what a difference quality sound makes

I have spent my life enjoying music largely for the way it works together not primarily for the beauty of the sounds. This has worked out well for me because as an organist and pianist often I have to play pretty crappy instruments. Many other musicians would probably turn up their nose at many if not most of the keyboard instruments I have had to perform on.

But after having spent several hours alone with Martin Pasi’s Gedackt and Viola pipes I am moving into another level of awareness of the beauty of organ sound. It is connected to the action as well. Playing these ranks on mechanical action quickly begins to feel more like singing than anything else. It’s an odd but extremely pleasant sensation. Of course it pulls me deeper into the music and the sounds themselves. How nice this is.

Sunday report

Here’s a link to a video of Rev Jen introducing Martin Pasi at the announcements yesterday (4:21 or so). Martin quickly gives a little talk. Later in the video (10:52) you can listen to the first sounds of the organ in the service accompanying Dvořák’s “God is my shepherd.”

Before this moment in the service, I only used piano. After this, I used the organ for the Holy holy, the Fraction Anthem, and the first Communion hymn. So now we have our feet wet as a community.

My Dvořák piano pieces were not stellar. I stumbled a couple of times. I do wonder if the flaws somehow contribute to the performance. I know I try to quickly get past them as I am playing. I also know there were some pretty musical moments in both the prelude and postlude. However, they might have gone better had I not spent time playing the organ for the sheer delight of it  before the choir arrived. Oh well. It was so much fun to play the organ that I’m not too disappointed in my performance of the Dvořák piano pieces which I learned in under a week.

Dupuytren’s Contracture

It’s official. I have Dupuytren’s Contracture (pronounced something like doo puh trens). I met with Dr. Richard Howell, orthopedic surgeon who specializes in hands, this morning. He said I have a classic case. He also recommend not intervening in any way at this time. He described for me the many treatments including operations. Since I am not exactly experiencing radical changes that inhibit my playing, he wanted to wait until doing something would provide significant relief since there is the risk he could make it worse. I see him again in January 2018 unless I have had no change in my hands in which case he said to cancel the appointment.

How music influenced the art of Marc Chagall – CBS News

I’m way behind on sharing links on the blog. I thought it was odd that this article mentioned “Firebird” but never says it was composed by Stravinsky. So much the influence of music, eh?

The Unconventional and Honest Music of Paul Russell | The Cornell Daily Sun

Kind of hip hoppy.

Ai Weiwei: How Censorship Works – The New York Times

This artist should know.

A Season of Regret for an Aging Tribal Expert in India – The New York Times

A disturbing sad story.

F.C.C. Will Review Complaints About Colbert Joke, Chairman Says – The New York Times

We are living through a time of evolving fascism.

Years After Boko Haram Kidnapping, Dozens of Girls Are Freed, Nigeria Says – The New York Times

I continue to follow this story. Some good news.

A Modern-Day Harriet Tubman – The New York Times

Now I understand why little minds were so upset at this woman making public statements. I think she’s inspiring.

It’s ironic that though I am using the Pasi for the first time in Eucharist this morning, I am spending hours preparing piano music, namely the Dvořák piano pieces for the prelude and postlude. I have already gone over them some this morning and plan to do more before I leave for church.

Yesterday was the first time I was able to practice on the Pasi. I went to church to prep for today. This meant moving choir chairs and the piano back into place, putting up the correct hymn numbers on the hymn board, making sure the choir has bulletins on their chairs in church and so on.

Then as I sometimes do, I methodically worked over the order for the service from beginning to end, either playing through material or simply looking at it and reassuring myself I could easily do it.

The first thing I will use the organ on is today’s choral anthem, “God is my shepherd” by Dvořák. So that was the first time I sat at the organ and worked yesterday. I discovered that there are two ranks ready for tomorrow plus all couplers are working. So after rehearsing playing and conducting the Dvořák, I could not resist rehearsing some upcoming organ music I want to use by Bach and Bender for Pentecost.

I pulled all the couplers on and found that it will take some getting used to a bit heavier touch. The flat pedal board presented very little challenge. It’s possible the touch will change after Pasi adjusts pipes but I’m thinking it’s going to be the most different thing about playing this instrument.

The flute stop which I will use today is beautiful. I rehearsed hymns on the organ just for fun to practice playing on it. I figure I will probably be able to get some more time on it today in the afternoon. But Pasi and I will probably be dodging each other next week, me giving him all the time he needs to do his work but at the same time looking out for times I can practice if he thinks that’s a good idea.

Well I have to get to more piano rehearsal. See you on the fun way.

jupe daily report or “dear eileen”

Eileen, who is in Beijing right now, and I are communicating by text. Yesterday she told me she read my blog and that it was something she didn’t often do since I tended to keep her informed of my thoughts in person. She said she found it “a good way to see what’s going on with” me. Oh dear. Now all the people in my life are accessing me this way (when they do access me). It occurs to me that I could easily be a computer program pouring out plausible prose describing the thoughts, ideas, and activities of jupe.

Anyway, yesterday I learned that it might not always be a good idea to treadmill before lunch. I had my biweekly meeting with Dr. Birky, my talk shrink. As I have said here before, I enjoy chatting with him. Then I drove home and treadmilled. I managed to do a little practicing at that point.

Tomorrow I will be playing two piano pieces by Dvořák. It is stretching me a bit to them so quickly. Ironically, the one piece that we added on Thursday for the prelude has fallen together a bit easier than the one I have been planning as a postlude all along. I should add something here about not worrying about people actually hearing my playing. It’s hard not to frame that without sounding like I’m feeling sorry for myself, but that’s not exactly how I experience it. When it’s obvious that few people are paying attention to the beauty I am trying to create, I try to draw closer to the beauty and not focus on the distraction.

I will probably play both pieces under tempo. I learned to do this from Bob Hobby who once told me that he was playing a piece in public for the first time as a prelude or postlude and that I could be sure he would play under tempo in order not to stumble. I combine this with some self serving understanding that I often like a slower tempo anyway.

I dropped by church and said hi to Martin. Then I went to my Mom’s. I was planning to say hi to her, then grocery shop, come home and spend some serious time with Dvořák. Unfortunately, as I was walking into my Mom’s nursing home, I recalled that her new phone modem was waiting for me at the front desk. I picked it up and went to her room. I then spent the rest of the afternoon attempting to get it to work. I couldn’t see how to hook it up so I called a service rep. He gave me the right number for assistance. I got cut off from first one then had to call back and wade through the robotic phone tree and repeat all the initial information to a second rep. Finally, I told the rep that we were going to have stop and work on this another day. She happily agreed.

Today I will check to see if Mom’s phone is working yet. I haven’t decided what I will do if it’s not.

By the time I had finished grocery shopping it was well past my daily martin time. Despite that I did some practice on my piano pieces, but I was too tired to put in the kind of intense sessions I will today.

Today I’m planning to end the day with treadmilling not begin it in order not to tire myself out before putting in the time on piano.

The loss of imagination

Jane Mayer,the brilliant journalist from Ohio and author of the book Dark Monday, was interviewed on today’s “On The Media” episode. She talked about some states no longer being a “fly over zone” and implored the embedding (my word) of journalists in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. “Come meet us” she said. It was moving how Gladstone extended the interview to allow this erudite New Yorker writer from the south to feel like she had defended her people. Honest passion was evident.
After all of that, it struck me that extremism in our time has lost the ability to imagine itself into other people’s lives. From England where I personally have had a whiff of the calcification of the class system (“People are what they seem”) to the world wide rejection of people in need to the insane climate in the USA right now. We call them refugees or Muslims or whatever and lose our ability to see ourselves in them and them in ourselves.

Literature and journalism are called in part to spark the kind of imagination that enables understanding and therefore connection between the reader and those not physically present. In other words, through news reports, novels and intelligent non-fiction we can “meet” the other, which inevitably is a step toward actually meeting them in person and listening to them.

I have managed to treadmill for the past three days. It seems to be helping my energy not draining it. Maybe I’m learning to pace myself a bit better, spending the energy where it’s needed and resting when needed.

I had a very interesting meeting with Jen yesterday. I hadn’t talked to her about my evolving vision for our recital series. She seemed interested but more anxious than usual. Her mild anxiety was that she didn’t know what I was thinking about how to approach it. So I tried to tell her as much as I could. There’s still a lot I’m in the process of thinking about.

I told her that I was interested in a monthly recital for the next two years. I would like to call the series Grace Notes and add the year like this: Grace Notes 2017. We talked about that name before and she likes it. I also reiterated I would like to establish pay scale for students ($75), colleagues ($200) and more for players of stature.

We decided that we would have our first recital on Pentecost afternoon. We had a fun little exchange when I told her i was thinking of kicking off this recital with Duke of Ellington’s “It don’t mean a thing.” I think she was taken aback. She seemed more accepting after I had explained to her that it was actually the content of the song that I wanted to set the tone with. The idea  that music is lifeless without rhythm. “It don’t mean a thing if it got that swing.” Also that I would narrate these concerts and was likely to say that I see Ellington as an American genius just as I see Tallis as an English genius and then have the choir sing Tallis’s anthem that we have scheduled to sing that morning at Eucharist.

We also agreed that in the publicity we would emphasize the organ finding its voice at the Sunday morning Eucharist celebration of Pentecost. Then mention that we were also having a recital that afternoon called “Greatest Hits Plus” featuring Grace musicians doing music from the past season plus a few other things.

Amy and Dawn are now on board as well. We had great rehearsals. Dawn and I read some Beethoven cello sonata movements. Pretty cool stuff actually. Then when Amy showed up we continued with Beethoven and read some of one of his piano trios. After Dawn left Amy and I played some Mozart. I would like each of them to play a solo at the June 4 recital: Dawn on Frescobaldi and Amy on Mozart.

I’m beginning to think I have too much music on my mind for this first recital. I mentioned to Amy that it would be cool to do Spiegel im Spiegel. But now I’m thinking that may be too much. Also, instead of playing the Bach Komm Heiliger Geist both in the morning and afternoon, maybe I’ll choose something shorter for an organ piece at the recital.

I received permission from Jen to invite Rhonda to play a July recital and pay her. Jen and I discussed forming a committee to help with the recitals and call it Friends of Grace Notes. We are toying with using organ committee members on this if they are willing.

Rhonda is too busy to do a July recital so I’ve asked her to do an August one which may fit better with her schedule. I am pondering July now. Not sure what I want to do with that.

Before I came home yesterday, I had a very cool conference with Jen, Martin, and Marcus.

Marcus is the man who does the wood stuff and other things for Pasi (you can see him in the above photo to Martin’s left. I believe Jen snapped this picture during our talk.). He is quite the artist and i have enjoyed getting to know him immensely (I told him so  yesterday since he’s getting on a plane to go home today).

We were talking about when to use the organ this Sunday. After our discussion we have decided to not have an organ prelude and to only use the organ on the Fraction Anthem if I am able to also use it earlier in the service on the Dvorak choral anthem. I won’t know if this will be practical until I try it Sunday before the service. If I don’t use it at the anthem, Jen didn’t want the organ to sound first at the fraction. This is wise, I think. In either case I will be using it on the first communion hymn which is an Easter text using the melody of O Filli et Fillae (O sons and daughters). I will play a Dvorak piano piece for both prelude and postlude.

I am basking in the collaboration of this conversation. I do like working with Jen and Martin with Marcus smiling in a slightly mad attractive way.

Life is good.

I have to put up some pictures of my daughter and granddaughter underwater. I think this are fabulous.

I guess I’m slipping in grandfather banality, but I can’t help it. These are wonderful pictures of Lucy underwater.

When I asked Sarah if I could copy the first one to my Facebooger feed in order to bypass her privacy settings, she said okay, so I’m assuming it’s alright to put all of them here as well.

I had an unusual energy day yesterday. I experimented with treadmilling before lunch despite knowing that I would need the usual high energy in the evening for choir rehearsal. After lunch I went to see my Mom then to church to prepare for the evening rehearsal. This took until about 3 PM. Then I decided that I would practice organ for an hour. So I drove to St. Francis and spent some time on the little Pels there.

I was surprised to find that my energy was good and my fatigue a bit less than usual for last night’s rehearsal. How about that? I think we had a good one. I discovered that I didn’t have the music for Mister Green Genes by Zappa sitting on my hard drive. I didn’t want to spend too much time on it, but I wanted to introduce something to the choir last night that would be an addition to our usual repertoire but step outside of it. I landed on Duke Ellington’s “It don’t mean a thing.”

After spending some serious time on Tallis’s “O Lord, Give Thy Holy Spirit” and other parts of our repertoire and upcoming anthems, I ended the rehearsal with the genius Duke Ellington’s song.

Find Your Representative · House.gov

The House is voting today in an attempt to dismantle public health insurance. I called my rep. Call yours.

A Small Flame – The New Yorker

I have been listening to Yuyin Li read her short story. I think it’s pretty good. In it, the main character, singularly lucky Chinese person,  is visiting Beijing from her home in New York.

The keyboards are connected to the trackers now. I played a few notes yesterday.

That’s Martin in the picture above. I had a nice chat with him yesterday. I was very surprised to find that our aesthetics and way of looking at many things are not that far apart. I think of myself as eccentric. My brother Mark says that because I associate with so many  organistas, a brand in and unto themselves. There’s some truth to that. But I feel like for much of my life I have rubbed shoulders with many musicians who were more narrow in their likes and dislikes than I was. Of course, I found people with whom I had much in common. But at this time of my life it is exciting to meet people like Martin and his two co-workers who seem to see things in ways that make sense to me.

It reminds me of meeting younger musicians. Many times in the last twenty or so years when I have met musicians they exhibit a breadth of skill and knowledge across many styles of music. I like that. Also, many of them improvise.

So I am thinking about a recital showing off the musicians of Grace. I will talk to my boss this afternoon about this. I would like to have the choir sing several of the anthems we have learned this season. In addition, I want to teach them a couple of tunes to sing like Mister Green Genes by Zappa.

And I’d like to show off my piano trio members if they are free and willing to play. I’d like my violinist to play Spiegel im Spiegel by Part, my cellist to play a Frescobaldi piece, and the three of us to play some CPE Bach and my recently composed, “Stirred Hearts and Souls.” You get the idea. This may not come together. But the organ is supposed to be ready by June 4th and that’s the date I think it might fun to have “Greatest Hits Plus” debut of the Grace Notes 2017 Music Series. A man can dream.

Hate for Sale from Anna Eijsbouts on Vimeo.

more poetry videos: Videos — Visible Poetry Project

In ‘Brexit’ Talks, U.K. and E.U. Are Said to Be Miles Apart – The New York Times

Talking about a “hard Brexit.”

Echoes of Colonial Conflict in Algeria Reverberate in French Politics – The New York Times

Some interesting insights into the current stuff in France.

Eileen got up good and early and boarded a train for Chicago. From there she will get to O’Hare for a flight to Beijing. She is looking forward to seeing the Beijing branch of the fam. I will be on my own for the two weeks she is gone. She asked me what I would do while she was gone and I confessed that it would be what I usually do: read, practice and study. I will miss her but I do enjoy my solitude.

And of course I am daily monitoring the progress on getting the organ installed. Yesterday we had many visitors. It was fun to chat with people coming to look at the ongoing installation process.

Yesterday I gave some thought to what I would play this weekend for the prelude and postlude. It’s possible I will have one rank to use. Jen did promise the congregation the organ would not be silent this Sunday.  So I chose a couple of pieces I think I could do on one manual with one rank: The Irishe Ho Hoane (from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book)

This recording is lovely but a bit on the slow side for me. I will also play “Mit Ganczem Willen Wünsch Ich Dir” by Conrad Paumann (1410-1473).

I like this recording of this organ piece. The original tune comes form Fundamentum Organisandi (1452).

I  know I have performed the first one at Grace before and I probably have used the second some time because it is one I like quite a bit.

The choir is  singing “The Lord is my Shepherd” buy cheap valium from india by Dvo?ák (it’s Good Shepherd Sunday). Here’s a recording of it being sung in Czech. I like the accordion sounding accompaniment better than piano which is the way you often hear this sung as an art song.

I chose two eclogues for piano by Dvo?ák for possible use Sunday. I found two that I like and will enjoying learning. Both are two long but I have come up with clever ways to excerpt them.

Our first hymn is the folky tune: “Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks to the risen Lord!”

I chose this eclogue for a possible piano prelude because it’s in the same key.

I especially like the C section of this rondo-like eclogue. I think it’s lovely and wanted to include it in my excerpt.

For a piano postlude I chose the B section of Eclogue 3 (B 103).

I won’t know which of these pieces I will need for this Sunday for a few days, but it’s all music I enjoy and look forward to spending time with all of it in preparation.

I talked music with Marcus and Grant, Martin Pasi’s co-workers yesterday. Marcus saw Zappa live in Zurich when he came out and “took a dump” on stage and that was the whole disappointing performance.

I asked Grant to recommend some music he liked. He mentioned Tyr and Devon Townsend. I listened to both and I think I like Devon Townsend. Here’s a video of a performance from last December at Royal Alpert Hall. If you’re impatient, the music begins around 5:12 but the goofy opening set up is growing on me.

 Musical Sunday

I had a very musical Sunday yesterday. I played Rameau and Beethoven at church. I conducted the choir which sang well. I played the service and the congregation sang well. My trio played on an AGO Members recital. We played “Stirred Hearts and Souls,” my own composition and two Purcell pieces from incidental music to The Faerie Queen.

In Rev Jen’s homily yesterday she made the clever point that this would be the last Sunday our new pipe organ would be silent. We are hoping that Martin Pasi will have at least one function rank by next Sunday so I can work it into the service somehow.

My piano trio played well yesterday. We especially nailed my little trio, “Stirred Hearts and Souls.” I think all three of us enjoyed playing. I had many nice comments on my piece.

Chevron deference

This is a podcast from the National Constitution Center. In it, George Will mentioned a concept I was not familiar with: Chevron Deference. I think this term may have come up in Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch’s nomination hearings.

I’m writing between church and the concert this afternoon. I have to mention that Martin Pasi complimented me and Rev Jen on how we do church. He complimented my use of music and rhythmic improvisations and playing. Together with Jen he said our church was the kind of church he could actually attend. This is enormously gratifying to hear. I didn’t expect that since I know that my approach is so eccentric and he is such an artist.

The church was abuzz today. I played Rameau and it was basically lost in the noise. But no matter. I enjoyed performing it. The choir sounded great and the congregation sang with gusto. Jen came and gave her sermon from the back of church (where the organ is) telling us that way she wouldn’t have to keep asking people to turn back and look at her, wouldn’t have to say “yoo hoo!” because they were looking at the organ. She used the moment well and gave beautiful little homily in which the organ played a part but managed to still be about the gospel.

There was a lot of noise today. One of my choir directors after church said that maybe we could quieten the congregation once the organ was functional. I pointed out to him how cool it was that this congregation was so excited about a PIPE ORGAN. The energy is something both Jen and I value and want to harness not discourage. He looked  a little chastened, but seemed to understand.

Every day seems very  full lately. I am curious to see how the Pasi crew left the church. Despite feeling slightly goofy about it, I am planning to play  my prelude on  my electric harpsichord tomorrow. After all this esoteric discussion and thinking of mean tone tuning and its purity, plonking away on a $50 synth seems a bit crass. But it is what I do. I play what I have hoping something better will possibly come along. This has worked with the organ at Grace (miracle). And I’m very hopeful by fall to have my own harpsichord back up and running. Of course, it’s kind of a klonker as well, but it’s my klonker.

I was happy to read in the May issue of the The American Organist that the AGO now offers members the option to only read the magazine online. They knock a few bucks off the subscription/membership, but that’s what attracts me. I like not having the dam paper to get rid of after reading. I read this in the May issue of The American Organist. I have it in my hands. Unfortunately, it’s not available online yet, just April. Sheesh.

This doesn’t bother me too much. I sometimes let old AGO mags pile up unread and have to plow through them long after they are outdated. When I re-up my membership I am planning on opting out of the paper magazine. Unless I find the only stuff unusable.

Caroline Shaw’s ‘This Might Also Be A Form Of Dreaming’ With Roomful Of Teeth And Playground Ensemble | CPR

Podcast.

#DSOLive Classroom Edition

Not sure how this works, but it’s a cool idea.

I’m posting in late afternoon. I have a had a relaxed day spending a lot of time with Eileen. I practiced a couple of hours at Hope Church. I talked to Martin about temperaments yesterday and have resolved to learn them since he spoke of equal temperament with disdain and has developed his own tuning system derived partly from the work of Herbert Anton Kellner.

Martin said he was a “numerologist.” I found some good info here. The writer of this article is understandably skeptical about the numerology but says he likes the tuning. Martin said that Kellner studied all of the keys of Bach’s music before developing a mean tone temperament which he felt would work well with all of Bach’s music (meaning especially the different keys).

I learned something already. That “Wohltemperierte” in the title ‘Das Wohltemperierte Klavier’ (‘The Well-tempered Keyboard’) by Bach doesn’t mean temperament in the sense of “well tempered.” Apparently the term at the time for this was ‘Gleich-Schwebende Temperatur.’ link to source of this info

I have been thinking about mean tone temperament and it has occurred to me that it might be easier to learn to tune this way then the way I used to try to tune my harpsichord. I am hopeful to try to learn more from Martin about this subject and do some reading and research about it myself.

Eileen and I had a nice chat with Marcus, Martin Pasi’s woodworker (I don’t know his last name and couldn’t find it online).

There are three men in Pasi’s shop. (above Grant, Marcus and Martin Pasi). Marcus says that they produce pipes with three men more quickly than either Fritz’s shop or Taylor and Boody.

Both of the other shops have three or four times the people working. Marcus is obviously a determined high quality worker.

He talked to me at length just about the music rack. It is birdseye maple which he said was difficult to work with. He scraped and sanded this piece until it is beautiful all by itself.

He is also a Death Metal fan. As we were leaving he told me that there was a Death Metal band from Holland called Within Temptation which he admires and told me I would probably like them as well. I said, “From Holland? Holland, Michigan?” He said yes. I asked if they were a “Christian” Death Metal band. Marcus laughed. We clarified that they were not a Christian Death Metal band and were Dutch not American (different Holland).

Here’s a taste.

I love learning about new music. I’m still figuring this band out. They make me think of some so-called prog rock bands from the nineties.

A Hundred Days of Trump – The New Yorker

This is a good overview from my online-echo-chamber-confirmation-bias sources.

Salman Rushdie Reads Italo Calvino – The New York

I love this podcast. In the short story the narrator says that he lives in a “castle of meanings, not things” which I like but think I misinterpret and twist into applying to myself. Rushdie indicates that he believes that the narrator fails to separate things and ideas in his life. Oops. Anyway here’s a link to a pdf of the story, if you want to read it.

The 100 Days That Turned America Upside Down – BillMoyers.com

I admire the author, Neil Gabler. Bookmarked to read.

Key Copyright Bill Passes In the House, Music Community Cheers | Variety

Yikes. I am not exactly a Democrat, but I do thing that information wants to be free.

Trump’s Hundred Days of Rage and Rapacity | By Ralph Nader | Common Dreams

As usual Nader’s prose is a little purple, but I still agree with him.

That Ghostly, Glowing Light Above Canada? It’s Just Steve – The New York Times

I have been watching headlines about “Steve.” I finally read this article. I like the origin of the naming.

The Mushroom Hunters: Neil Gaiman’s Feminist Poem About Science, Read by Amanda Palmer – Brain Pickings

I spent a little time playing through more of Frescobaldi on the little Pels at St. Francis yesterday. Frescobaldi is on my mind a lot lately. It began with the gamba pieces Dawn and I have been playing and enjoying so much. I pulled out my old Kalmus volume of Frescobaldi toccatas and began playing through it. I happily discovered that I have learned and performed several of these pieces in the past.

Then I stumbled across Andrew Lawrence-King on YouTube lecturing about the “Frescobadl rules” after being intrigued by a performance of one of his toccatas by Marco Mencoboni. I am beginning to suspect that Mencoboni’s performance might the kind of performance that Lawrence-King thinks is unstylistic (too free).

Nevertheless, it is charming. Here it is again.

I was delighted to find that there is an entire interview of Alexander Lawrence-King in the collection of interviews I have been reading, Inside Early Music by Bernard D. Sherman.

I dutifully finished the interview of William Christie in it before turning to Lawrence-King’s interview. He seems like a scholar that I will enjoying learning from.

This morning I was reading in Peter Williams’ J.S. Bach: A life in music. Again i was pleasantly surprised when Williams began talking about how Frescobaldi’s work influenced Bach and that Bach owned copies of Frescobaldi’s music.

What nice serendipity.

For my organista readers who don’t do Fecesbooker (Hi Rhonda!) here’s a pic of what the ongoing organ installation at Grace Church, Holland, looked like yesterday.

Also, I ran across the work of Joan Chamorro on Facelessbooger yesterday. I mistakenly thought that “Joan” was the trombone player in this lovely video recording. I found it confusing when I read about how “Joan” had started this jazz group for young musicians in Barcelona and in all of the videos I found the bass player from this video was leading. A bass player friend of mine corrected me. Now I get it. Joan is a guy.

I do like this music quite a bit.

BBC Radio 3 – Composer of the Week, Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Schumann Moves to Dusseldorf

My tablet podcast player doesn’t work very well with BBC podcasts. I outsmarted it and listened to part of this on my laptop. Great stuff as usual from the BBC.

The Media Bubble is Real — And Worse Than You Think – POLITICO Magazine

If you’re interested in understanding what’s happening to our media in the USA this is a must read. I put it up on Facebook as well.

Robert M. Pirsig, Author of ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,’ Dies at 88 – The New York Times

I liked his book.

The Urgency of Ethnic Nationalism – The New York Times

Weird shit.

What Trump’s Budget Means for the Filet-O-Fish – The New York Times

More screw ups from the Trump Team.

Right and Left: Partisan Writing You Shouldn’t Miss – The New York Times

New links.

So yesterday morning the Martin Pasi pipe organ arrived at Grace and last night I dreamed about Billy Holiday for some reason.

Eileen and went over to join parishioners who were helping the crew unload the instrument. Around 10 I came home and goofed off a bit and then went off to practice at the local Methodist church where my trio is performing Sunday. Eileen stayed to help with unloading.

We had lunch at the church. There was bunch of left over Mexican food from Sunday’s Memorial Service and everyone helping unload the instrument sat down and ate together. I sat next to the truck driver, Dave. He talked about driving truck all over the US, from L.A. to Florida and now from Roy, Washington to Holland, Michigan. He mentioned that he once made a delivery to one of the Back Street Boys’ home, some sort of huge stage device (some kind of flame machine) to be housed in a gymnasium like room in the person’s home that dwarfed our church. Then he showed me a picture of his nephew (I think it was his nephew) whom he said had been diagnosed with cancer twenty some odd years ago when he was eight. He is still fighting it and plays in a rock and roll band that recently opened for Bon Jovi.

The pipe organ was completely unloaded before lunch. Its parts were scattered all over the church and adjoining commons area. The wood is beautiful. I had a message from a choir member last night that it was beginning to look more like an organ as they assembled it. Here’s a pic from Pasi’s Facelessbooger photos.

It looks like we are going to do church upstairs Sunday. How we will set up the choir and piano remains to be seen. I picked out a prelude and postlude for next Sunday yesterday.  The opening hymn, “Now the green blade riseth,” is in E minor.

I chose a charming little Rameau harpsichord piece also in E minor for the prelude, “Tambourin.”

I am sorely tempted to play it on my electric harpsichord. The postlude picks up on the opening of the closing hymn, “Christ is alive!” : do, mi, fa, so.

It is a bagatelle by Beethoven. It has no dynamics marked. Tempo is marked quasi allegretto. I found a nice recording of it on YouTube.

I think it will make a nice little piano postlude right after that hymn. Here’s a recording of the prelude.

Trump Probably Won’t Defy Midterm Gravity | FiveThirtyEight

I especially like this chart that shows midterm elections all the way back to President Harding (1922)

It was nice to get up leisurely at 5 this morning, do the dishes, make coffee, read Greek, and read poetry. I seem to be following several fine poets right now. Their work is doing what fiction used to do for me: help me understand what it means to be alive right now. I have a stack of books to the left of my chair by Derek Walcott (Omeros), Hayden Carruth (Last Poems),  Marianne Boruch (Eventually One Dreams the Real Thing), and Stephen Dunn (What Goes On: Selected and New Poems 1995-2009). Each poet grabbed me this morning with insights and beauty. I want to keep reading each poet beyond the particular work I am now reading. This is a pleasant thought.

Yesterday was a day of music for me. I confessed to the choir that I think I am feeling my old age because I am more easily distracted while performing than I used to be. I mentioned my new adverse reaction to the funeral directors recently who insisted on talking to me as I was playing.  I begged my choir not to move in front of the piano or talk near it while I was playing. Of course this didn’t work. During the prelude one of my choristers moved across in front of the piano and two adult servers stood nearby chatting. i don’t actually blame anybody but myself for my less than stellar performance of Hassler’s Canzona. So it goes.

The anthem by Hassler went pretty well. I had seven singers for most of the pregames, eventually we were joined by an eighth. One soprano, two altos, three tenors and two basses. The piece we sang, “Quia vidisti me, Toma,” was an ambitious one for a small church choir. They did a good job.

My postlude was Debussy’s first Arabesque for piano. It went well. I used it again at the Memorial Service held between church and my afternoon Messiah sing along.

After church, a singer from the choir took me aside and told me she appreciated my acknowledgment of old age, since she was dealing with similar stuff in her life.

After the Memorial Service, I came home and laid in bed, preparing my score for the afternoon Messiah. I had photocopied two movements to insert into my orchestral score I planned to play from. One of these was simply not present in its entirety in the Dove score. The other was to prepare the cuts announced at the rehearsal Tuesday. I also carefully paperclipped and marked moving from one movement to another for myself since we left out quite a few of them.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a check for me on the harpsichord when I arrived at St. John’s in Grand Haven. I had not mentioned a fee when Nick asked me to play. In my case, if I don’t stipulate a fee, I don’t expect one.

It turned out to be one I earned since the harpsichord seemed to be more integral to the performance than I remember it being in the Messiah. This might have been due to the small orchestra which was one on a part. The performance was fun. The high point for me was the orchestra which was made up of some extremely skilled sensitive players. I’m thinking of “Facebook-friend-requesting” some of them, especially the double bass player who nailed it and made my job easier.

So it was a long day but a good one and full of good music. Martin Pasi arrived in town last night. He came to church yesterday morning and seemed well pleased with the acoustic enhancement. I am planning on being at church in a couple of hours when he and his crew are scheduled to begin unloading the new pipe organ from the truck. Eileen said that he mentioned to her yesterday that he might need me in the afternoon for consulting. So I will arrange for that with him.

I am scheduled to practice at the Methodist church this morning at 10:30. I’m hoping that actually happens since this church has been a little weird about letting me practice there. I need to register the Purcell string pieces I have arranged.

Life is good.

Right and Left: Partisan Writing You Shouldn’t Miss – The New York Times

If you’re not checking this out, I recommend doing so.

Ohio Town’s Schools Hope to Be ‘More Than a Line Item’ in the Federal Budget – The New York Times

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Randi Weingarten, the American Federation of Teachers president meet and talk. Wild.

Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election. – The New York Times

I’m still annoyed with Comey but this lengthy report helps me understand why he did much of what he did. Still inexcusable. I bet a dollar his guy won the presidency even though Comey himself seems not to have voted.

‘Sherlock Holmes of Armenian Genocide’ Uncovers Lost Evidence – The New York Times

Genocide before the term was coined.

I don’t have much time to blog this morning. I need to review my prelude and postlude  for today as well as the psalm and the anthem. It looks like today will be full. I have a Memorial Service after church at 1 PM. Then after a brief respite, Eileen and I will drive to Grand Haven and I will play in a sing along Messiah. This is enough for one day for this old guy.

Martin Pasi arrived last night and left a message on my phone. Unfortunately, I was already in bed. He and his crew couldn’t find their B and B. Yikes. He also didn’t have Jen’s phone number. I hope that worked out okay. I am afraid to call him this early in the morning, but I did email Jen about it, since she out an email to him and me earlier this morning.

I am getting more and more interested in Italian music. I haven’t studied it too much or at least not in the depth I have German and French. I am speaking of the 16th – 17th century primarily and thinking about Frescobaldi and eventually the Gabrielis.

I found an interesting lecture online. It is by a harp player who has performed with Jordi Saval and other name brand early music people. His name was in the index of some of the newer early music books I have been reading. I’ll just leave his lecture here. It’s probably more than any of  you want to know about Italian music.

I got very interested in learning more after listening to this rendition of a Frescobaldi Toccata on the Harpsichord. I want to know why this player pays it the way he does.

Barb Phillips is visiting us. She showed up yesterday to do some weaving under Eileen’s instruction. Eileen is preparing her loom in the dining room to weave a rug. It’s fun living with a weaver.

My appointment with Dr. Birky went well. I enjoy talking to him and it gives me a chance to think about what has transpired between conversations and then understand myself and my actions with some perspective. Much of what I talk with him about is stuff I write here as well. It’s more fun with someone in person I think.

I spent time on the organ bench yesterday at Hope Church. For the first time I tried out the organ parts I have adapted from Purcell’s incidental music for The Fairie Queen. For the most part it seems successful to me.

I also played carefully through several of Andrea Gabriell’s Ricercari. Dawn and I have been rehearsing some lovely Frescobaldi Canons for Bass and Continuo.

I do love early music. I’m not sure how effective it would be for a contemporary audience, but I suspect I will be scheduling some of it soon as preludes and postludes on the Pasi.

After lunch, Eileen and went on errands while Barb returned to her weaving. After we got home I spent time on my electric harpsichord with Frescobaldi. I own a  volume of his works which I have performed out for for years. I do like this music.

Gabriel Sherman, the author of The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic ROGER AILES Built FOX NEWS—and Divided a Country had some interesting things to say on this week’s On the The Media episode.

He pointed out that Ailes and others paved the way for the Trump Presidency in several ways. They never “let facts get in the way of a good story.” They made “the whole notion of truth subject to debate.” They turned “news into a combat sport.” They transformed the notions of “offensive speech” and “political correctness.” These are all hallmarks of how our president operates. A later guest on this episode pointed out how Trump’s cabinet and advisers actually lobby him via public statements since the TV is his source of understanding along with the last ten minute conversation he had (as in the one he had with Xi Jinping).

I was also struck by what one person said about moving from South Africa to America and being struck by how well off we are. He is an observer of life in China. He pointed out the difference between people who grew up in the 70s there and the people growing up now. In the 70s, many Chinese knew hunger.  But now most are well fed. This contributes to their inability to imagine the disaster of war. In the USA this propensity is, in my opinion, massive.

I finished this book of poems today.

Hutchinson was born in Jamaica and now teaches at Cornell.  Like Derreck Wallcot and other poets I am currently fascinated with, he is exhibits a sensibility which mixes a post colonial understanding rooted in both his Caribbean heritage and a sophisticated classical Western education. In this he resembles Derek Walcott. He interviewed Walcott before he died and has admired him in print.

I like this way his poems work and the way he pulls in all kinds of ideas. Here’s an interview with him I plan to read:

Yusef Komunyakaa and Ishion Hutchinson: What Is It to Be an American? | poets.org

And another one in which he refers to Walcott as a “chief cornerstone” presumably of some aspect of his (Hutchinson) own work.

Ishion Hutchinson Interview – Poetry International’s Weblog

I think Dawn, my cellist, was pleased yesterday when I told her my doctor had referred me to a hand surgeon (Orthopedic surgeon). My doctor said that since I was a musician I should have someone look at how my hands are aging and my stretch is shortening. She said it’s possible they can’t do anything about it, but it’s also possible they might. Worth it to have someone look at it, she said.

A little googling reveals that I might have Dupuytren’s contracture. Thickening of the palm and nodules are both something I have.

I just checked and my GP didn’t give me this specific diagnosis. My after visit summary says that my doctor diagnosed “Hand deformities, acquired, unspecific laterality.” I wonder if the Orthodontic surgeon will give me a more specific diagnosis.

So I’m expecting a call from one of two local Orthopedic clinics. The reason Dawn might have been pleased is that she encouraged me to seek some help since my hands are so important to my music making.

My doctor’s appointment went well. My numbers are pretty good. I managed to log in to my lab report online and look over it before the appointment. And also have it in hand when Dr. Fuentes explained to me what the numbers meant. My PSA (prostrate specific antigen) numbers was up minutely. My cholesterol down. My weight up. My BP acceptable on a second take. The usual.

Both the attending nurse and Dr. Fuentes commented on my hair since I had washed it that morning and it was down and long. Also, when the attending nurse came into the waiting area instead of calling my name, she looked at me and told me I was next. I said to her that you know you’re in trouble when the people at the clinic recognize you.

This morning I see my shrink for our biweekly meeting. It will be interesting to see how that conversation goes in Easter Week. I told Doctor Fuentes that I had just been through a “challenging” period at work. I try to find succinct ways to update my health care providers. Of course, I’m not exactly “succinct” with Dr. Birky, my talk therapist. Quite the contrary.

Trio rehearsal went well. I spent quite a bit of time playing cello pieces with Dawn. Amy arrived without her music and took off to go find it.  Dawn and I played Frescobaldi and a huge helping of Bach gamba sonata movements. Good for the soul.

When Amy got back we went through music for our upcoming AGO appearance including my little piece, “Stirred Hearts and Souls.” I confided in Dawn and Amy that it wasn’t really classical music. It’s more like rock and roll to my way of thinking.  I told Amy I didn’t need the trained concert violinist in her. Instead I needed the fiddle player (she has done some professional fiddle playing…. Irish dances I think). This piece is coming together nicely.

I think we’re getting a little giddy at church about the impending arrival of the Pasi. Yesterday my boss emailed me that we will not have to adjourn to the basement for the installation process. Martin Pasi said that since they were beginning on a Monday that they would be able to contain the process enough that church services could go on as usual. This is good news.

While I’ve been writing, I’ve been checking out some music. I have to share a couple of videos here that have charmed me.

I seem to have a “Thursday” mood that recurs and it’s not particularly a pleasant one. After effort comes deflation for me. This combines with personality flaws like obsessing and self-pity. The result is physical fatigue and mental dismay. This is not diminished by facing a six month check up today. Bah.

However, in the words of Mehitabel, “Toujours gai, Archie, there’s a dance in the old dame yet.”

And things are going well, extremely well. It’s not hard for me to realize how lucky I am and to be grateful in the midst of my physical and mental exhaustion. I contacted several of the local organistas and invited them and students to drop in and check out the instrument. Pasi, the builder, told Jen that he would welcome help unloading the instrument next Monday. Jen said she was going to announce that at services this weekend. I stopped by my dentist who had asked if he check out the  installation as it was happening and left a message for him.

I just checked my online blood draw lab results. As near as I can see my numbers look good. My cholesterol went down a bit. My PSA up a point. I’ll go over all this today with Doctor Fuentes. I think it’s pretty cool to be able to see the results online.

Choir rehearsal went okay last night. I had eight people. A ninth person arrived for the last half hour. I tried to help the group shake its fatigue. Instead they accused me of fatigue. Sheesh. Being a choir director is sort of like herding cats. It was a good solid rehearsal. I taught them two new Helen Kemp canons. One of these was “The Instruments of The Orchestra” which is five or six different melodies that can be sung simultaneously mimicking instruments like the violin, the clarinet, bassoon and so on. I think it’s fun. They seemed to like it.

This afternoon I have my piano trio rehearsal. Tomorrow I meet with Dr. Birky my therapist. My life is good despite this Thursday mood.

I wondered how I would do yesterday. Tuesday in Easter week found me and Eileen sitting in our living room chatting with old friends, Dave Barber and Paul Wizyinajtys (wizz ah night us). Paul is the one with the beard. They have been given a honeymoon trip for their recent marriage in the 39th year of their relationship by friends.

They are staying down in South Haven about 30 minutes away. It was no surprise that the four of us picked up our friendship and conversation with ease despite not seeing each other that much.  I hope Eileen and I convinced them to avail themselves of our guest bedroom and come for an extended visit here. They seemed interested. And they are both retired, but still actively pursuing a life-long artisan/artist venture.

We went out for a nice Laotian lunch then visited my Mom and came home and chatted until it was time for Eileen and me to leave for Grand Haven. I had a 7 PM rehearsal for Sunday’s Messiah Sing Along. Eileen had arranged to have coffee with a new friend who lives in Grand haven.

The rehearsal ran for two and a half hours. I was surprised at how relaxing I found it. It’s kind of a treat to work with  my buddy Nick Palmer and also to play continuo, something I love doing. Baroque continuo is, to my mind, sort of like playing rhythm guitar. The bass line and the pluck of the harpsichord give a subtle punch to the music when it’s lively. It comes a bit more to the fore in the recitatives. The strummed chords again are like strumming a guitar while the singer sings in free fashion.

Anyway, it was a nice quiet surprise that at the end of the evening I wasn’t as exhausted as I am after leading a rehearsal or a service.