Autumnal hues

Who said that the colours of autumn are restricted to red, yellow and brown?

 A pictorial answer to the question.

Of birds and music

 A while ago a friend sent this link to me http://www.capefarewell.com/seachange/air-falbh-leis-na-h-eoin-away-with-the-birds-hanna-tuulikki-geoff-sample/

and I thought it would be nice to write an article about this project here... But then I didn't. I still think it's worth spreading the word about this unusual work, so happy listening everyone!

http://awaywith-thebirds.tumblr.com/

FolkRec - Auprès de ma blonde

This traditional French song is also known as "Le prisonnier de la Hollande", and according to Wikipedia it dates back to the 17th century (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aupr%C3%A8s_de_ma_blonde). I think it might have been composed as a military song; through the centuries a few alternative versions appeared, and now the song is also a popular nursery rhyme.

At the Cambridge Folk Festival I had the chance to discover Olivia Chaney, who writes and sings beautiful songs: I then stumbled upon her version of this song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY2izR3fN_U) - mine is slightly different (I played a bit with the words so that they make sense to me and yes, I played with ornamentation as well!), but I have to thank Olivia Chaney for teaching me this tune from a distance, so to speak.

Enjoy and do not fall asleep if you can! ;)

FolkRec - Cambridge Folk Festival

Going to Cambridge Folk Festival at the end of July was an absolutely wonderful experience. The festival, whose first edition dates from 1964, is worth going (at least once, if one is into folk music... and perhaps even if one isn't?!); I also had the chance to go with my friend Paola - such an amazing company! When I came up with the rather crazy idea of signing up for a floor spot in the Club Tent, she was very encouraging - I should really thank her for her support and the recording that she made of my open mic (which took place exactly two months ago!), as the whole experience wouldn't have been the same without her.
Here it is then - all four songs are traditional, namely:
1. Fair Nottamun Town.
2. The Recruited Collier (02:00).
3. Gathering Rushes in the Month of May (05:00).
4. The Banks of Red Roses (09:08).

Waves made solid

Wow, my last post was in March... Time flies - except that it felt like March, temperature-wise, up to not very long ago.

Never mind...

Here is a very succint post, whose sole purpose is to highlight the following website:
http://www.pierrecarreau.com/

Enjoy the watery geometries!

FolkRec - Month of January

I have known this song for a while, although it didn't strike me as one of my favourite tunes. Oddly, I could still remember the melody - even though I learnt it from a very talented Irish singer some five years ago.
Over Christmas I felt like challenging myself with something new: why not with this one then? I diligently memorised the lyrics, I thought of how I would like to sing it and eventually came up with a-sort-of-final version of this melancholic Irish song. The timing was quite right as well: "Month of January", a recording that would appear as a January blog entry... Or maybe not. January and February passed; March came and I thought "Well, it's almost spring now, I guess I'll wait for next year to post this song" - once again, bad prediction! Today I woke up and saw the snow gently falling down, covering roofs, trees and lawns.

... It's now or never! Thank you for listening.

Last but not least, happy Saint Patrick's Day!!

Clouds, stars and dreams

Modern art - do you like modern art?

How do you define modern art?

I'm not sure I feel like discussing this now.

Here is a link which I think provides a very good example of the modern art I like:

http://berndnaut.nl/works.htm

Enjoy! [Lucia, thanks for the link! ;) ]

Poetry - is it possible to understand poetry?

I often see it as cryptic and distant - yet sometimes a poem catches my attention, and it may happen that a line or two keep coming back to my memory.


Bright Star (J. Keats)

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art —
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors —
No — yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft swell and fall,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever — or else swoon to death

Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven (W. B. Yeats)

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym1M9vBVIYw (Yeats' Grave - The Cranberries) [I think there are a few mistakes and misspellings, but overall it's a nice video.]