Allow The Light

Allow The Light
Is All The Call Implores.

Allow The Light
To Flood
The Heart
To Flow
The Veins
To Fill
The Space
That Craves.

Allow The Light Is All
The Light Is All
The Light Is

Chapel of Light
Mercy Medical Center
Baltimore, MD

We attended the Monument lighting last evening. There were so many people! Ate kettle corn and got a hamburger from the Chowhound truck. Yum. A great way to begin the holiday season.

Invisible

Each interprets my notes in harmony with his own feelings,
But not one fathoms the secrets of my heart.

Rumi

Dear Brahms

The Sun Never Says

Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth,
"You owe Me."

Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky.

Hafiz

For Three Days

Not many teachers in this world can give you as much enlightenment in one year as sitting all alone, for three days, in your closet would do.

Hafiz

Bird Feeders

Oh my gosh I'm obsessed with birds and bird feeders. We now have one Hummingbird Feeder, one Seed Feeder and one Thistle Seed Feeder. And we have so many birds! Ruby Throated Hummingbirds, Nuthatches, Titmice, Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Blue Jays. With my binoculars (sigh, yes, this is ridiculous) I can see Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, Wood Creepers, Red Tail Hawks and a bunch of birds not yet identified.

I don't know what this is all about. It has nothing to do with music. Nothing to do with the work I do. I sit on our porch watching all these birds eat. 'Tis delightful and relaxing.

Robert Schumann Arabeske Op. 18

This is a new piece for me. Seems to fit under my fingers quite nicely.

"And Those Who Were Seen Dancing . . ."

"And those who were seen dancing were thought insane by those who could not hear the music."

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

http://www.trailsage.com/#/boulder-co-mt-sanitas-trail/4534884924

I climbed this rock with my daughter while visiting her in Boulder, CO. Have never, ever attempted anything like this before. If she had told me what I was in for I probably would have found a nice coffee shop and waited for her return with pictures. She was sneaky. 'Let's go for a final hike before you head home tomorrow, mommy.' Mommy. How could I resist? Hiked a variety of trails the entire time I was there. Loved every one of them. But this one . . . .

1200 feet up. UP. No gentle up and down. UP. Rock steps. Huffing and puffing. Then down. DOWN. In sneakers. During a thunderstorm. The back end of my shorts were pretty dirty. Sitting and holding on was the best way down for me in a couple of spots.

Now, mind you, while I was ready to strangle my dauther, a jogger passed gracefully by. Oblivious to the UP or DOWN. Sure footed, nice strong lungs, tipped his hat. For heaven's sake! Really?! I felt like such a dope.

Actually, once we completed the journey I was quite, quite proud of myself. Next year I'll wear hiking boots when we climb this trail. Again.

Splendor In The Grass

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.

William Wordsworth

Loss is never easy.

Boulder, Colorado public library. AKA the climbing wall. Will be spending some time with my daughter this summer in her new home town.

My Friend

Yesterday a friend visited. She has been busy these past few years exploring various aspects of educational interest and within that journey was ordained an Interfaith Minister just a few weeks ago. My friend the Rev.

She saw the piano out of the corner of her eye. Took off her shoes and quietly walked into the Living Room. "This feels like a Sanctuary," she said, "A Sacred Space." There was such a sense of reverence about her as she explored the instrument and played a few notes.

She sat and listened while I played a little of this and a little of that. Then she stood next to the open lid and experienced the sound and vibration that comes forth only from a grand piano. She paid attention to how her body responded to Bach, to Brahms, to Chopin. Then she said the most amazing thing, "Have a client sit in a chair next to the piano. Tune your playing to have a healing impact on their state of mind and health. It's an extraordinary experience to feel the sound in the body and pay attention to where it is going and what it is doing."

Gee. Never thought of that. My friend the Rev.

"COME JOANNE PLAY WITH US"

Learning the subtleties of 3 against 4. Brahms. Left hand. My teacher (you know who you are) wrote it out for me, used his left and right hand to play the rhythm on the music stand, had me do the same.

Had me say this little ditty along with the rhythm. 'Come Joanne, play with us.' Come Joanne, come Joanne . . . . Come Fido, eat your food. Come Simon, let's do the boogie woogie. Come Penelope, let's get a latte. Go Lulu, get me some popcorn. Come Johnnie, let's bang our head against the wall in the rubber room.

I don't get it. Go away Joanne.

It's like algebra. I freeze. Fright or flight. Rhythm. Math!!! I have to feel it in my body or it just ain't gonna happen. Sorry teacher (you know who you are).

Practicing, practicing, practicing.

Back to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Sigh . . . .

Scriabin Etude. Op. 42 No. 5. An amazing piece of music played by an amazing master of the instrument. Having fallen under the spell of Scriabin I aspire to play this piece with as much skill as Scriabin's son-in-law. Ha! In my dreams. My teacher says I'm not ready for this piece - yet. Am assuming he means in this lifetime.

http://www.lindebladpiano.com/

It's a year today that I drove to New Jersey to visit Lindeblad Piano Restoration and found my Mason & Hamlin to be rebuit and restored. How quickly a year goes by. In that year I've joined an adult music forum, played in a number of recitals, found new friends, played a number of rebuilt pianos and generally rediscovered the joy I felt as a young woman playin' the piana.

Scriabin's music is new to me. He's an interesting fella.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Scriabin

Quoted from Wikipedia:

Scriabin was interested in Friedrich Nietzsche's übermensch theory, and later became interested in theosophy. Both would influence his music and musical thought. In 1909–10 he lived in Brussels, becoming interested in Delville's Theosophist movement and continuing his reading of Hélène Blavatsky.[9]

Theosophist and composer Dane Rudhyar wrote that Scriabin was "the one great pioneer of the new music of a reborn Western civilization, the father of the future musician", and an antidote to "the Latin reactionaries and their apostle, Stravinsky" and the "rule-ordained" music of "Schoenberg's group."[citation needed] Scriabin developed his own very personal and abstract mysticism based on the role of the artist in relation to perception and life affirmation. His ideas on reality seem similar to Platonic and Aristotelian theory though much more ethereal and incoherent. The main sources of his philosophical thought can be found in his numerous unpublished notebooks, one in which he famously wrote "I am God". As well as jottings there are complex and technical diagrams explaining his metaphysics. Scriabin also used poetry as a means in which to express his philosophical notions, though arguably much of his philosophical thought was translated into music, the most recognizable example being the 9th sonata ('the Black Mass').

I got it down! I sound like this! OK, sorta like this. But it's my interpretation and it rocks.

I find myself going deeper and deeper into the music. Not content to simply learn a piece, but to explore it's architecture. Where is the melody line? How to bring it out? What happens when the surrounding notes are played? Does a richer, more thoughtful design in phrasing produce a deeper experience of the piece? What happens to the sound when the piano lid is raised? Now what do I hear?

The possibilities are endless. Growth potential is always present. A deeper connection to physical reality by way of sound and touch. Endlessly more subtle. Endlessly more refined.

I experience the connection to pure creative principle through wood and metal that has been brilliantly designed to allow the human ear and heart embrace a small piece of the Divine.

I feel so blessed. And so grateful.

I joined an Adult Music Student Forum. Last week was the first recital I attended since college days. Yikes! Played 'OK'. Translation - 'Got through without making a total fool of myself.' Attended another recital yesterday. I worked and worked and worked on my Chopin all week. Yesterday was a much better presentation. Translation - 'I came home happy.' Last week I neglected to tune for myself and my performance prior to the recital. Yesterday, however, I did a little tuning before leaving home. Stayed calm and steady while playing. Ta daaaaaaaaaa! Did the trick.

See the Cezanne exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art. It's very exciting.

THE PEARL
Said one oyster to a neighboring oyster, "I have a very great pain within me. It is heavy and round and I am in distress."

And the other oyster replied with haughy complacence, "Praise be to the heavens and to the sea, I have no pain within me. I am well and whole both within and without."

At that moment a crab was passing by and heard the two oysters, and he said to the one who was well and whole both within and without,

"Yes, you are well and whole; but the pain that your neighbor bears is a pearl of exceeding beauty."
Kahlil Gibran
"The Wanderer His Parables and His Sayings.

This



Needs
This

It's 85 degrees!
On April 5th!

I'm tired. Weary, quite frankly. This past year has been one crazy thing after another. Chaos reigned. Sometimes life as we've known it gets blown out of the water. We cope as best we can. And life is now different. We're somehow changed internally. What looked one way may now look another. And we need to rest. Recouperate. Convalesce. I find I crave solitude.

We live in Baltimore, MD which became the snow capital of the United States in February. Or so it seemed. Back to back storms deposited about 35 inches of the stuff in our area.

We frequently have many deer in our yard, on the driveway, by the garage and in the woods. Where do they go when the weather is so awful? As the snow is slowly melting and the grass begins to peak out of water logged ground, the deer make their first appearance in weeks. Their fur is thick and very brown and they are trying to find something to eat. It's not easy.

I think all of us feel undernourished at this time of year - not enough sunshine, too cold, too windy, some of that SAD stuff going on. Will Winter e v e r end.

It seems I'm tuning myself and my clients for a little Spring energy. A softening. An easing of Winter's challenges. It's the time of promise. Underneath all that snow is new life. Not quite ready to brave the elements just yet. But it won't be long.

Come to the orchard in Spring.
There is light and wine, and sweethearts
in the pomegranate flowers.
RUMI

I know, I KNOW! This has NOTHING to do with the work I do. But this little youtube presentation is so charming. And we have a Corgi. And it's my birthday so leave me alone about my postings.

I love this! My birthday is tomorrow, Feb. 4th.

Response to January 29th's posting:

“We are (on the Eastern Shore) MD; probably have 7 inches of snow... lovely... and the music you posted of this day matches the symphony God creates in softly falling snow beside waters of the bay gently lapping the shore. Thank you for adding beauty to our world."

This is a new piece of music I've chosen to learn. It's quite elegant and refined and requires a different quality of hearing in order to play it well. That ear must be located in the heart because by the end of the piece I find myself very moved.

Quoted from Wikipedia 'Preludes, Op. 23 (Rachmaninoff)'
"The "Russian" quality of the Op. 23 preludes is often noted by listeners: after hearing Boris Asafyev play the preludes, the painter Ilya Repin noted a streak of Russian nationalism and originality in rhythm and melody. At the same recital, Vladimir Stasov praised the characteristic "Rachmaninoff sound" and unusual and innovative bell-like quality of the pieces, and Maxim Gorky simply noted, "How well he hears the silence."

I'm learning to play this. Brahms Rhapsody Op. 79 No. 2. It's big, bold, beautiful and mysterious.

My hands hurt.

Frédéric Chopin

Life has been rather chaotic in our home since the week before Christmas. A family emergency called and we of course responded. It means I haven't had much time to practice. And it starts to show.

I have been working on a Chopin Prelude. It was coming along beautifully. And then I couldn't play much for a few weeks and, eek!, all that work began to fall apart. Irritation! Frustration! Agitation! In a moment of pique, right there at the piano, I HARMONICALLY TUNED for the piece to settle in my brain and fingers and SOUND like something please!

Whoa! Eureka! Abracadabra! It worked. The piece now sounds better than ever. All fell into place. The melody line sings out and the surrounding harmonies are lovely. I never tried tuning right there at the piano before. Usually I tune in my office in the morning for my clients and include tuning for me and the music if I'm so inclined. I was surprised how quickly it took effect. Like immediately.

Doors. We needed doors. Taking care of this piano is like taking care of a baby. Or good cigars. The room can't be too hot, too cold, too humid, too dry. Can't take direct sunlight. Needs to be on an inside wall. The humidifier system installed in the piano itself needs to be watered periodically. The lid should be kept up when not in use. No, no! The lid should be kept down when not in use.

We have one dehumidifier, two humidifiers and one cooling fan all used at various times depending on the temperature and humidity readings at any given moment. Crazy making.

After two months of electric bills made it obvious that we were managing the climate of the entire first floor, we decided to install doors at the two entranceways into the room.

They are lovely. And they do the trick. What's more, when I practice I feel I'm in my own little world. How delightful!

I started to play the piano when I was five years old. Our home had an old player piano in the basement. My father heard me playing tunes by ear and found a piano teacher for me. I continued to study through college. Although I played well, life called me in other directions. I married, had children and managed a very busy work and family life. Then we became empty nesters. Music called me. I had not played in many, many years and wondered, quite frankly, if I still had the chops to play much of anything.

And yet I had the sense that much had changed with my neurology and maybe, just maybe I might actually play better than I did as a young woman. While I was utilizing HARMONIC TUNING for my piano (see previous blog entrance) I practiced a little HARMONIC TUNING on myself. I tuned for the energy of the composers to be present in my music studio (doesn't that sound classy - it's actually our Living Room) and I TUNED for my body/mind to be able to tap into that energy, interpret the music and play it well.

It worked. The entire energy of the room changes. My body/mind responds to the changed energy and I not only learn music more easily than I did years ago, but the music making is more elegant and refined. It just comes. I practice, I have to practice, but it's joyful. It's fun. It's refreshing and nourishing to my very being. My piano senses this and meets me in that place where musician and instrument become one. Union. And in that union the heart opens and beauty is expressed as sound.