Here's something you might be interested in.
I ended up at the shark infested waters of Mission Beach on Friday. The Pacific Ocean was closed.
Whenever anyone ventured out to thigh depth, a lifeguard would come scurrying out of the tower to warn them that a shark had been spotted six hours ago. A truck constantly roamed the beach reminding people that the water was closed.
Hundreds of us stood at the edge of the water wondering what to do. I like to go in the water at the beach but potential death or dismemberment was swimming around out there.
It was as if Asrael, The Angel of Death, were patrolling those waters waiting to collect us. I was just hoping to see a fin cutting the water. It never showed.
However, Joseph Suk did write an Asrael Symphony.
Suk was a Czech composer who studied with Dvorak so intimately that he married Dvorak's daughter. When his beloved teacher died in 1904, Suk decided to write a symphony to commemorate the life of his master.
After completing three sections of the symphony and a mere 14 months after Dvorak's death, Suk's young wife died as well.
Suk writes, "After the terrible moment when the star of my life went out in my arms, today is the first day that I have taken up a pen. I can't talk with anyone, my immense pain drives me from place to place--but the longer it lasts the more my heart aches--my suffering is more than any mortal can bear."
Suk completed Asrael in two sections, the first is three movements written for his teacher and father-in-law, the second is two movements written for his young wife.
The section for his wife begins with a warm musical portrait and the finale of Asrael is a culmination of all that has come before. In the last rendition of what has been called "the fate theme", Suk goes from C minor to C major and finds consolation.
He wrote to a friend, "Do you know what I had to go through before I got to that final C major? No , It's not a work of pain--but a work of superhuman energy."
Once again, we are the beneficiaries of an artist taking pain and translating it into a work of art.
Is Asrael a great piece of music? Maybe. It's definitely a solid piece of music. I tend to want to like great music on its own merits, free from any back story about its composition. In this case, the back story is the music.
The spirit of this music does diminish the specter of a shark swimming by the beach for a day or two.
I have to tell the Robin Williams joke about a Great White Shark being spotted off the coast of Marin County. All the residents could say was, "Well, at least it's white."
5th movement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m_AA2Dufxg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB8wo0fWeyY&feature=related
I ended up at the shark infested waters of Mission Beach on Friday. The Pacific Ocean was closed.
Whenever anyone ventured out to thigh depth, a lifeguard would come scurrying out of the tower to warn them that a shark had been spotted six hours ago. A truck constantly roamed the beach reminding people that the water was closed.
Hundreds of us stood at the edge of the water wondering what to do. I like to go in the water at the beach but potential death or dismemberment was swimming around out there.
It was as if Asrael, The Angel of Death, were patrolling those waters waiting to collect us. I was just hoping to see a fin cutting the water. It never showed.
However, Joseph Suk did write an Asrael Symphony.
Suk was a Czech composer who studied with Dvorak so intimately that he married Dvorak's daughter. When his beloved teacher died in 1904, Suk decided to write a symphony to commemorate the life of his master.
After completing three sections of the symphony and a mere 14 months after Dvorak's death, Suk's young wife died as well.
Suk writes, "After the terrible moment when the star of my life went out in my arms, today is the first day that I have taken up a pen. I can't talk with anyone, my immense pain drives me from place to place--but the longer it lasts the more my heart aches--my suffering is more than any mortal can bear."
Suk completed Asrael in two sections, the first is three movements written for his teacher and father-in-law, the second is two movements written for his young wife.
The section for his wife begins with a warm musical portrait and the finale of Asrael is a culmination of all that has come before. In the last rendition of what has been called "the fate theme", Suk goes from C minor to C major and finds consolation.
He wrote to a friend, "Do you know what I had to go through before I got to that final C major? No , It's not a work of pain--but a work of superhuman energy."
Once again, we are the beneficiaries of an artist taking pain and translating it into a work of art.
Is Asrael a great piece of music? Maybe. It's definitely a solid piece of music. I tend to want to like great music on its own merits, free from any back story about its composition. In this case, the back story is the music.
The spirit of this music does diminish the specter of a shark swimming by the beach for a day or two.
I have to tell the Robin Williams joke about a Great White Shark being spotted off the coast of Marin County. All the residents could say was, "Well, at least it's white."
5th movement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m_AA2Dufxg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB8wo0fWeyY&feature=related