Piano Impression

As I was finishing off my latest patchi installment for my website, I discovered the poetry of Archibald Lampman (1861 - 1899). I believe the experience of music is one of the most challenging subjects to put into words and Lampman has done that so beautifully in this sonnet, that I couldn't resist sharing it!

The Piano

Low brooding cadences that dream and cry

Life's stress and passion echoing straight and clear;

Wild flights of notes that clamour and beat high

Into the storm and battle, or drop sheer;

Strange majesties of sound beyond all words

Ringing on clouds and thunderous heights sublime;

Sad detonance of golden tones and chords

That tremble with the secret of all time;

O wrap me round; for one exulting hour

Possess my soul, and I indeed shall know

The wealth of living, the desire, the power,

The tragic sweep, the Appollonian glow;

All life shall stream before me; I shall see,

With eyes unblanched, Time and Eternity.

Archibald Lampman

Busy - but never too busy for poetry!

Being caught up in many different creative projects is stimulating and satisfying...but leaves little room for keeping up to date with such things as a digital blog or diary.

So...as a compromise, I've decided to share some more poetry that I love, and will leave more extensive musings for when I have more time!

Song

You say you love; but with a voice

Chaster than a nun's, who singeth

The soft vespers to herself

While the chime-bell ringeth -

O love me truly!

You say you love; but with a smile

Cold as sunrise in September,

As you were Saint Cupid's nun,

And kept his weeks of Ember -

O love me truly!

You say you love; but then your lips

Coral tinted teach no blisses,

More than coral in the sea -

They never pout for kisses -

O love me truly!

You say you love; but then your hand

No soft squeeze for squeeze returneth;

It is, like a statue's, dead, -

While mine to passion burneth -

O love me truly!

John Keats

Just as a footnote, I think Dymocks and perhaps other major bookshops need to take a look at their poetry section and invest in a broader range to chose from. The token smattering of poetry books that you are most likely to find in such stores do not do justice to the vivid and intriguing works that are being created by the poets of today, (such as the Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen)

It's All in the Illusion

On August the 23, there was a beautifully crafted article by Helen Greenwood in the Good Weekend about Jean-Claude Ellena, a master perfumer. Personally I own very few perfumes and I do not have any formal understanding of the production elements behind the making of perfume. However, I was intrigued by Ellena's creative process and the more I read about the ideas and concepts that lead Ellena towards a new scent,the more I found that it could be linked to the choreographic process in dance.

"It's not a matter of combining odours but of creating relationships between odours. The materials of fragrences don't mix like colours to create a new colour. They co-exist and continue to express themselves individually, while at the same time forming a new odour, a new meaning". This is a beautiful thought. I love the notion that the many different scents in one perfume have not simply been smished together, but have been introduced to one another and the resulting conversation between them produces a new odour. It is said that humans danced before we spoke. Then it should be possible to insert the words "movement" and "dance" into the above quotation. For me, a piece of pure dance is most satisfying when there seems to be a running thread between the varied movements, that in turn creates the illusion of a danced conversation, (even in a solo performance!). When you think of the best kind of conversation, it seems to occur when there has been a meeting at a shared concept that produces new thoughts and discussion related to similar concepts. So even though there may be extremely different movements or scents in a particular creation, they must be able to "co-exist" with each other in order to successfully express a new, cohesive idea.

"All art is an illusion...Illusion can be stronger than reality". I could not agree more. Ellena does not attempt to recreate a true smell in his perfumes...he evokes the notion of a scent in order to tell a story through fragrence. How is it possible to tell a story through fragrence, dance or even music? It is through weaving "notions" into your creation that ignites the imagination of the beholder, whose personal associations evoke a story in their mind. That is what art should be about...encouraging others to embark upon some kind of inner quest that either ends with a newly formed idea or another question. That is why "the idea of tea" is so much more interesting than the actual scent of tea, as everyones experience of "tea" is different.

This brings me to a recent bugbear of mine, revolving around those in society who believe performative art should be completely comprehensive and that the use of illusion or whimsy is old hat with no part to play in our compact, computer literate, reality driven modern society. Personally I think we could all do with a little more illusion in our lives, especially with the phenomenan of reality TV that has perched the banal and everyday happenings of life on such a high pedestal. We are swamped by reality each day of our lives, from traffic jams to taxes and now when you switch on the box or surf the net, you are more than likely to be hit by what is believed to be the entertaining side of reality...bitching, cheating and the depraved acts of desperate people.

I am a whimsy addict. Daydreams tickle my life, and when I am offered the opportunity to experience someone elses vision (be it through scent or performance), I'll dive right in. Somewhere scattered in the illusion are realities worth finding.