“If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.” George MacDonald
Baby by George MacDonald
Song of the New Earth: Tom Kenyon and the Power of Sound
A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...Albert Einstein A journalist asked Einstein what he would do if Eddington's observations, who was testing an experimental prediction of Einstein's theory of General Relativity failed to match his theory. Einstein replied: "Then I would feel sorry for the good Lord. The theory is correct."
In concocting the theory, Einstein relied on thought experiments—as he had in developing the special theory of relativity, which showed that space and time are fungible aspects of a single spacetime. In inventing special relativity, Einstein imagined surfing a light wave; for general relativity, he envisioned walking off a roof. Through such musings Einstein realized that gravity is merely the bending of spacetime by mass and energy. A star might die only once, but with Einstein’s telescope, if you know where to look, you can watch it scream forever.
"Tintern Abbey" is a psychological autobiography,in which Wordsworth presents the history of the mind's development as occurring in three stages:
Childhood: the unreflecting period of life when there is no conscious reaction to experience and nature. Youth: marked by mental as well as bodily activity; direct emotional responses to life without any translation into thought. Maturity: the period of thought; in this period, the immediate joy of sensation has gone, but as an "abundant recompense" comes the deeper and more profound outlook on life, with "thought" which alone satisfies.
"All which we behold is full of blessings." Tintern Abbey - William Wordsworth
Scheherazade Symphonic Suite Op.35 : Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (based on One Thousand and One Nights)
Odetta - Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
I’m that woman who climbed the mountain of life, removing stones and planting flowers. Recreate your life, always, always. Remove the stones, plant rose bushes and make sweets. Begin again. True courage is to go after your dreams even when everyone says it’s impossible. The important thing is to spread, make millions of smiles of solidarity and friendship. I search to spread optimism and grow seeds of peace and justice. Saying what's in my mind, with hope. Cora Coralina
Beethoven-Piano Sonata No.14, "Quasi una fantasia" (Moonlight Sonata)
Claude Debussy - Clair de Lune
To be what I am... To voice the things that only I can voice. To bear the blossoms that are commanded of my heart. This is what I want.
Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the Angelic Orders? And even if one were to suddenly take me to its heart, I would vanish into its stronger existence. For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, that we are still able to bear, and we revere it so, because it calmly disdains to destroy us. Every Angel is terror. Rainer Maria Rilke.
Rainer Maria Rilke -Duino Elegies
Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622
“It is always the most fragile among us who are the closest to their humanity, to their suffering, and to their need to be loved. It is they who show the rest of us the way to live in truth and in love.” Jean Vanier, founder of the International federation of L'Arche communities
Gregorio Allegri's setting of Psalm 51 - Miserere mei, Deus "Have mercy on me, O God"
Mozart. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466
Longing for a place call home! When she was just a girl she expected the world. But it flew away from her reach so she ran away in her sleep and dreamed of Para-para-paradise, Coldplay
Is paradise to be found here and now or a mystical existence in an afterlife? “Paradise is hidden in each one of us. It is concealed within me too, right now. And if I wish, it will come for me in reality, tomorrow even, and for the rest of my life.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"What is important is that we remain open to the possibility of paradise both here and beyond and say yes to such glimpses and do not shut them down prematurely,” “For without attending to our interior vision of a just and peaceful world, we have no models on which to make the world a better place.” Susan McCaslin
Longing for a place call home!
J.S.Bach's Concerto No.5 - Glenn Gould
Franz Schubert - 4 Impromptus, D. 899 / Op. 90
Ella giammai m'amò from Don Carlo by Giuseppe Verdi
Ella giammai m'amò from Don Carlo by Giuseppe Verdi Passion and power of the essential human drama: Hypocrisy, jealousy, reaction and revolutions of thought, the inevitable wars of generations, the human condition and music of breathtaking scale and inspiration.
Where am I...? Those torches They’ve nearly burned out...! The sunrise brightens my balcony! Dawn is already breaking! I see my days passing slowly! Sleep, O God! Vanished from my languishing eyes! I will sleep alone in my royal mantle when my day has reached evening; I will sleep alone under the dark vault There, in the Escurial tomb!
Gracias a La Vida (Thanks to life) A universal "humanist hymn" of love for the existence, a "last exercise of generosity from an exceptional soul"
Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major (K. 467)
Edvard Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 16
Edvard Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite No.1, Op.46 (loosely based on Henrik Ibsen's playwright humorously yet profoundly exploring the virtues, vices, procrastination, avoidance and follies common to all humanity.
Adagio for Strings (Agnus Dei ) - Samuel Barber "an uneasy, shifting suspension as the melody begins a stepwise motion, like the hesitant climbing of stairs."Johanna Keller "There's a kind of sadness and poetry about it. It has a melodic gesture that reaches an arch, like a big sigh... and then exhales and fades off into nothingness." Barbara Heyman "The work is a slow, minor-key lament, which evokes a deep sadness in those who hear it" Thomas Larson "The form of the piece is an arch, with the dynamic getting louder to the point of climax, then dying down to a sleepy resignation. It is perhaps reflective of the last two stages of grief cycle, from depression to acceptance. There may be some anger and bargaining in there as well, especially during the climax section. As the emotions get more intense, the music becomes louder, the strings change the direction of their bows more abruptly, and there is clearly a feeling of anger and asking “why?” Justin Mathis This kind of musical excellence and depth of expression I believe comes straight from God. With this piece, Samuel Barber expresses the profound depth of life on earth. Great tragedy and suffering coexisting along side such overwhelming beauty and joy.....from utter futility, darkness and despair to the deep rapture of God's beauty, hope.and love. S Kirk
Adagio for Strings (Agnus Dei ) - Samuel Barber
Proserpina - Martha Wainwright
Rachmaninov - Vocalise Op. 34 Nº 14
Quadro Nuevo "Grand Voyage" - Die Reise nach Batumi The breathtaking intensity of Astor Piazzolla meets the sensual virtuosity and passion with which the four globe-trotting musicians bring unique adventure to the here and now.
Songs of a long journey The suitcase full of melodies, picked up here and there, yesterday and heute. The film "The trip to Batumi" tells the story of innumerable journeys of musicians to places where they give concerts in which they record full of life influences of other cultures in order to integrate them into their music. The trip to Batumi is a travel diary in images of impressions, experiences, full of so happily and sometimes painful, but always with the greatest joy of making music and full of curiosity about people and music of other cultures. "The songs again plunge the days of our great journey in a very special atmosphere."
Quadro Nuevo "Grand Voyage" - Die Reise nach Batumi
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
