Yesterday, as a community we decided to isolate our four dwelling places with immediate effect. There were of course many practical issues to sort out as hitherto we were used to sharing resources.
This morning I woke to a strange feeling. The world has become an emptier, quieter place. And my daughter and son and their families, though living just down the road, have become isolated from each other and from us. No more grandpa stories of Sally-Anne and Smokey the dragon.
Even stranger, cognisant of the very sensible advice to wash hands often and thoroughly, I happened this morning to read from Mark chapter 7. Was this just coincidental?
...the Pharisees... saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" ...
And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
As I gaze out of the window: a lovely day, blue sky and warm enough in the sun, it seems like three disparate realms are meeting in my head. The wonder of nature, the elusive spiritual world of faith and hoped for miracles, and what the news is throwing at us. And somewhere in all three realms the COVID-19 virus is lurking.
It's not that I am afraid. But I'd like a better understanding. For example we had a time of prayer after our evening meal and one person asked God to help the researchers find a vaccine quickly. And, critical as ever, I thought - why not ask Him to simply end this plague?
20200325
20200322
The birds are still singing
The governments of the world are at their wits end, employers are dismissing staff, many shops are closed, there are limited transport options, food shortages and general instability. We are daily bombarded with coronavirus news casts. Conspiracy theories abound and it is sometimes hard to know what or who to believe. Although on the plus side there are encouraging stories of altruism like Donegal chefs providing free meals for the elderly.
And yet I look up and see birds still flying. The sun is still shining. The mountains are still beckoning me. And life goes on, albeit restricted in certain areas. So far we are still healthy. I'm still barefoot running. And so I did - my first foray this year to Church Mountain
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| My track: 15 miles, 822m height gain |
I met a number of groups and a few single folk - more that I would normally expect even for a sunny Sunday afternoon. Lots of traffic on the Wicklow gap road. You'll see in my photos three groups in the cairn on the top. And the Gardai had to close Glendalough because there were two many tourists flouting the distance rule.
And the future... who knows? Some say the world will never be the same. And we have to believe that God is in control.
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| Looking back on the way up |
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| Almost at the top - our lake in the distance |
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| Two groups on the cairn |
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| A third group on the right |
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| View from the top |
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| More views |
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| Our lake |
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| Scalp aka Slievecorragh |
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| My path turned into a stream |
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| More cars parked at base than usual |
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| St Kevin's Way, Hollywood |
20200318
Such a strange feeling
I've been at the barn the last couple of days preparing a space for 50 or so chickens we plan to get "at point of lay". Coming back to the house after the day's work it came over me - such a strange feeling - like, what is the point of the chicken programme - maybe we won't be there to benefit from the eggs. Indeed, what is the point of anything?
Today the UK announced that GCSE and A-levels have been cancelled for this year. They are talking about cocooning folk over 70. We are already being advised not to travel or socialise and to keep 2m away from other folk. Many shops and businesses have closed their doors. We cannot visit Ali's mum in the UK, or our daughter and her new-born in Australia as planned - thankfully Singapore Air have allowed us to rebook up to a year ahead for no extra charge. Thankfully we can at least communicate by 'phone or internet.
I've been mentally planning various free-travel hiking trips for this summer but it is now looking unlikely that these will be possible. At least I have the Wicklow Mountains within running distance!
These events are unprecedented.
Totally unexpected. And they have come upon us so quickly. And all due to a critter that is smaller than the wavelength of light so is invisible except to the electron microscope. How do they come about? Wikipedia not very helpfully admits "the origins of viruses in the evolutionary history of life are unclear".
Our Taoiseach Leo Varadkar addressed the nation in a special broadcast on this Saint Patrick’s Day as Ireland comes to grips with the global Covid-19 pandemic, saying: This is the calm before the storm – before the surge. And when it comes – and it will come – never will so many ask so much of so few.
We are told that all these restrictions are only to "flatten the curve" to give the health departments a chance to prepare for the escalating numbers needing hospital care. And then what? What form will the "storm take? It is now admitted that "return to normal" is months away. It is thought that 60 to 70 percent of the world population will eventually contract the virus. And some say the world will never be the same again.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Today the UK announced that GCSE and A-levels have been cancelled for this year. They are talking about cocooning folk over 70. We are already being advised not to travel or socialise and to keep 2m away from other folk. Many shops and businesses have closed their doors. We cannot visit Ali's mum in the UK, or our daughter and her new-born in Australia as planned - thankfully Singapore Air have allowed us to rebook up to a year ahead for no extra charge. Thankfully we can at least communicate by 'phone or internet.
I've been mentally planning various free-travel hiking trips for this summer but it is now looking unlikely that these will be possible. At least I have the Wicklow Mountains within running distance!
These events are unprecedented.
Totally unexpected. And they have come upon us so quickly. And all due to a critter that is smaller than the wavelength of light so is invisible except to the electron microscope. How do they come about? Wikipedia not very helpfully admits "the origins of viruses in the evolutionary history of life are unclear".
Our Taoiseach Leo Varadkar addressed the nation in a special broadcast on this Saint Patrick’s Day as Ireland comes to grips with the global Covid-19 pandemic, saying: This is the calm before the storm – before the surge. And when it comes – and it will come – never will so many ask so much of so few.
We are told that all these restrictions are only to "flatten the curve" to give the health departments a chance to prepare for the escalating numbers needing hospital care. And then what? What form will the "storm take? It is now admitted that "return to normal" is months away. It is thought that 60 to 70 percent of the world population will eventually contract the virus. And some say the world will never be the same again.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
20200316
Music Appreciation
I have offered to help our home-schoolers next year by teaching "Music Appreciation" once per week. If it goes ahead, four children will attend ages from 9 to 11, of which two are my granddaughters. I wonder at what level to pitch it?
My plan is to first define "music" and then give a very simple explanation of the physics that results in the major scale and harmony; then to introduce the various instruments and discuss musical genres, in each case with examples. There is so much good stuff on Youtube. Overall I want to inspire them, motivate, open their eyes (or ears); encourage them to both enjoy and make music.
In preparation I have been assembling a list of pieces we might listen to. Strange, but it seems that the list mainly comprises pieces I personally like...
My sister drew my attention to this photo, as she is there on our left of Daisy "the fat miss Curtis" who is in the centre of the picture. Dorothy or "the thin miss Curtis" is on the other side of Daisy. My days at that school were a few years earlier and my memories of the two teachers' physique was far more extreme than this photo suggests, which says something about how children view such things. Besides, Daisy dyed her hair orange and, for a kid, that's weird.
One afternoon each week Miss Cobb would come to teach us music. We would sing English folk songs while she played the piano. I can distinctly remember the time when I noticed (for the first time?) that what she was playing was a good deal more than just the tune that we sang, and I liked the added complexity. That was my first memory of the Appreciation of Music.
Later in my childhood I saved up and bought a Fidelity reel-to-reel tape recorder. I used to listen to music on the radio and record pieces I liked. A bit like cell-phones and Spotify. I remember one piece that stood out - it was only later that I identified it as the first movement of Bruckner's 7th - and thus started my infatuation with this man and his symphonic music. My friend David also bought a tape recorder - a more expensive one than mine. He was much stricter in his tastes in classical music: for me it was sufficient that I liked what I heard, never mind whether it was high or low brow.
At grammar school I took music O-level and thus repeatedly listened to a few set pieces including Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Brahms Variations on a theme by Haydn and came to love them, although I failed to understand their structure in the way that the O-level apparently required. Thus, although my music theory was excellent, my overall grade was mediocre. Why are students expected to disassemble beautiful works of art and fawn examiners with accepted explanations against their better judgement?
This morning whilst waiting for the world to wake up I stumbled across this recording of Lascia ch'io pianga from Handel's opera Rinaldo (1711) sung by boy soprano Aksel Rykkvin (age 14). I found it to be agonisingly beautiful, spine chilling. The audience - some listening intently, like I was, others gazing patronisingly and some apparently unmoved. How was that even possible?
In my last post I quoted an admirer of Alexander Malofeev saying "I wish it were possible to be inside him.. in his mind and his heart.. WHO he is... for just 10 seconds...". At time 38:44 in the following video Alexander gives an encore after his performance of Gershwin Piano Concerto in F. Note how the conductor urges him to play, note the resulting joy on Alexander's face. I cannot find any reference to exactly what he was playing so I assume it was his own improvisation. In any event it is intensely beautiful yet so simple in structure. Listening to it is perhaps the closest any of us common mortals will get to being "inside him".
My point being that youngsters do have the ability to deeply appreciate music - from what age may depend on the individual but Mozart started composing at age five! Alexander started piano at the age of five and by seven he became interested in the music of Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Mahler, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev. Aksel received voice training when five years old.
In this perilous time of the coronavirus, what an amazing salve is music, and what a gift is Youtube where you can enjoy serious music for free and even watch the body language of the performers
whilst it is being played!
My plan is to first define "music" and then give a very simple explanation of the physics that results in the major scale and harmony; then to introduce the various instruments and discuss musical genres, in each case with examples. There is so much good stuff on Youtube. Overall I want to inspire them, motivate, open their eyes (or ears); encourage them to both enjoy and make music.
In preparation I have been assembling a list of pieces we might listen to. Strange, but it seems that the list mainly comprises pieces I personally like...
 |
| Alresford Preparatory School 1968 |
My sister drew my attention to this photo, as she is there on our left of Daisy "the fat miss Curtis" who is in the centre of the picture. Dorothy or "the thin miss Curtis" is on the other side of Daisy. My days at that school were a few years earlier and my memories of the two teachers' physique was far more extreme than this photo suggests, which says something about how children view such things. Besides, Daisy dyed her hair orange and, for a kid, that's weird.
One afternoon each week Miss Cobb would come to teach us music. We would sing English folk songs while she played the piano. I can distinctly remember the time when I noticed (for the first time?) that what she was playing was a good deal more than just the tune that we sang, and I liked the added complexity. That was my first memory of the Appreciation of Music.
 |
| Fidelity tape recorder |
Later in my childhood I saved up and bought a Fidelity reel-to-reel tape recorder. I used to listen to music on the radio and record pieces I liked. A bit like cell-phones and Spotify. I remember one piece that stood out - it was only later that I identified it as the first movement of Bruckner's 7th - and thus started my infatuation with this man and his symphonic music. My friend David also bought a tape recorder - a more expensive one than mine. He was much stricter in his tastes in classical music: for me it was sufficient that I liked what I heard, never mind whether it was high or low brow.
At grammar school I took music O-level and thus repeatedly listened to a few set pieces including Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Brahms Variations on a theme by Haydn and came to love them, although I failed to understand their structure in the way that the O-level apparently required. Thus, although my music theory was excellent, my overall grade was mediocre. Why are students expected to disassemble beautiful works of art and fawn examiners with accepted explanations against their better judgement?
This morning whilst waiting for the world to wake up I stumbled across this recording of Lascia ch'io pianga from Handel's opera Rinaldo (1711) sung by boy soprano Aksel Rykkvin (age 14). I found it to be agonisingly beautiful, spine chilling. The audience - some listening intently, like I was, others gazing patronisingly and some apparently unmoved. How was that even possible?
In my last post I quoted an admirer of Alexander Malofeev saying "I wish it were possible to be inside him.. in his mind and his heart.. WHO he is... for just 10 seconds...". At time 38:44 in the following video Alexander gives an encore after his performance of Gershwin Piano Concerto in F. Note how the conductor urges him to play, note the resulting joy on Alexander's face. I cannot find any reference to exactly what he was playing so I assume it was his own improvisation. In any event it is intensely beautiful yet so simple in structure. Listening to it is perhaps the closest any of us common mortals will get to being "inside him".
My point being that youngsters do have the ability to deeply appreciate music - from what age may depend on the individual but Mozart started composing at age five! Alexander started piano at the age of five and by seven he became interested in the music of Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Mahler, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev. Aksel received voice training when five years old.
In this perilous time of the coronavirus, what an amazing salve is music, and what a gift is Youtube where you can enjoy serious music for free and even watch the body language of the performers
whilst it is being played!
20200301
Alexander Malofeev
At age 13 he gained international recognition at the 8th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians held in Moscow in 2014, where he won first prize and the Gold Medal. And he was 14 when the soloist in Saint-Saens piano concerto No 2...
Now 18 he is already well established as an expert not only in technique but also in expression and interpretation of compositions that, to put it mildly, are complex in form and exceedingly challenging to play. I have now watched a number of Youtube videos of him in concert and am mesmerised by his ability and interpretation. Not that I am qualified to judge other than that I have greatly enjoyed listening to and watching him play.
The following is a comment left by an admirer on Alexander's Facebook page. Whilst a bit OTT in places, it does echo my sentiments because I too want to fathom how one so young can be so profound.
I wish it were possible to be inside him.. in his mind and his heart.. WHO he is... for just 10 seconds, to know how it is for HIM, to have such amazing talent! I know it requires years of hard work, and practice practice practice! But also, there is something special about HIM that gives him this mind and heart for his amazing gift. I will never know this! But we all still enjoy his gift. He Is beautiful. I hope he is also a kind and humble person, away from the piano, along with that extraordinary talent and mesmerizing physical beauty. Thank you, Alexander, for sharing your talent with the world. It is amazing how "mere sound waves" affect our emotional being. Your "sound waves" originating from your heart, through your skilled fingers, are awe inspiring! (posted by Steve Farmer)
But all this is very selfish of me... He (Alexander) has a life to live and is in grave danger of his musical fame depriving him of it - it must either fulfil or destroy him.
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