what it is now.


I'm not sure whether the following photo was taken before or after the last, nor am I sure of the identity of the subject. Still, I wanted to include it because of the expression. She has the air of a veteran of the theatre, no? Perhaps that is only my impression . . .


Next are two photos of my great-grandfather: one with his wife and one alone. By the way, I'm pretty sure those are Lederhosen in the first photo . . . and a cigarette in the second. Shocking! The cigarette, that is. The Lederhosen are not so shocking (though rather amusing, I find) because my great-grandfather was Austrian.




What follows is a photo of my father (as a child) with his family, presumably taken somewhere in British Columbia. They moved around quite a bit, so I'm not sure of the exact location. The white-haired woman in the back is my great-grandmother (seen in previous photos as a girl and as a young woman).


Finally, here is a photo of all four of my grandparents at my parents' wedding.


What I have learned: It is difficult taking photos of pictures on a wall. Even without flash, there are far too many troublesome reflections if one can't control the lighting in some way. I ended up taking a lot of photos at an angle. That wouldn't have been a problem, except that I only discovered the delightful "skew" feature on Adobe Photoshop after having edited several photos.

Speaking of which . . .

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Note: All photos were edited using Adobe Photoshop. :o)

Another Note: All my posts lately (I use the word "lately" loosely) have revolved around pictures. There is a simple reason: If I try to write a proper post with paragraphs, I spend hours on it and don't end up finishing. . . . On second thought, maybe I just like pictures. If I can add them, why not do it? Still, I would prefer to have a text-only post every now and again, if only for those with slow computers or slow internet connections. (Another pointless resolution that is bound to gather dust in a corner somewhere . . .)

Road Trip and Picnic

For now, I will just post a bunch of photos (with brief descriptions). I might add more writing later, but in the meantime it is probably best to refer to my sister's blog, Hermitologies, which has a pretty thorough account of both the road trip and the picnic.

I will begin with the photos from our trip to Kevelaer (in western Germany), even though the picnic actually took place earlier. It should be noted that it is surprisingly(?) difficult to take photos from the back of a little car traveling at high speeds. So, if the photos didn't turn out well, I have some excuse. Another point worth mentioning is that the photos were taken during our five-hour drive back to Berlin. No photos were taken on the way there, nor were any taken during our stay in Kevelaer (we were there from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning). Dreadfully negligent on our part, but such is life.

Anyway, first up are three pictures of a cooling tower, in chronological order. There were several other cooling towers along the way, but most (all?) were farther away. The cooling tower in the photo is not necessarily part of a nuclear power plant, by the way, but I found it slightly intimidating none the less. Part of the intimidating effect is due to the tower's size; the photos don't really show it, but the cooling tower has a decidedly looming quality. (Note: the first photo was taken by my sister)






Next is a photo meant to represent several typical aspects of a road trip: the cars, the highway, the road signs, the scenic landscape, the vast sky, and . . . the unfortunate squished bugs on the windshield (i.e. the blurred smudges scattered throughout the photo).


Our speed varied considerably during the trip, especially since we encountered mild to moderate traffic jams both to and from Kevelaer. The following is evidence that we reached speeds of at least 190 km/h. I don't think we went past 195 km/h, but I may be mistaken. Last year, we went up to 200 km/h. :o) It really makes 80 km/h look slow in comparison, even though that was about the speed we usually went on Canadian highways.


What follows is a belated photo of the Rhein (belated because it is actually one of the first photos I took). You can't see the river or the bridge very well (again, that's what comes from taking photos from a car). Ah well . . .


The next photo was taken by my sister. It shows one of the many lovely valleys we passed during one stage of the journey. There is something very pleasing about green fields, rolling hills, clusters of red-roofed houses, etc. Later on (or possibly earlier on), there were plenty of steeper wooded hills that had a broccoli-ish quality. Those hills were also lovely, particularly in the sun. With such scenery, I don't much miss the wilder greenery of Canada (especially since I prefer deciduous trees to evergreen trees).


Another photo of the pretty scenery (my photo this time):


Finally, a photo of a windmill. One comes across plenty of these in the German countryside. Often, there are rows of them -- towering white structures that, when unmoving, bring to mind "War of the Worlds." When seen scattered over the fields, they seem like machines left behind after some futuristic battle, or after the decline of a civilization.


Now for the picnic. It took place in late July. My family and the family of one of my uncles went to a nearby park to eat, talk, and play badminton. Some also played table tennis and soccer, while others (myself included) threw around a frisbee.

I don't really have much to say about the picnic photos, so I will just post them as they are.














That's all for now. I won't make any promises about the next post. I only hope the interval between posts will become shorter, not longer. :o/

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Note: All photos were edited using Adobe Photoshop.