October 6, 2008
More Orcas-stration
…listen
…about the musicA cormorant guards the ferry.
Nope, not whales this time. Chamber music. Imagine that! Above is one of the many views from the ferry landing on Orcas Island, to the northeast of San Juan Island by about 35 peaceful minutes over the water. I had ventured over to moderate a pre-concert conversation with the delightful Seattle Chamber Players on Sunday. You can get the gist of what we talked about from a little article I wrote in the local paper last week. The audience was great, and wonderfully open to having lots of notes flung at them that were composed by composers in possession of a pulse. We smell better than the dead ones, at least, and return emails a lot more promptly. I’m hopeful that more contemporary music will find its way to these islands over time. Art is about the living, not just about the history that preceded us!
It’s also about sanity, and maintaining it. As I glided effortlessly across the archipelago I was reminded once again of the stark contrast between my former concert commutes and my current one, as I described earlier this summer in this blog post. The sentiment does not change, and I don’t think I’ll ever take the beauty of this life for granted, any more than I could possibly ignore the beauty of a chamber quartet in the throes of musical passion. Whether a watery passage on the ferry, or a lyrical passage in a piece of music, it’s wonderful to have one’s senses awash with the flow of joy.
Glenn Buttkus said,
October 7, 2008 @ 7:24 am
Your musical clip, Unabashedly2@1:53 really sent me this morning; thanks. I posted your explication of your full 13 minute composition on my site, with a pic of the earth from space.
Unabashedly
On any given day
in any given order,
my emotions span a very wide range.
No, I’m neither depressed,
manic nor schizophrenic
at least, not officially).
But I am deeply aware:
sensitive to the extremes
of joy and pain
on this little planet of ours.
In the midst of such a spectrum,
we need beauty and truth
for our sanity.
I try to create an open conduit
for these qualities through music,
hoping that the sounds
will elicit a similar response from you
as that which spurred me
to string these notes together.
Uneasy melancholy,
anger and despair,
quirky acceptance and calm,
and finally, yes,
complete elation.
This is just a glimpse
of the world around us,
on any given day…
in any given order.
In art we can put these emotions forth
in a very specific order
if we so choose,
and in a very direct manner.
We can communicate as passionately
and blatantly as we wish.
And I do.
Unabashedly.
Alex Shapiro 2006
Paul H. Muller said,
October 7, 2008 @ 10:24 am
Good gravy! This photo is not up to your usual standards, I’m afraid – too dark. I will look forward to a better picture of a cormorant soon – nobody doesn’t like a bird that can swim underwater.
A more serious question – do you find your music is affected by the slower pace of your new surroundings? Some composers seem to thrive on excitement and tension. Or perhaps the association with other like-minded musicians? I find I write with certain performers in mind and do best when there is the prospect of a piece being played. Do you feel cut off from this kind of motivation at all?
Also, I feel I must take issue with you on this: at some point dead composers probably do smell better than live ones.
Just sayin.
Alex Shapiro said,
October 7, 2008 @ 10:21 pm
Thanks guys. Paul, you crack me up. I will do my best to deliver a more photogenic cormorant to you soon. What can I say– it was the end of the day! Ergo, it was dark.
My music seems to mostly be affected by my internal state of mind, regardless of my surroundings. Yes, gazing out the window at what I have here can calm me immensely, but ultimately it’s my inner calm or my inner turmoil that gets expressed by the notes.
I agree with you about being inspired by commissions for specific people; that’s always wonderful and can lead to some very personal pieces. I’m lucky to have a steady stream of that kind of motivation, but again, the bottom line for me seems to be that the inspiration can just as readily come from the chaos I miraculously self-generate! Some of my most Zen-like, static pieces were composed amidst absolute din and insanity, and some of my most frenetic works were conceived during outward times of great peace. Go figure.
You must have been here this past week when I didn’t quite manage a shower each and every day because of working too hard. You’re absolutely right: long-dead composers smelled a LOT better than I did at the end of the day!!
Michael Tierra said,
January 7, 2016 @ 11:32 pm
I presume this poem in the form of a manifesto is inspired by or is the inspiration for Unabashedly More.
Alex Shapiro said,
January 8, 2016 @ 4:23 pm
You bet, Michael! And now you are getting to know the musical representation of those defiant words very well!