Friday, February 5, 2010

Music And The Romanian Soul

by Constantin Noica (1909-1987)



None of the great men of 1848 – a Romanian scholar noticed once – had a particular understanding of music. The boyar sons from a hundred years ago assimilated everything regarding the arts that they encountered abroad, but not music. Not even today, perhaps, do we have enough understanding in this respect. Because music demands not only intelligence…
I interrupt here the flow of ideas that Professor Sextil Puşcariu developed in such a suggestive manner in an older History of Romanian Literature. Isn’t there something to learn from them? The cultured Romanian soul (the popular one is another story) doesn’t have all the dimensions. Not that it could have all of them at once. There took place, inside it, a worthy development, in the luminous areas of the spiritual life, but, in the areas that the ray of intelligence doesn’t reach, the growth was delayed. Will it delay any longer?
But this is precisely what our time brings over: a musical understanding of things; a troubling triumph of music. There are, for instance, souls and nations which know how to “orchestrate”, while the others don’t. Why doesn’t some nation win battles? Because, maybe, it didn’t have a great musician – this came to me one day. It doesn’t orchestrate; it doesn’t think like in a symphony; it doesn’t really sing. And our time, as any time in which the “elements” tend to individualize themselves, needs unity and music. In the cultured Romanian soul, cut too much at the edges, sometimes, separated from things and from itself by the merciless censorship of intelligence, our time comes to pour harmony and the sense of the whole. There is something material in music, not only a simple poetic idea, and it is matter that a soul needs, that was too much challenged by the theoretic and by theory., as this intelligent cultured Romanian soul is.
Only from music – unless you know it directly – do you learn what growth and becoming are. Symphony alone shows you how the matter of the sounds grows into meaning. Music familiarises you with that chaos of what isn’t there yet, which you will find later everywhere where life is: in you, if there is life in you; in history, where you seem to find too much of it. If we need today to familiarise ourselves with matter, to understand mess, chaos, then the spirit of music can give us a key. Of this key, most of our great ancestors were deprived. Titu Maiorescu left outraged the performance with Lohengrin. But it isn’t necessary to write this on the effigy that will soon be cast in his memory…
That’s why the deepest cultural phenomenon, maybe, that has been happening for a few years in Romania, is the growth in interest for the great music. When you see these full concert halls, when you listen to the celebrating radio programs, you can hope that our cultured soul will know more, will understand more, tomorrow. It is true there are a lot of snobs: it is also true that many enjoy only the voluptuousness of music. But if art isn’t a superior form of cuisine, then what is happening today has a cultural meaning. Our times send us through music a refined message – to understand their darkness and lights.

Excerpted from Vremea, 1942


George Enescu "Romanian Rhapsody" conducted by Sergiu Celibidache in a unique and magnificent style

I kissed his hand and I left a letter for him on the table.

He was one of the greatest artists of the world. She was a divine singer.

Constantin Brancusi and Maria Tanase met in New York in 1939.

“I met Costache Brâncuşi in New York and I left him in the bed brought from his Paris studio. It was raining that day and he asked me to sing for him. Not to see him cry he propped his back against mine so that I could not spy his face. Later on, after many songs, he fell asleep. Not to wake him up, I put a pillow to support him instead of my back. I kissed his hand and I left a letter for him on the table. In an hour I had to leave for the country.”
Maria Tanase









The meeting was caught in a photo document. Seemingly, “the laments” of Maria Tănase did not enchant the sculptor, if we are to believe architect Octav Doicescu, since he preferred doinas and playful, merry tunes, with jocose lyrics. He favored spontaneous, direct, simple music. For this visionary artist of simplicity, the music of Wagner sounded “barbarian”, that of Beethoven “too dramatic”, whereas Mozart he deemed “gentle and sweet.” He compared J. S. Bach with a lion stepping majestically in the desert (V. G. Paleolog).
It is a fact though that music accompanied him along all his life, and the Romanian folk song soothed his longing after the country, comforting the immigrant to Paris until his death.
Brâncuşi And The World Of Music by Viorel Cosma (b. 1927)

Monday, February 1, 2010

8 people with 5 instruments from 4 Continents speaking 3 languages for 1 song.

Brian at CAIN MOSNI thought of a cool concept and coordinated a virtual "jam session" with musicians from all over the world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oU0I8APK-o


Jam Session 2.0 from Cain Mosni on Vimeo.



Across the seas I hear piano keys playin, translating languages
through the rhythms in beats bangin, a universal exchange, of personal
pains and joys, it started with a verse, each person just came and
joined in, some are complete strangers, some only teenagers, all of us
creators, , we are the dreammakers, internationally transmittin
through bandwidth, passin this bands passion so the masses can jam
with us, all are invited to play, none are required to pay, let the
virus spread, inspire heads, go pirate away, this is that free music,
for people who need music, just listen and breathe to it, I hope that
you feel movement, different souls around globe, connected through
sound makin, they set the foundation now we take it to groundbreakin,
everybody played there part and now we have one song, and this is how
an unheard voice becomes strong

Caravaggio meets Fight Club. Dawn Of War by Tarsem Singh

Kevin Jagernauth reports for Canada Movie Examiner:

" Production Weekly has twittered that Tarsem Singh, director of The Cell and The Fall, has set up offices at La Cité du Cinéma in Montreal and is preparing to shoot his next film, Dawn Of War. The studio production facility, is one of the biggest in Canada and has been home to many high profile Hollywood productions including 300, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and The Fountain.
Like 300, this film is a Greek period actioner, and tells the story about Athens founder and king Theseus' battle against imprisoned titans. The film will mark the first big, meaty lead film role for The Tudors' Henry Cavill while the visually creative director Tarsem Singh, has described the look of the film as "Caravaggio meets Fight Club".
There are no further casting or production details available at this time, but with filming set to begin in March, more news should be announced shortly. "

Now let's imagine the future masterpiece.

Caravaggio
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Fight Club
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Henry Cavill
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and TARSEM

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The first day of february is a day in a mirror.

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I see this day in 3D like 2 wings. I am so sorry... I cannot draw what I see and maybe it's hard for you to understand. I should find a associate blogger designer to do some magic here :)



Wait a minute ! Google tells me that today is a Pallindrome Day. So what is this ?

"Today is 1st February which is 01022010 and its Happy Pallindrome Day again for the second time this year. It basically means the same number can be read back and forth in the same way.
Various countries have different date formats, due to which Palindrome day has visited us twice this year already for the same 01022010 as 2nd January was also written the same in a different format of MM-DD-YYYY. For 1st February it was written as DD-MM-YYYY.
Aziz Inan, a professor at the University of Portland says that last time Palindrome Day happened was in October 2, 2001 or 10-02-2001 and before that was August 31, 1380 or 08-31-1380, that is 620 years ago! The next palindrome date is on November 2, 2011 or 11-02-2011.
Rocketboom has earlier caught another Palindrome day on 01-11-10 in DD-MM-YY format which means we can have 2 more Palindrome days on 11th January and 1st November in 2010 also."
From http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2010/02/happy-pallindrome-day/

Ok. Now I have to find the meaning of it .

The same professor, Aziz Inan, wrote that symmetry "possesses the magic power of drawing our attention." Inan goes on to say symmetry "conveys a sense of the aesthetic, of balance, beauty, equality, evenness, harmony, neatness, perfection, pleasure and/or simplicity."
In numerology, the repetition of a single digit (11, 111, 1111) is referred to as a Master Number. These palindromes are believed to accentuate the meaning of the single digit number used in the sequence.
Our fascination with palindromes is proof of man's continued search for the deeper meaning of life through words and numbers.
From http://www.examiner.com/x-16713-LA-Higher-Consciousness-Examiner~y2010m1d2-Palindrome-Day-01022010

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for :))

Saturday, January 30, 2010

The Immortal Beloved Letter

I have always been a fan of designhotels.com. That's how I discovered Marcel Wanders, one of the most prolific and celebrated international designers today. First I didn't know anything about him , but I was really impressed about his appearance. After so many years in the casting industry, I tend to find in everyone a character. This guy could be easily a movie star.

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Following Marcel Wanders on Facebook, I found out that he is looking for Elise.

"Marcel Wanders is designing the Kameha Grand hotel in Bonn. Since Bonn is Beethoven’s birthplace, the hotel will have an exclusive Beethoven suite. The suite is designed especially Für Elise, Beethoven’s most famous music piece so all the walls in this suite are dedicated to Elise, his secret muse.

Do YOU know Beethoven’s Elise? Are YOU her? Send us your picture! The selected portraits will be framed and used to decorate the walls. Marcel Wanders is looking for as many different faces of Elise as possible to add to the melody of the suite and be its muse.

Please send us your portrait in high resolution to elise@marcelwanders.com. The hotel will open in November 2009, so we need your picture asap!
Thank you, we will let you know if your portrait was selected."

August 2009

Now the hotel is open and Bethoveen suite is ready to share with its guests the love and the mystery of Bethoveen's muse.

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Now, writing this post, I realize that the iconical image of Elise is portrayed by this absolutely fantastical photography of Zena Holloway. Since I am fascinated by underwater photography, I couldn't miss her pictures. Actually I uploaded here some of her work in a post entitled CHILDREN OF THE NEW WORLD

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I was still intrigued by Bethoveen's Elise. I don't know why, maybe because I simply adore the process of creating music, the inspiration, the divine moment when love transforms itself in a harmony of sounds.

Yesterday , I had a creative meeting about a project that isn't right now an inspiration for me, and I tried to use, let's say, a tangential inspiration, giving examples of different campaigns that I consider to be very cinematical, mysterious and sensual (in the advertising sense ). I don't believe in sellers, I believe in conquerors. The era of selling products and services as we knew it has gone. Tell me a story and make me believe that I am part of it, don't tell me lies and sell me bullshit. LOL. This sounds like a recent tweet which I liked a lot "RT @jobsworth George Colony from 10 years ago. Be good because everything you do will be known by everyone #davossocial #wef"

Back to subject. Of course, I immediately remembered the story of Elise and the hotel suite (immediately because the place where I was it was exactly the same place where I read about Marcel Wanders and Fur Elise competition and our discussion and this fact were somehow related ). Laszlo, my colleague, told me that he may know who was Elise. I laughed because I thought it was a joke. In fact here starts a fantastical connection. Laszlo's family name is Forray, an old nobiliar family who owned Savarsin castle from Transylvania, Romania.

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Savarsin is nowadays famous especially for the Royal House castle. Its history dates back to a long time ago. First, there was a hunting area and the location was a hunting manor, built in 1650. Brunswick family receives the domain as a donation from the Emperor of Vienna. Around 1800, Franz Brunswick's daughter,Iulia, married Count Andrei Forray and the castle belonged to the Forray family until sometime in the XIXth century.

Franz Brunswick had another daughter, Tereza Brunswick, and a very good friend: Ludwig van Beethoven. The german composer came at Savarsin and fell in love with Tereza.
The story appears in the Savarsin village monograph including the fact that the famous composer dedicated a sonata to his beloved Tereza.

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"Tereza Brunswick remained in legend as the great composer Beethoven's immortal beloved. In 1807, the German composer was in Savarsin, being in great intimacy with the Brunswick family. Cape of family, Franz Brunswick, was named dear friend and brother by the composer and Beethoven dedicated him a sonata, Apassionata. Later, he dedicated to Teresa Sonata 78, "writes Joseph Dohangie Cojan in" Monograph of Savarsin village".

It is likely that during the 1806-1809 period a close friendship developed between the composer and Therese (Tereza) Brunswick. To this very day, the exact nature of their relationship is uncertain. However it’s certain that this remarkable woman was devoted to Beethoven her whole life and for a while she even responded to his passionate feelings. Apparently, love was not to bring Beethoven long lasting happiness.

It is not certain who "Elise" was. Some scholars have suggested she was Beethoven's fifth mistress, while others have suggested that the discoverer of the piece, Ludwig Nohl, may have transcribed the title incorrectly and the original work may have been named "Für Therese".

It said that Tereza Brunswick is burried at the Catholic Church from Savarsin and she is one of the most important and with the greatest potential of all the women who were ever the object of Beethoven’s affection.

Maybe she was Elise, but for sure she was the Immortal Beloved.

In the summer of 1812, advised by his physician, Beethoven goes to the Czech resort, Teplitz. Even though the summer spent here didn’t have any positive influences on his state of health, it was very fruitful in memorable and interesting encounters. One of those encounters was the one between Beethoven and German poet Johann von Goethe. But the summer of 1812 is also important because it was the time when Beethoven wrote a set of mysterious letters that created numerous commentaries and assumptions among Beethoven scholars. The letters are known as “The Immortal Beloved Letters”

This letter was found the day after Beethoven’s death in the secret compartment of an old drawer, together with a picture of Tereza Brunswick, as well as other documents and valuables. The letter was either sent to the addressee and was later returned, or it was never sent altogether.

The letter may have been addressed to Tereza Brunswick. This woman undoubtedly played a positive role in Beethoven’s life. They were linked through a yearlong friendship and affection for each other. In order to understand why the 42-year-old composer wrote his 37-year-old friend such a letter, one must restore the entire process of their reciprocal relations.

Romain Rolland, who became acquainted with Tereza’s intimate diaries, cautiously concludes: " The assumptions about the immortal lover do not seem incompatible with what I have learned of the circumstances of that time." Besides this, Romain Rolland admits that there are a great number of bizarre coincidences, which may point towards Tereza as the immortal lover.

Bizarre coincidences ? No. I can say meaningful ones. We are in the age of synchronicity.

"Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. To count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance.
The concept does not question, or compete with, the notion of causality. Instead, it maintains that just as events may be grouped by cause, they may also be grouped by their meaning. Since meaning is a complex mental construction, subject to conscious and subconscious influence, not every correlation in the grouping of events by meaning needs to have an explanation in terms of cause and effect." Wiki


What can I say ? I am happy and excited. This story will lead me somewhere ...

Until my next episode I will kindly ask you to read Beethoven's Immortal Beloved Letters and listen his music. Maybe one day you will receive a message.

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I will end with my thanks to Residence Hotels, a wonderful place in Bucharest where the magic happens.

***********

The Immortal Beloved Letter

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July 6, in the morning
My angel, my all, my very self - Only a few words today and at that with pencil (with yours) - Not till tomorrow will my lodgings be definitely determined upon - what a useless waste of time - Why this deep sorrow when necessity speaks - can our love endure except through sacrifices, through not demanding everything from one another; can you change the fact that you are not wholly mine, I not wholly thine - Oh God, look out into the beauties of nature and comfort your heart with that which must be - Love demands everything and that very justly - thus it is to me with you, and to your with me. But you forget so easily that I must live for me and for you; if we were wholly united you would feel the pain of it as little as I - My journey was a fearful one; I did not reach here until 4 o'clock yesterday morning. Lacking horses the post-coach chose another route, but what an awful one; at the stage before the last I was warned not to travel at night; I was made fearful of a forest, but that only made me the more eager - and I was wrong. The coach must needs break down on the wretched road, a bottomless mud road. Without such postilions as I had with me I should have remained stuck in the road. Esterhazy, traveling the usual road here, had the same fate with eight horses that I had with four - Yet I got some pleasure out of it, as I always do when I successfully overcome difficulties - Now a quick change to things internal from things external. We shall surely see each other soon; moreover, today I cannot share with you the thoughts I have had during these last few days touching my own life - If our hearts were always close together, I would have none of these. My heart is full of so many things to say to you - ah - there are moments when I feel that speech amounts to nothing at all - Cheer up - remain my true, my only treasure, my all as I am yours. The gods must send us the rest, what for us must and shall be -
Your faithful LUDWIG

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Evening, Monday, July 6
You are suffering, my dearest creature - only now have I learned that letters must be posted very early in the morning on Mondays to Thursdays - the only days on which the mail-coach goes from here to K. - You are suffering - Ah, wherever I am, there you are also - I will arrange it with you and me that I can live with you. What a life!!! thus!!! without you - pursued by the goodness of mankind hither and thither - which I as little want to deserve as I deserve it - Humility of man towards man - it pains me - and when I consider myself in relation to the universe, what am I and what is He - whom we call the greatest - and yet - herein lies the divine in man - I weep when I reflect that you will probably not receive the first report from me until Saturday - Much as you love me - I love you more - But do not ever conceal yourself from me - good night - As I am taking the baths I must go to bed - Oh God - so near! so far! Is not our love truly a heavenly structure, and also as firm as the vault of heaven?

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Good morning, on July 7
Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits - Yes, unhappily it must be so - You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life - Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men - At my age I nedd a steady, quiet life - can that be so in our connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mailcoach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once - Be calm, only by a clam consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.
ever thine
ever mine
ever ours

2010

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designer Albert Exergian

He is fantastic. This his blog http://exergian.tumblr.com/ and this is his work http://www.exergian.com/

Friday, January 29, 2010

The powers of 10

In 1977, Charles and Ray Eames made a nine-minute film called Powers of Ten that still has the capacity to expand the way we think and view our world. Over ten million people have seen the film, and it continues to be shown in classrooms, business meetings, festivals and retreats around the world. Starting with a sleeping man at a picnic, the film takes the viewer on a journey out to the edge of space and then back into a carbon atom in the hand of the man at the picnic, all in a single shot. It is an unforgettable experience.





Making life decisions with the power of ten

During the split second when you hit the snooze button in the morning, a couple of competing thoughts may flit through your mind: first, it would be a good idea to get up now and push on with the day; second, to hell with it, I'm going to sleep for a few more minutes.

Buried in that larger decision are all kinds of micro-decisions that dictate the kind of person you are.

Are you the sort who can haul yourself off for a run each morning? Or someone who has been putting off a fitness routine for years?

Are you the kind who biffs out a novel for a couple of hours each morning, or one who just talks and hopes that eventually the time will magically open up to pursue a creative endeavour? Do you accept that extra glass of wine so as to enjoy the moment, or refuse it because it will impair your mind tomorrow morning?

The extent to which an individual moderates short-term pleasures in favour of long-term health and prosperity is the subject of a new book by Suzy Welch, a business writer married to Jack Welch, former chief executive of General Electric.

The title of her book, 10-10-10, refers to the framework by which Welch suggests we make decisions.

As you decide, consider what the consequences will be in 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years. Hitting the snooze button and skipping the run may be good for the next 10 minutes, but not in 10 years as your health declines.

Spending time with your children may come second to work for now but how will you feel in 10 years' time? Might you want that time back?
Read more : http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23688586-making-life-decisions-with-the-power-of-ten.do

From Making life decisions with the power of ten by Philip Delves Broughton

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/ May 2009

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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

DREAM BALL

From flemingdesign.com:
In poor, often war-torn countries, many kids can’t afford a soccer ball - and use plastic bags, coconuts, and rags to fashion their own sports equipment. Seoul design studio UnPlug Design has come up with an idea that gives more children in the Third World - countries like Tanzania, Rwanda, Somalia, and the Congo - the opportunity to play soccer and other games by creating balls the children themselves can assemble from relief and aid packages provided by organizations like the UN and Red Cross. By taking the paper or cardboard from an aid box and following the patterns on it kids can make their own soccer ball, handball, or baseball. These Dream Balls give kids a chance to play and, in the process, hope for a better life.

Via FutureBlog/Design Hotels http://futureblog.designhotels.com/
via LovelyPackage http://lovelypackage.com/dream-ball/

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Photo and design by UnPlug Design

Latest Creation at 10am Pacific Time

10am Pacific Time on Wednesday, January 27 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

Latest Creation - Apple Media Event

Probably a historical moment for the digital culture: Apple's tablet launch‎.



LIVE coverage here http://theappleblog.com/2010/01/26/live-coverage-of-apples-january-27-media-event/

Free Club Music Player