jupe’s social life and current reading

 

My Sunday after vacation went fine. It was good to see everyone. One of my insights I am bringing back from vacation is that my work is a primary source of my own social interaction. As I age, I am more aware of the statistics that associate living longer with rubbing shoulders with other people. I’m a bit of introvert and haven’t exactly managed to cultivate much of a social life. So,  as I return to my work at church I am thankful that it, at least, provides me with some social outlet.

Having said that, I am aware that this “rubbing” from yesterday did leave my introverted self with his head spinning a bit as usual. This is part of the work and I can handle it.

I had some time before church yesterday, so I went up to the choir room and grabbed some organ music. I managed to choose a prelude and postlude for next Sunday. I am doing reentry conscious of continuing to shape my job to fit my own life style. This means being careful what music I choose regularly to perform. The two pieces I am playing next week come out of Volume 5 England 1730-1930 Wayne Leupold book.

I have been enjoying many of the Leupold Historical Organ Techniques and Repertoire books. They have a lot of information about the music and the musical style of the composers they include.  I’m playing one voluntary by Francis Linley (1770/71-1800) and a quick section of a voluntary by Jonas Blewitt (d. 1805).  I have never heard of either person, but the music is pleasant enough

Linley Practical Intruduction to Organ Playing Title Page

I couldn’t find a picture of Linley but I believe this is an organ book he wrote. No pictures of Blewitt either.

Yesterday late afternoon I had an email from Rev Jen requesting the piano trio for a big funeral we have scheduled Wednesday. Due to this funeral I think I’m going to delay planning this week because even though I will get paid an extra fee for it, I still count the prep time as part of my weekly church work.

I texted the other players in the trio and checked for their responses this morning. It’s a go. I am planning to make this as easy as I can for the three of us and still meet the expectations of the community and the boss. We will get together tomorrow.

I have been watching a documentary on James Joyce on YouTube the last few mornings while I do my stretches and exercise. I have Stephen Hero and Pound’s letters to him on my daily reading stack. Today I decided to pull out Finnegans Wake and add this to the stack. When I began looking at my Joyce books, I discovered that I have quite a few source books that I purchased after I had finished reading Finnegans Wake.

Image result for a word in your ear rosenbloom

A Word in Your Ear: How & Why to Read James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake is clearly written and is a good place for me to get back on the merry-go-round of this particular work.

Image result for finnegans wake oxford world classics

At some point I purchased a nice, new, clean copy of Finnegans Wake. So far this Oxford edition is the one whose pagination ryhmes with all my nice new unread resource books.

I figure if I can spend an hour or so a day with Greek, some daily time with Finnegans Wake is doable.

I am being drawn back into Eliot, Pound, and Joyce, partly out an enduring love of their work. But also by the fact that I have to look hard for anything else that approaches the satisfaction I get from reading them over and over.

Eliot quote from today’s reading:

“Shakespeare gives the greatest width of human passions; Dante the greatest altitude and depth.”

T. S. Eliot, Dante (1929) in Selected Essays, 226

Image result for shakespeare dante

 

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