Sunrise turns the streets
on axis into Stonehenge --
chariot blazing
his bright brief flare opposite
the calm round face of the moon.
« October 2012 | Main | December 2012 »
November 30, 2012
November 29, 2012
Nov. 28 Initiation
Black ice on the streets
little boy in red snowpants
slips for the first time.
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November 28, 2012
Thaliad, last two days for pre-order!
I'll be making a formal announcement on Friday about Phoenicia's publication of Thaliad, by Marly Youmans -- with cover and illustrations by Clive Hicks-Jenkins -- but wanted to let Cassandra's blog readers know that there are just two more days to pre-order the hardcover edition at a special price of $23.00.
I can't even begin to tell you how lovely this book is when you hold it in your hands, or how proud I am to have been part of the collaboration that made it. After November 30, it will be offered in both paperback ($13.95) and hardcover editions ($26.00.) The first fifty orders (of either edition) will also receive something very special, to be announced soon!
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Nov. 27 From the fifth floor
Colorless city --
smoke shrouds your spires and towers,
flat roofs awaiting snow.
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November 27, 2012
Nov. 26 At a stoplight
Her violet vest --
she shifts violet bottles --
the salon window,
a shaft of glassy sunlight,
grey stone, shining clear blue sky.
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November 26, 2012
Nov. 25, two world premieres
Chromatic colors
spill from new musical notes --
jagged, prismatic--
Magnificat and Magnum,
two fleeting rainbows of sound.
Yesterday afternoon we performed the world premieres of several new works: the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis of British composer Douglas Mason, and a setting of Ut Salvetur Mundus by Jason Noble, a doctoral student in composition at McGill who is also a tenor in our choir.
Jason's piece includes some aleatoric sections, where individual singers are instructed to improvise on a set of notes or other musical instructions. I looked up the word: it comes from the Latin word alea, which means "dice." While John Cage and Charles Ives were some of the first modern proponents of "chance" or "random" elements in their compositions, there are examples dating back to the 15th century, and it's known that Mozart created a game of dice for selecting the sequence of a set of musical measures, in which each measure had several possible versions.
Before joining this choir I'd never seen this kind of musical score, and found it a little intimidating. Four years on, I'm comfortable -- works written by our director often have aleatoric passages -- and I like the unpredictability the improvisational sections lend to each performance, as well as the particular quality and sound texture such writing can create, very different from music where everything is completely written out. Jason's piece included sections of chant, and also used solo passages with underlying choral textures - I thought the result was very effective and beautiful, as well as being completely appropriate to the text, and am looking forward to performing more of his work in the future. It's such a pleasure to help bring a new musical composition to life that way, especially when it's in the presence of the composer!
Text of Ut Salvetur Mundus
Kyrie eleison. O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum, ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, jacentem in praesepio. Christe eleison. Non enim misit Deus Filium suum in mundum ut iudicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum. Kyrie eleison. Amen.Lord, have mercy. O great mystery and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the new-born Lord, lying in a manger. Christ, have mercy. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Lord, have mercy, Amen.
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November 24, 2012
Nov 24. Last night
Patti Smith, Neil Young:
bright spirits in aged bodies --
their crafty wisdom,
our mantra -- hey hey my my
rock and roll will never die
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Nov. 23 La sécheresse d'hiver
Orange blinking light --
piano is dry -- a fact
known by my nose, skin.
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November 23, 2012
November 21, 2012
Nov. 21 Wishing for peace at noon
Green-brown za'atar,
studded with sesame seeds
rolled in the hot bread --
your lemony gunpowder
explodes safely on my tongue.
Wishing fervently today for peace, shared food, and friendship such as I have known across so many cultural divides.
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Who was Cassandra?
In the Iliad, she is described as the loveliest of the daughters of Priam (King of Troy), and gifted with prophecy. The god Apollo loved her, but she spurned him. As a punishment, he decreed that no one would ever believe her. So when she told her fellow Trojans that the Greeks were hiding inside the wooden horse...well, you know what happened.
