We Three: My Echo, My Shadow and Me - The Ink Spots

Reverie. Random Thoughts. Down memory lane. 

Timely for me to find this old song I love at YouTube... from one of my childhood favourite popular singing groups: The Ink Spots.

The song:  "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)" by The Ink Spots. 

 

The song tells a story of a person who feels isolated and alone, despite the presence of their "echo," "shadow," and the "me". 

Through all of the feelings of loneliness and longing for companionship and love, the romantic in some of us somehow continuously wait for someone to join us in our solitude, even if it takes eternity. 

Ah, relationships are never easy, always a challenge. Loneliness and longing for a connection are always a part of life.  

About the Ink Spots:

The Ink Spots was an African-American vocal group prominent in the late 1930s and ’40s. Along with the Mills Brothers, they were one of the first African-American groups to reach both black and white audiences. The Ink Spots exerted great influence on the development of the doo-wop vocal style. The principal members were Orville (“Hoppy”) Jones, Charles Fuqua, Ivory (“Deek”) Watson, Bill Kenny, Jerry Daniels, Herb Kenny, and Billy Bowen.

Formed in 1932 as the King, Jack and the Jesters, the group became the Ink Spots when they relocated to New York City. After Herb Kenny replaced original member Daniels, the group began a slow evolution toward its distinctive sound. In 1939 the Ink Spots scored a huge hit with “If I Didn’t Care,” on which Bill Kenny’s tenor lead contrasted with Jones’s deep bass. Among their many hits in the 1940s were “Address Unknown,” “My Prayer” (later rerecorded by the Platters), “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall” (a collaboration with Ella Fitzgerald), “We Three,” “To Each His Own,” and “The Gypsy.” The Ink Spots were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

My other favourite song of The Ink Spots was "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall", with Ella Fitzgerald.  

Resource: 

The Ink Spots. Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online). Article by Amy Tikkanen. Accessed January 16, 2024.

 

(c) January 16, 2024. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved. 

On belonging and seeking connection

 

 

Like classical music I also love literature. The last time I read Mary W. Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein was many moons ago. Earlier today I found in my FB feed the same quote I've loved, back in my youthful years:

 

"I was benevolent and good; 

misery made me a fiend. 

Make me happy, 

and I shall again be virtuous." 

 

~ Mary W. Shelley, 'Frankenstein' ~

 

The monster justifies his actions. He was benevolent and giving, gentle. He needed acceptance, love, a feeling of belonging, but instead, he continuously got no support but an irresponsible creator who abandoned and rejected him. 

 

Sometimes in life we give our best in many ways to a group or friends we believe we belong or believe we can belong, but somehow it's not good enough. We are never really accepted, rather, we are rejected and treated with indifference often in a subtle way. Eventually, we back off as we realise we've been pushed too hard… and somehow, we wonder why it has taken too long to get it, that we never really belong.

Photo credit:

I picked it up from a Facebook few years back. Sorry, artist is unknown. 

(c) 30 July 2022. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

Decluttering books, for painting's sake

Today is Monday. I've decided to take a breather from my writing pen and painting brushes. Instead, I'm going to clear my clutter especially books. 

Through the recent years (span of twenty), I've been letting go books, still buying some, but much less than I've been donating or giving away to charity and friends. 

Decluttering books can be difficult, as I've often stopped dead in my tracks when I see something I used to love but no longer do. All kinds of emotions come into play. This time I'm mainly decluttering because I want to allow myself to create a space for my current interest: watercolour painting.

The above artwork is one of my earliest doodles. Lately, I've been having fun with colours, one great therapy whilst in lockdown due to Covid-19 delta variant.    

(c)  October 11, 2021. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

My pen breaks my silence

 

 

"Great things are not done by impulse, but by series of small things brought together." - Vincent van Gogh 

similarly,

"Great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm." - Thomas J. Watson.

It's now mid-afternoon. My fourth cup of green tea. 

Could it be because it's Tuesday? A beautiful day. Outside beckons. I don't need essentials, and with statewide lockdown, we are empathically ordered by our state health officer to stay home. Fine.   

This thought came to mind. I have no idea who said it but I'm quoting it any way: "Unlike city buildings, bridges always retain evidence of the structure. We can still feel the tensions, the pressures."    

Since this morning and until my pen broke my silence a moment ago - it's now mid-afternoon - I've felt empty and silent. My silence at last was broken as my pen quieted the unexplained whisperings in my heart.  

So this entry. 

There is a time of silence before anything creative is born.  There is silence in the mind before we discover an idea, distracted or not. We need a home, a nest of silence - where we can be quiet, at peace with ourselves.  

I don't know with you, but my best ideas come out of these quiet moments. Most of the time. Something I call my "stillness nest".   

Tomorrow, a new beginning.

 

(c) 17 August 2021. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

My Butterfly

        Listening Pleasure

"When a man has a yearn to be free, He will sail to the end of the sea.
I won't be gone too long but while I travel on, Just fold your wings and wait for me"  

- Danyel Gerard, Butterfly -

"Butterfly" is a pop song, written and recorded by the French singer-songwriter, Danyel Gérard in the late 1960s. It was initially a hit in the French language.

In the early 1970s English language words were written, and Gérard recorded it again in the U.S. Later, he also did German, Spanish and Italian versions. "Butterfly" was a very popular song internationally, selling over seven million copies. Many other musicians recorded it, both in instrumental and vocal versions.

Video links: 

Butterfly English version.  YouTube, uploaded by jakethepen. Accessed August 13, 2021.  

Butterfly French version with lyrics. YouTube, uploaded by RomanCestMoi. Accessed August 13, 2021.

On Reflection...

Butterflies are powerful representations of life. They are not only beautiful, but also a metaphor representing spiritual rebirth, transformation, change and hope. 

 

For the butterfly's metamorphosis from the common, colorless caterpillar to the exquisite winged creature of delicate beauty, it has become a metaphor for transformation and hope; across cultures, it has become a symbol for rebirth and resurrection for the eventual triumph of the spirit over our physical confinement.

Lyrics (English)

You are bright as a night full of moon

Butterfly you have left much to soon

You have found you have wings and now you wish to fly

Please don't go, oh please don't say good bye.

 

Butterfly, my Butterfly now I know you must be free

Butterfly, don't flutter by, stay a little while with me.

 

In your mind there's someone far away

And you'll miss all the fun if you stay

You believe that love is elsewhere to be found

But you're wrong, it's here, just look around.

 

Butterfly, my Butterfly now I know you must be free

Butterfly, don't flutter by, stay a little while with me.

 

Look around, look around and you'll see

Better loved then by me you won't be

And if you fly away you break my heart in two

Please don't go -- I'm so in love with you.

 

Butterfly, my Butterfly now I know you must be free

Butterfly, don't flutter by, stay a little while with me.

Butterfly, my Butterfly now I know you must be free

Butterfly, don't flutter by, stay a little while with me.

Butterfly, my Butterfly now I know you must be free

Butterfly, don't flutter by, stay a little while with me.

https://lyricstranslate.com

Fell in love in the wink of an eye
With a girl who was called butterfly
She said she loved me so
She could not let me go
But still I had to say goodbye

Butterfly, my butterfly
I'll come home to you one day
Butterfly, my butterfly
Wait for me, don't fly away

Never fly in the heat of the sun
Fold your wings when the long day is done
Stay home and wait for me till I get back and then
Counting the minutes one by one

Butterfly, my butterfly
I'll come home to you one day
Butterfly, my butterfly
Wait for me, don't fly away

When a man has a yearn to be free
He will sail to the end of the sea
I won't be gone too long but while I travel on
Just fold your wings and wait for me

Butterfly, my butterfly
I'll come home to you one day
Butterfly, my butterfly
Wait for me, don't fly away

Butterfly, my butterfly
I'll come home to you one day
Butterfly, my butterfly
Wait for me, don't fly away

Butterfly, my butterfly
I'll come home to you one day
Butterfly, my butterfly
Wait for me, don't fly away

Source: muzicum: Danyel Gerard, Butterfly, English version (1975)

You are bright as a night full of moon

Butterfly you have left much to soon

You have found you have wings and now you wish to fly

Please don't go, oh please don't say good bye.

 

Butterfly, my Butterfly now I know you must be free

Butterfly, don't flutter by, stay a little while with me.

 

In your mind there's someone far away

And you'll miss all the fun if you stay

You believe that love is elsewhere to be found

But you're wrong, it's here, just look around.

 

Butterfly, my Butterfly now I know you must be free

Butterfly, don't flutter by, stay a little while with me.

 

Look around, look around and you'll see

Better loved then by me you won't be

And if you fly away you break my heart in two

Please don't go -- I'm so in love with you.

 

Butterfly, my Butterfly now I know you must be free

Butterfly, don't flutter by, stay a little while with me.

Butterfly, my Butterfly now I know you must be free

Butterfly, don't flutter by, stay a little while with me.

Butterfly, my Butterfly now I know you must be free

Butterfly, don't flutter by, stay a little while with me.

https://lyricstranslate.com

Lyrics  (French)

 

Butterfly, my butterfly
Dans un mois je reviendrais
Butterfly, my butterfly
Près de toi je resterais

 

Tu me dis loin des yeux, loin du cœur
Tu me dis qu'on oublie le meilleur
Malgré les horizons
Je sais qu'elle m'aime encore
Cette fille que j'avais surnommée

 

Butterfly, my butterfly
Dans un mois je reviendrais
Butterfly, my butterfly
Près de toi je resterais

 

Notre amour est si grand, oui si grand
Que le ciel y tiendrait tout dedans
Malgré ce que tu dis
Je sais qu'elle m'aime encore
Cette fille que j'avais embrassée

 

Butterfly, my butterfly
Dans un mois je reviendrais
Butterfly, my butterfly
Près de toi je resterais (encore une fois et-)

 

Butterfly (my butterfly), 

my butterfly (my butterfly)
Dans un mois je reviendrais
Butterfly (my butterfly), 

my butterfly (my butterfly)
Près de toi je resterais (une dernière fois)

 

Butterfly (my butterfly), 

my butterfly (my butterfly)
Dans un mois je reviendrais
Butterfly (my butterfly), 

my butterfly (my butterfly)
Près de toi je resterais

 

Ça va venir, hein

Butterfly, my butterfly
Près de toi je resterais.

 

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Ralph Bernet / Danyel Gerard / Howard Barnes

Butterfly lyrics © Penny Farthing Music, Arlovol Music, Moebetoblame Music, Crazytown Music, Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited

 

Resource:

 

Butterfly (Danyel Gérard song). en.wikipedia.org

 

 

(c) August 13, 2021. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.  

Musings whilst in lockdown, 10 Aug 2021

 

It's not the things we do. It's the things we have left undone that give us the stress. 

Fill the freedom of the breeze and the music of the green-needled trees. 

Silence. Sometimes there's no need for words nor melodies to hear our searching selves.  

Your songs shall fill me with strength. Your beauty shall fill me with greatness.

Because you're not an enemy, that doesn't make you a friend. 

We experience natural beauty with our senses... and not those preconceived by magazines, catalogues or TV.    

If we have to maintain our integrity,  our true character is not polluted by politics, money, and similar worldly distractions. 

We are very busy building our tomorrows, we forget about today. Life is here! Let's take it... let's think of our dreams and make them happen.   

It's always nice when benevolent acts are also pleasurable. 

 (c) Aug 10, 2021. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

Solitary Woman

Time just flies - and suddenly you look up and realise you're married to yourself.  

It's fun in the follies of youth, the freedom is liberating. Years pass unnoticed.

Now self-actualised, retired, in the autumn of your life, perhaps late autumn, you find yourself not only alone, but having difficulty meeting-up with a friend or two. Not even before lockdown from Covid-19. Most of the time, you hardly hear from anyone unless you keep in touch first. Why? Not their fault. Friends are busy with their own families, with their jobs (some opt to hang on to jobs beyond retirement age from lack of financial instability). Even so, loved ones and good friends gone one by one - either separated by physical distance, divorce, or death. You find yourself alone, none available over a cuppa for that needed unwinding. 

One day, you feel unwell, you writhe in pain in the middle of the night - you don't know who to call for help. The same scene happens few times. Now that is pitting you against the wall. You've gone too far of your singledom. 

You've been single a long time, solitary woman. 

All your adultlife, you love the independence, the freedom not to worry about stifling relationships, focus on career, your identity intact. One day, you realise you've become "too single". You socialise, join interest groups, hoping to find someone with common interests, not necessarily in mind to start any serious relationship but for good friendships. It's never the same. 

At this point in time, the autumn of your life, most people you meet have their own established social groups, close-knit family circles. You join them for awhile, few weeks, few months. Inevitably, you yearn for the old freedoms. You either feel out of place -  circles with partners, with children, or hordes of relatives in tow. Topics of discussion not really your interest.  You realise you're better off alone, despite your desperation not to be alone.    

The time has come. It's getting late in the autumn of your life. Time to stop wearing blinders, to consider other possibilities. But what? Only time will tell.   

Listening pleasure: 

"Solitary Woman", composed by Ralph Towner, played by Francois Drouin.  YouTube, Accessed July 11, 2021.     

(c) July 2021. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

Dante's Prayer

        Listening Pleasure

Video: 

Loreena McKennitt Dante's Prayer with lyrics.  YouTube, uploaded by HaveFaithNH. Accessed July 1, 2021.  This is a very popular song entitled "Dante's Prayer" written by Canadian born Loreena McKennitt.  

 

On Reflection... What the song means. 

I'm featuring this song as it personally speaks to me, enriches. Music or a song has a personal meaning for everyone.  I found a wonderful insight from my collected notes. I can't properly credit his/her name as it was only signed as 'roblel'. Thank you Roblel. 

Roblel, as I will address him (or her), was fortunate to see Loreena McKennitt in concert at Massey Hall in Toronto in the late 90's; that prior singing her songs, she would often relate to the listening audience what inspired her to write it. As best as I can recall, this, according to Roblel, was how Loreena's "Dante's Prayer" song came about. 

Loreena travels the world extensively to find inspiration for her music whereby she exposes herself to different cultures. On the occasion of her inspiration for "Dante's Prayer", she was riding on a trans - Siberian train and indeed reading Dante Alighieri's famous The Divine Comedy. She recounted that since there was no dining car on the train, it would stop at various towns along the way and the riders were given exactly 20 minutes to leave the train and buy food from the locals who lived in the town and would come to the train to greet and sell to the passengers. 

This would have happened perhaps once or twice throughout the day.

There was an attendant on the train, a woman, who would come around and seem grumpy and rather miserable. At first, Loreena dismissed her demeanor as one of culture. 

One time, after Loreena had re-boarded the train having bought food from the locals, the same attendant came by. Loreena stopped her and gave her some of the food she had bought, as a simple act of kindness. The woman remarked with a surprised smile and a countenance that reminded Loreena about the story that she was reading in the Dante's Divine Comedy.

In that moment, Loreena found her muse for the song, thought she would never forget the look of gratitude on the attendant's face, almost certain no one else had taken the time to consider the woman as she travelled back and forth, day after day, and year after year, through the dark harshness of Siberia. 

From that one kind gesture, Loreena McKennitt's song was born: "Dante's Prayer". 

Lyrics

 

When the dark wood fell before me
And all the paths were overgrown
When the priests of pride say there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone

 

I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in the light of the stars

 

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

 

Then the mountain rose before me
By the deep well of desire
From the fountain of forgiveness
Beyond the ice and the fire

 

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

 

Though we share this humble path, alone
How fragile is the heart
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly
To touch the face of the stars

 

Breathe life into this feeble heart
Lift this mortal veil of fear
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
We'll rise above these earthly cares

 

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me.

 

Source: LyricFind

Dante’s Prayer lyrics © O/B/O Apra Amcos

 

 

(c) July 2021. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.  

Solitude: gracious and benign

"When from our better selves we have long
Been parted by the hurrying world, and droop.
Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired.
How gracious, how benign, is Solitude."   

The Prelude by William Wordsworth, excerpt from Book IV, "Summer Vacation," Lines 354-370.

I embrace solitude. It frees my mind up from all the distractions of everyday life. I turn inwards then become renewed. This sense of renewal I can turn outwards again and again ... so everyday life will continue afresh.  

Solitude allows my body to catch up with my mind. It allows my brain to have a rest.

Solitude prevents me from burnout, which occasionally happens when I'm subjected to prolonged, intense, and unresolved stress. 

Solitude enhances my creativity as it frees my mind up from menial distractions and allows it to focus more on what's more important. Exactly why artists - painters, musicians, writers, sculptures - spend a lot of time alone. 

Almighty God doesn't get people out of our life at random. He has plans. 

Listening pleasure:  W.A.Mozart: Clarinet concerto in A major, K.622 with Nadja Drakslar.

 

 

 

(c) June 14, 2021. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

Today

Let's not be depressed about the past nor worry too much about the future, but focus on today. If today's not so great, tomorrow's a new day. 

 

 Beautiful Relaxing Music • Peaceful Piano Music & Guitar Music | Sunny Mornings by @Peder B. Helland

 

 

Soothing Relaxation. YouTube. Accessed 25 February 2021. 

 

(c) February 2021. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

Saturday morning delight ... Mozart's lovely Trio KV 498

Listening pleasure on a cold and chilly Saturday morning down-under...


A wonderful performance by Martin Fröst, klarinet;  Roland Pöntinen, piano; Maxim Rysanov, altviool.  Recorded during Janine Jansen's International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht 2011.(YouTube, uploaded by AVROTROS klassiek. Accessed August 8, 2020.)





About this piece, and I'm quoting from a friend's insight: "The lovely Eb trio KV 498, in a crystalline and lyrical performance by Martin and friends, here with his longtime pianist Roland Pontinen and the great violist Maxim Rysanov. The KV 498 trio has been misnicknamed the "Kegelstatt" trio for over 200 years. In actuality, it was the KV 487 french duos that were composed two weeks earlier, "untern Kegelscheiben" ("while play skittles") by Mozart. This lovely Eb trio, KV 498 was not. Mozart writes on the autograph of KV 498 (now in Paris) very simply, "Ein Terzett fur Klavier, Klarinette, und Viola."- Dr. Vincent DeLuise, Mozartian and clarinettist. 


(c) August 8, 2020. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

I am... I said

Listening Pleasure / Reveries 

The past days I've been gravitating on this old song "I am... I said",  popularised by Neil Diamond. Self-isolating and physical-distancing due to Covid pandemic crisis have been challenging to many people living especially for one living alone. 


"I Am... I Said" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. Initially, it was quite unsuccessful, released as a single album (Stones)  on March 15, 1971. It slowly climbed the charts. 

Video Credit:

I am I said - Neil Diamond (with lyrics). YouTube. Uploaded by Jack Lim. Accessed August 6, 2020. Live performance at the Aquarius Theatre in Los Angeles. 1988.


Resource:

I Am... I Said. Wikipedia.  Accessed August 6, 2020.  



(c) August 2020. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.  

A moment of random thoughts

Random thoughts whilst resting from a day's practice of minimalism...

Sometimes silence can speak louder than words.

If you want to know the person, read what the person says themselves ...

When you have many ideas, writings go all over the place.

"Simplicity" is the secret of the success that everyone can understand.

Be forewarned. It's definitely not for those who cling to certain sacred cows --- Sorry, I can't pull off such premise.

"Anyone who hasn't really loved hasn't lived. ~ Agatha Christie, Sad Cypress.

If God exists, why does he allow human sufferings?

Seascape / Ocean.
The enthralling thing about the ocean is it chanages everyday, and much bigger than we are --- such magnificent creation of the Almighty.

Writers.
Some writers are just good at honeying their analysis with fantastic storytelling.

Starting Over.
It's never too late to start over. If you weren't happy with yesterday, try something different today. Don't stay stuck. Do better." 

If I had words

When I heard Camille Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 (Finale) played over at ABC Classics this morning, I found myself filled with emotions, further aggravated by a chilly winter morning and a bit downcast from some unwelcome body aches.

For a long time I've loved Camille Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 in C minor "Symphony with Organ", written in 1886. Then came the film Babe, with its theme song, "If I had words", a short but with beautiful heartwarming lyrics. It became even more significant when my memory drifted to one of my recent years' concert with  Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, "Music from the Movies", conducted by our warm-hearted conductor Liz Scott. Babe's song was included.

Brief history of the song: "If I had words" was first recorded in 1978, sung by Scott Fitzgerald as a duet with Yvonne Keeley. The lyrics and arrangement were by Jonathan Hodge, a prolific writer of TV jingles and movie themes, who also produced the single. The backing was by the St Thomas More Roman Catholic School Choir in Chelsea, London. I have no idea, but wonderfully strange enough, the music was adapted from the finale movement of Camille Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 in C minor.

The lyrics are indeed too short and simple, but my God, they're deeply profound to me, alongside Saint-Saëns's "organ symphony" music.

Link: "If I had Words" - Here. Sung by Yvonne Keeley and Scott Fitzgerald.

If I Had Words

If I had words
To make a day for you
I sing you a morning golden and new
I would make this day

Last for all time
Give you a night
Deep in moonshine.

If I Had Words lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Music & Media Int'l, Inc

Video:  
Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ Symphony” (Finale), performed by the Auckland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Thomas, with Timothy Noon on the Organ. From the concert "Organ Symphony" recorded November 2012 at the Auckland Town Hall. YouTube, accessed July 5, 2020.





Resource:

If I Had Words. en.wikipedia.org. 


(c) July 5, 2020. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

The Lost Chord

Earlier I was sorting out a box of uncategorised CDs I haven't touched in years when I found an old CD from my past, The Cliff Adams Singers: The Golden Years of Song. These are songs loved by our parents and influenced on us.  Upon review of the 20 tracks, I dawned upon few I'm familiar with and love to this day. One song in particular haunted me: The Lost Chord. With a bit of research, I realised the music is composed by no other than Arthur Sullivan, a setting of an 1858 poem by Adelaide Anne Procter. Sullivan composed it in 1877 whilst tending to his brother on his deathbed.

The Lost Chord was not written for public use but it quickly became a success, the subject of one of the first-ever phonograph recordings in 1888. It has been recorded by prominent singers at the time, including Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, and Nelson Eddy, among others. 

Below, the haunting but beautiful The Lost Chord, sung by Webster Booth, British Tenor. YouTube, BigTezza12. Accessed June 15, 2020. 



The Lost Chord 
Lyrics by Adelaide Anne Procter
Music composed by Arthur Sullivan. 

Seated one day at the organ
I was weary and ill at ease
And my fingers wandered idly
Over the noisy keys

I know not what I was playing
Or what I was dreaming then;
But I struck one chord of music
Like the sound of a great Amen
Like the sound of a great Amen

It flooded the crimson twilight
Like the close of an angel's psalm
And it lay on my fevered spirit
With a touch of infinite calm

Full Moon and Empty Arms

This post is inspired by full moon tonight. 

"Full Moon and Empty Arms" is a 1945 popular song by Buddy Kaye and Ted Mossman, based on Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. Frank Sinatra's version is the best-known recording of the song.

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between the autumn of 1900 and April 1901 The second and third movements were first performed with the composer himself as soloist on 2 December 1900. The complete work was premiered, again with the composer as soloist, on 27 October 1901, with his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting.




Hélène Grimaud plays beautifully movements 3 (Allegro scherzando), of this emotionally charged piece of music. YouTube, uploaded by StupeurAlice. Accessed June 5, 2020.

The second movement (adagio sostenuto theme) appears in Eric Carmen's 1975 ballad "All by Myself". The 3rd movement (allegro scherzando) which is featured in this video provides the basis for Frank Sinatra's 1945 "Full Moon and Empty Arms".

For the complete Piano Concerto No.2, I decided to listen to Van Cliburn, with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin, conducting. Youtube, uploaded by classicalrarities.

The soundtrack of the 1945 classic movie "Brief Encounter", starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, which centers on the lives of two happily married man and woman who fall in love with each other after a chance encounter at a train station, features a musical score based on this Piano Concerto. It's refreshing to find a classic romance without meet-cutes and pathetic attempts to be clever, with two adults who know what is happening to them, feeling passion which they may have thought was lost for good, by the same token both know their undertaking is unwise and know, within their realities, what needs to be done.

This piece is one of Rachmaninoff's most enduring popular compositions, and established his fame as a concerto composer.



c) June 5, 2020, 6pm. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

Morning Mood

"Morning Mood" (Norwegian: Morgenstemning i ørkenen, 'Morning mood in the desert') is part of Edvard Grieg's famous Peer Gynt, Op. 23, written in 1875 as incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play of the same name. It was also included as the first of four movements in Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46.

Beautiful!

Pensive. Today is anothre one of those dark and seemingly gloomy Sunday. But just because the skies are falling and I'm social distancing doesn't mean I have to sit around doing nothing... I'm blissing out on some of my favourite easy listening classic music. Here's one:  Grieg's "Morning Mood". 




Got to give this day the chance to become another beautiful day in a life...


(c) May 2020. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

Good-bye again

We have loved and gave too much but nothing seemed good enough. I'm reminded of something a great South American poet Pablo Neruda said in one of his poems on Farewell and sorrows ... 

"So play the waltz of the serene moon,
the barcarole in the water of the guitar,
until my head lolls dreaming:

that all the sleeplessness in my life weaved
this arbour where your hand lives and flies
watching over night of the sleeping traveller."

We learn to leave softly and quietly. Move on from where we are not appreciated. I will no longer impose myself where my shadow is not needed.   

Listening pleasure: 

Since my youth, many moons ago, I've loved this piece.  Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 3, Op. 90 "Poco allegretto" 3rd movement. Uploaded by Jack Gibbons. Accessed May 7, 2018.  With the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli, recorded December 1967. Another version of this 3rd movement is performed by SNU Symphony Orchestra.

Soundtrack from movie Goodbye Again (1961). "Say no more, it's Good-bye", sung by Diahann Carol. Music by Georges Auric and Johannes Brahms. Lyrics by Dory Previn. 

Say no more its goodbye 

As before its goodbye 

Every move, every sigh 

Seems to prove its goodbye again.

Say no more its goodbye 

As before its goodbye 

I can tell, save the lie 

Its farewell and goodbye again my love.

So why deny you will leave me

You have in the past 

If it isn't the first time 

It wont be the last.

Say no more its goodbye 

As before its goodbye 

Every move, every sigh 

Seems to prove its goodbye again 

Say no more its goodbye 

As before its goodbye 

Its my fate, this I know 

I must wait 'til you say hello again.

Note: Aimez-vous Brahms (Do you like Brahms?) is a novel by Françoise Sagan, first published in 1959. It was published in English in 1960, and was made into a film under the title Goodbye Again in 1961 starring Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Perkins.

(c) May 2018. Updated May 7, 2020. Tel. Autumn Reflections. All rights reserved.

From travels and sorrows

"From travels and sorrows I returned, my love,
to your voice, to your hand flying on the guitar,
to the fire that with kisses interrupts the Fall,
to the circling of the night in the sky.

For all men I ask for bread and kingdom,
I ask for land for the farmer without fortune,
let no one expect respite from my blood or my song.

But I cannot quit your love without dying.

So play the waltz of the serene moon,
the barcarole in the water of the guitar,
until my head lolls dreaming:

that all the sleeplessness in my life weaved
this arbour where your hand lives and flies
watching over night of the sleeping traveller."

~ Pablo Neruda ~

Thanks to a Swiss friend, Ilse, who shared this poem at Facebook.


(c) May 2020.  Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.

Silence is not an absence of sound

"Silence is not an absence of sound 

but rather a shifting of attention 

toward sounds that speak to the soul."  

- Thomas Moore -

Today is the birthday of Thomas Moore, Irish poet, singer and songwriter, and famous for that poignant song "The Last Rose of Summer". He was also a good friend of Lord Byron and Shelley. Sir John Stevenson set the poem to its widely known melody, which was published in December 1813.

"The Last Rose of Summer" is a poem by the Irish poet Thomas Moore. He wrote it in 1805, while staying at Jenkinstown Park in County Kilkenny, Ireland, where he was said to have been inspired by a specimen of Rosa 'Old Blush'. The poem is set to a traditional tune called "Aislean an Oigfear", or "The Young Man's Dream", which was transcribed by Edward Bunting in 1792, based on a performance by harper Denis Hempson (Donnchadh Ó hAmhsaigh) at the Belfast Harp Festival. The poem and the tune together were published in December 1813 in volume 5 of Thomas Moore's A Selection of Irish Melodies. The original piano accompaniment was written by John Andrew Stevenson, several other arrangements followed in the 19th and 20th centuries. [Wiki]

The lyrics of the poem compares the last rose of summer of our twilight years... a poignant  reminder of the passing of time.   

The Last Rose of Summer

'Tis the last rose of summer,
    Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
    Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
    No rose-bud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes
    To give sigh for sigh!

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one.
    To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
    Go, sleep thou with them;
Thus kindly I scatter
    Thy leaves o'er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden
    Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow,
    When friendships decay,
And from love's shining circle
    The gems drop away!
When true hearts lie wither'd,
    And fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit
    This bleak world alone?

(c) April 2020. Tel.  Autumn Reflections. All rights reserved.