The midst of, well, a lot: my uncle's death (and worrying about my aunt, now left more alone than anyone else of her generation in the family, which seems unfair for so kind and caring a woman); my sister and her son coming to London (and trying to figure out whether it makes sense for me to go down and see them this time); planning for the coming Jung-Institut winter classes, and also the first meeting with colleagues for the new semester here at the university (complete with the usual moves toward overly controlling and managing everything, despite our previous experiences). Flashes of good things and sad things and annoying things, an extraordinarily dark, angry dream two nights ago and a strangely generous one last night....
So perhaps it is no surprise that I have a sense of sitting back and watching the complexities and changes in things, of the world and the news, to wait and see what's really going on, and what my relation may be to it all.
Last night I picked up some CDs that have been in my office for nine years (and more), anthologies of Western music for university history textbooks. I was vaguely thinking of some favorite early music I'd long forgotten, especially 'Reis glorios', a tune I couldn't quite remember; and copying it to my computer to play. Not for any applied reason, I just wanted to hear it... and I found a lot of long-forgotten organa, conducta, chant and motets.
Not those polished, smooth Renaissance motets, with their coherent dramatic identities almost like those of classic film heroes and heroines – but the strange and archaic medieval motets, which are utterly different kinds of music: angular combinations of different texts sung simultaneously, complicated puzzles with multiple points of view – almost like an ancient, weirdly casual cubism.
The sound makes sense right now, in this multi-voiced universe....
Impressive blog!
– Arron
Posted by: rc helicopter | December 21, 2011 at 11:17 AM