Category: Music
-
Elgar the Enigma
This is an invitation to revisit two sublimely beautiful and meaningful pieces of Elgar’s music. One is mostly misunderstood, while the other is uniquely revelatory. First is “Nimrod” from his ‘Enigma Variations’. Let’s un-attach it, briefly, from the November Cenotaph observance, where It seems ‘custom-built’ to fit the remembrance of Great Britain’s part in two…
-
Luke’s Nativity ‘Extras’
Luke’s Nativity Story begins earlier than Matthew’s, with the priest Zechariah, whose aged wife Elizabeth hasn’t been able to conceive a child. One day, while carrying out his duties, “an angel from the Lord” appeared, and told him that his wife would bear a child, who must be called John – “a great servant of…
-
Borodin – Amazing Man and Music
One of my loves is Russian music of the later 19th century, That was when Russian music began. Previously there were no Music Conservatories, and no symphony orchestras giving regular concerts. Music was dominated by opera – Italian opera. In his lifetime, Alexander Borodin was seen as a professional Scientist and an amateur Artist. He…
-
Samson, a Hero and a Half ! (i)
In the book in the Hebrew Bible called “Judges” (chapters 13 to 16) we’re entertained with the amazingly outrageous story of Samson. This makes a welcome contrast to, let’s say, the first dozen chapters of 1 Chronicles. When sleep doesn’t come easily, try these interminable genealogical and other assorted lists of eminently forgettable names. The…
-
Baba Yaga – The Fascination of Folklore
A Russian person, seeing this 18th century Norwegian house, would recall Baba Yaga, who lived in a house on chicken legs. Baba Yaga was an ogress with raggedy clothing, crooked teeth, a hunched back, and a long nose that touched the ceiling when she lay on her bed. Her house on legs could turn itself…
-
Heart on (heretical) Sleeve
After sharing some thoughts with a friend, I want to try to put into words what ‘religion’ means to me. It’ll make sense to some, though not perhaps to all. Joseph Campbell describes the “game of belief” that leads to a “divine seizure”, his use of the word ‘game’ (as in Wittgenstein’s philosophy) not meaning…
-
Mahler and Life and Death
I haven’t blogged for a good few days because I’ve been too ‘re-absorbed’ in the music of one of my three favourite composers, Gustav Mahler, and now I’d like to write something about Mahler and death. I hope you haven’t fled away from that last word, because it’ll catch up with you regardless so, if…
-
A Credo and a Plea …
While contemplating my current series of posts on Genesis, I felt the need to remind myself, (and explain to any interested reader), where I’m coming from, and what is one key source to which I keep returning. Here’s an edited quote from the Prologue to Volume One of “The Masks of God” by Joseph Campbell.…
-
So what do I now believe in?
As a blogger, often about ‘matters religious’, I’m prompted to ask myself, what does religion now mean for me? Its most significant meaning is no longer an institutional one. I was once the minister of a church with several hundred attenders. Having a ‘way with words’, spoken as well as written, I enjoyed the experience…
RAY'S VIEWS ONLINE 