Heav'nly Musick

On occasion, I write brief pieces on classical music, usually individual composers. I believe I have already mentioned on this blog my notion of divine music or music that approaches divinity. It is a quality I find in the most powerful classical music. Mozart, for example, though he exhibits many admirable qualities, lacks this particular one. Beethoven has it, and Handel approaches it with his more mature choral pieces. Another noteworthy example is Strauss's Thus Spake Zarathustra, otherwise known as the 2001 theme.
I was reminded to write this piece by a work I listened to last night, which I had not heard in some time: Saint-Saens's Organ Concerto no. 3 (Maestoso movement, if I'm not mistaken). Particularly the first minute or so of this movement contains this divine quality, one which temporarily at least diminishes the gap between the heavens and earth (excuse me for being poetic, but I'm allowed it once in a while).

On the literary front, I spent this reading week doing nothing other than, well, reading. I am preparing for a presentation I will be having in just under two weeks' time on Dryden's MacFlecknoe OR Absalom and Achitophel. I've done quite a bit of research on it (background, etc), but am having trouble coming up with an original argument (as far as I can tell, no one else has had an original about MacFlecknoe during the past 25 years, so how I'm supposed to is beyond me). This is one of the things I dislike about grad school and leads me to believe, as several older PhDs have mentioned, that I have finally grown weary of course(work), which apparently is not uncommon. I like both my profs, so it's definitely not them.

Nice words

I received the following email as a forward from a very pious fellow I know. I was expecting it to be one of those "praise the Lord" emails, but it's actually quite nice; it provides for some introspection and change of perspective that is so necessary every once in a while. It may seem a little preachy or "gay" (in the grade 8 sense), but I share it with you here in the hope that it may improve at least one person's day. Of course, I have removed the obligatory "send this to 16 million people you know or something bad is going to happen to you" tag at the end.

I AM THANKFUL:

FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME, AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFABEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.


FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME, NOT ON THE STREETS.


FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED


FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.


FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.


FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME .


FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH. .


FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .


FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.


FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH
WHO SINGS OFF KEY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.


FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.


FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

Expert ranting

I have never mentioned Foamy, one of my favourite internet cartoons. Yes, he is a high-pitched squirrel, but his rants are classic and often dead on. I highly recommend you take a look at the latest installment, a rant on celebrities (I hope the author doesn't mind me embedding it here).

Other episodes are available on the original website. For some strange reason, not all the episodes are there. To see them all, including the previous one, a hilarious piece on Valentine's day gifts , go here

Incidentally, the cartoon is slightly NSFW. Enjoy!

Sentimental Journey

An appropriate video for Valentine's Day, which is just around the corner. Note: This blog neither endorses nor subscribes to the views promulgated herein (but maybe I do).

Rant, no. 2

The following rant has been long overdue, and after an experience I had today, I could restrain myself no longer. Both have to do with mentally challenged software companies (big surprise) that have somehow managed to stay in business.

First, Microsoft's stupidity has become proverbial, so I'll waste no time going over the hackneyed proofs (I'll refer to one: the greatest oxymoron in the world? Microsoft Works).
My experience today involved Microsoft's newest version of Media Player (ver. 11). I had no problems with it until today, when I decided to play some old MP3s I had not listened to in some months. In a few cases, I received the error message to the effect that Media Player cannot play these files because it does not recognize the codes. Fair enough, but here's where Microsoft's insane, jaw-dropping level of idiocy shines: these files worked fine in Media Player 9 and 10! Thus, Microsoft's goal with the release of their new products is to make them less useful. "Download Media Player 11 and play even fewer files than before!" should be the commercial.

My arch-nemesis on this planet is not a person, institution, or idea, but a computer program: Adobe Acrobat. This program is the most useless, non-user friendly piece of garbage ever made; it makes Microsoft's programs look like works of genius. Granted, Acrobat's latest version is much faster than before, but a troglodyte with a few sticks and stones would have made it so quicker, so this is hardly impressive. I'm not quite sure how Adobe cornered the market on .pdfs. Actually, I hate .pdfs too: they take forever to load, are unsearchable, and cause more crashes than necessary on all but the most up to date computers. As if this weren't enough, Adobe had to go a step further: if you are filling a pdf form (say, for a PhD or grant application) Adobe Reader, the free version of the program, cannot save your work; you must print it immediately. This is fine in most cases, but what if you need to fill out the form partially and then email it to someone else to complete? To get around this, and to deservedly spite Adobe for this nonsense, I now have a pirated version of Adobe Professional, which allows one to actually save their work (God forbid you should do so!!!).

By the way, my new browser is Mozilla; I refuse to use Internet Explorer unless I absolutely need to. I recommend everyone change browsers because Internet Explorer, in addition to its faults, is the least safe browser. In fact, Microsoft should provide every former user of IE with free anti-spyware software because it is so susceptible to infection.

Now for something completely different (which I'm sure Dr. J will enjoy): later this evening I will be heading to Carelton University with a friend to see Gayatri Spivak give a lecture. I don't know too much about her except that she's a poco/marxist/feminist/"deconsructionist" theorist, and was made famous for her translation of and preface to Derrida's Of Grammatology. At the very least, I can say, years from now, that I saw her give a talk. Whether one likes her or not, she is one of the few living critics/theorists that has a certain cachet and semi-legendary status. I will report thereafter if anything of interest occurs.

Class(icism)

I've already written a few posts concerning a classical composer who's dear to my heart (and not just for obvious reasons), Aram Khachaturian. There is another, similarly little known, composer who shares a place with him in the classical pantheon: Antonin Dvorák (pronounced Dvorzhak).

(First, a qualification: by "little known" I mean little known to all but the most ardent votaries of classical music. It would be absurd to say that Khachaturian or Dvorák are as well known in popular culture as Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, etc).

I recently played one of my very favourite classical pieces, Dvorák's 9th Symphony, known as the "New World" Symphony. It is in my opinion the most "perfect" piece. By this I mean that from start to finish, it is a masterpiece, without a second wasted. Besides this, I first discovered the piece back in my 3rd year, so it has the nostalgic appeal (especially the 2nd movement, Largo). My 3rd year was one in which much happened and much changed for the better, and the music is inextricably linked to that time. The human mind is a curious thing indeed.

On a less sappy note, I'm reading tons of Restoration literature (also a favourite of mine). I just finished reading a little known play by Samuel Tuke, The Adventure of Five Hours. It's no Hamlet, but an enjoyable and readable play.
I know I'll get a lot of heat for this, but it must be said: Shakespeare is undoubtedly the greatest dramatist, but I find that Restoration drama is, on the whole, far more readable. I rarely find myself scratching my head trying to figure out what an expression means, for example. The Restoration comedies are also actually funny, and in general the drama of the period is more refined and polished. It's a curious matter since many of these playwrights are writing only two or three generations after Jonson, Shakespeare, and Middleton (by the way, reading Middleton's comedies was like walking through mud!).

In my Romantic poetry class, we finished reading Wordsworth's Prelude. It is not the greatest work of literature, but I admire Wordsworth when he is at his best. I'm inclined to agree with A.C. Bradley's assessment, i.e., that Wordsworth was not our best poet, but surely the most original. Next week, we will cross the plains into the heroic world of Byron's Don Juan, a work that is nearly as long as Homer's Odyssey. I look forward to it.