Dinting Depression:

 

A colour shop

If I could cure one ailment I should choose depression. Depression can associate itself with so many other ailments and diminish the quality of life. I should choose to use colour to create environments that are uplifting and inspiring. Once one can see life from a positive stance, any other problems can be seen in perspective and dealt with.

Visiting an art shop today I was reminded how many colours we have to choose from. The window display with many yellow jars just lifted my spirits. This would become my colour shop where people could come and choose clothing, haberdashery, paint, lozenges to bath salts in any chosen colour. Music, too, would be part of the cure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Placebo Effect, by Michelle W.                                                                                                                         If you could create a painless, inexpensive cure for a simple ailment, what would you cure and why?

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/placebo-effect/

 

 

Music background:

If I was to choose the music that accompanied my life, it would start with ‘Les Sylphides’ by Frederic Chopin. www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-KCR_sAsGQ                                                           This romantic music inspired me to dance around the record player for hours in an empty room. The magic in this music lifted me to heavenly heights.

The next decade would be represented by the theme of love. Elvis Presley singing ‘I don’t have a wooden heart’ and the Beatles many songs: ‘All you need is love,’ ‘Love me Do,’ ‘And I love her.’ Joan Baez and Bob Dillon, Marianne Faithful, so many sang of love. I would have to go back and listen to revive those memories, as there were many more pieces of music that were meaningful at that time.

Arriving in Italy, my first song that I remember was ‘A lighter Shade of Pale.’ My twenties were  influenced by the Beatles. the Australian Seekers and the protest songs of Joan Baez, ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’  and – let it be. The Seekers: ‘A World of our Own,’ and later ‘I am Australian.’ ‘Yesterday’ blaring forth as we sat drawing in the evenings, songs full of nostalgia and promise, like, ‘Here comes the Sun.’

Heartbreak brought many sad songs: ‘The Carnival is Over,’ by the Seekers and Edith Piaf’s husky voice spoke to me at this time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cePJbmBEyBA   Brighter songs followed such as Cat Steven’s ‘Morning has broken’ and ‘Moonshadow.’

Meeting husband no. 2 brought with him Eric Clapton. There were others, that once again, I’d have to research. The children brought their own childhood and later teenage music, for example, ‘Grease.’

Classical music once again returned to my life with classic fm radio. When I felt like a party Dorothy Masuka filled the house with ‘Pata Pata.’

Finally returning to my childhood sweetheart, this music, ‘Scenes from Childhood,’ Opus 15, Robert Schumann would complete my story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lihXS3GLw0

If your life were a movie, what would its sound track be like? What songs, instrumental pieces, and other sound effects would be featured on the official sound track album? Ben Huberman

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/cue-the-violins/

 

 

 

 

Excellence: Music/Art

This morning at breakfast my beloved brought his iPad to the table to share an orchestral rehearsal.

‘The Birth of a Performance’ Columbia Symphony Orchestra with conductor Bruno Walter. The rehearsal and performance of Symphony No. 36 (‘Linz’) in C K 425, recorded in 1955.

This rehearsal showed the dedication needed to build and develop on the creative skills these musicians already naturally possessed. This recording allowed one to hear the difference between good playing and excellent, the fine-tuning is exquisite.

Christopher used this aide to inspire students when he taught drawing. His rationale being to encourage the students to recognize the difference between talent and the seeking of excellence in their work. The orchestra showed immense talent, the conductor brought it to excellence. Christopher admires Bruno Walter’s search for perfection.

Bruno Walter 1876-1962 was a brilliant conductor and it is wonderful that recordings of his teachings are available through youtube. I am fascinated that Rudolph Steiner and Anthroposophy influenced his life as the spiritual shines through his work

 

Bruno Walter 1912

What’s the best story someone has recently told you? Share this with us and feel free to embellish–that’s how good stories become great, after all.  Ben Huberman, Daily Post.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/second-hand-stories/

Silence:

 

Gang Gang Cockatoo
photo: Max Thompson

I work best in silence. My dream life responds to an undisturbed sleep, especially on waking. This is necessary for me to capture and remember; otherwise my thoughts get distracted and disappear. It doesn’t take much! My beloved loves news and listens to the BBC in the night with earphones that work a treat.

He tells me I snore. Well, he doesn’t like to believe it, but he does too. So if I can get to sleep first that is a bonus. Fortunately he doesn’t complain about this. I have found that if he’s snoring I try to imagine the ocean, with the waves representing his snores. This allows me to relax and gradually drift off. Dreams are an essential part of my psyche and allow my imagination free reign. This nocturnal excitement surpasses the passivity of day- time.

My family always said at breakfast, ‘Oh no, not again!’ So I’d get them to tell me theirs, and they loved to share their dreams. Fortunately this is a shared delight these days, discussing our very active dream lives.

Now the children have grown and departed my thoughts are my own. I do notice when the grandchildren come to stay, I treat it as a vacation and don’t attempt to write. I’m lucky enough to have a room where I can write. It is small and intimate with a window looking out to some greenery. My beloved is ensconced in the studio, so our cohabitation happens mostly at meal times and at night, which suits us both.

Music has been put on hold because of Millie, who is gradually adapting. She cries in her loudest voice when music offends her… Our previous pair of spaniels loved music. It must be the highly-strung nature of the poodle/spaniel cross, which brings intelligence but also sensitivities unknown to the placid nature of spaniels.

 

Writing space                                                                                                                                Where do you produce your best writing—at your desk, on your phone, at a noisy café? Tell us how the environment affects your creativity. Ben Huberman

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/writing-space/

 

Music: growing up

My father built our gramophone and the blackwood piece of furniture that surrounded it. The fine speakers were large and positioned high up in an alcove, above cupboards, either side of the fireplace. Father adored loud music, Beethoven particularly. He encouraged my brothers and me to sit listening to Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ and tell him what we visualised. Those memories are fragrant. ‘Peter and the Wolf’ with the musical accompaniment filled many a winter’s day. We were lucky to have someone who could share his deep love of music.

When alone with the music my favourites were Chopin’s ‘Les Sylphides’ ballet and Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’; where I’d swan around dancing my heart out, not being allowed dancing lessons at that age.

The fireplace took the place of a television. Living in Tasmania, the fire was lit for a good part of the year. The house itself was built by my grandfather for his bride back in 1914; given to my parents as a wedding present in 1942.

Christopher, my now husband, introduced me to the word ‘pop music’ when I was about ten. It wasn’t until I went to boarding school at eleven that I began to listen to pop music. There was just one wireless in the common room and everyone enjoyed top of the pops. In the evenings at school before prep, (homework), one of the really talented girls used to play pop tunes for us to dance to. I hated being away at school, but I do remember the music with much nostalgia.

Later when my eldest brother was at university and I was at Art School, we’d go to concerts together, classical and popular. One memorable night, Segovia, a famous classical guitarist, gave thirteen encores!

Christopher has a photographic memory when it comes to music. He has a fantastic collection and continues to educate me. The thump, thump of the popular music doesn’t interest us anymore. It is rather soporific when the neighbours have their occasional parties, like a soft heart beat, now I’m getting deaf.

Review of ‘On A Beam of Light’

Review of ‘On a Beam of Light’ a story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne, pictures by Vladimir Radunsky, published in 2013, http://www.chroniclekids.com

This delightful children’s book introduces children to the simplicity of Albert Einstein’s life as a child. His questioning led to deep questions that he continued to remember and work on throughout his life.

The illustrations show the texture of the watercolour paper with appealing, descriptive drawings. This book is not only informative, but a story that will inspire young children to realise the importance of continuing to question themselves. ‘On a Beam of Light’ shows how music made Albert happy and encourages children, when they grow up, not to lose the ability to enjoy life.