Okay, this poem is a tad melancholy to illustrate the fact that I have a keyboard in my house. Yes, it's a sad state when I'm excited by a plastic set of six octaves, but there you have it. I'm playing for a recital in a couple of weeks and need daily practice to be ready. A friend is loaning me her keyboard. Haven't had a piano in my house for over a decade, so this is a treat.
Piano
D. H. Lawrence
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.
In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.
(And in somewhat unrelated news, my favorite singer just gave her farewell recital at Carnegie Hall last night--classmates who were there said it was one of the most stunning performances they'd heard. And her dress was fabulous. [No, this is not her actual dress; Carnegie does not allow gauche photographs during a performance.])
Auf wiedersehen, Frau von Stade!
ReplyDeleteMay we all bow from the stage of our lives and leave everyone gasping in applause, showering us with roses, and waiting just one more song.
“Yes, there is Nirvana; it is in leading your sheep to a green pasture, and in putting your child to sleep, and in writing the last line of your poem.” ~ Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) [Sand and Foam]
We may just have to see if we can find a keyboard ... because owning a piano isn't in the cards, here, apparently. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteListened to a fragment of her singing - no wonder she's your favorite - and where and when, tell, is your upcoming recital? - MY personal favorite female vocalist!
ReplyDeleteFound a couple ... one free, one for £50, but will have to see if piano movers are horribly expensive.
ReplyDeleteT. doesn't want to have us become too attached to this country (wisely), so doesn't want one. She lies.
Yeah, there's a possibility of a free piano on the eastside, so I'm seeing if moving it would be an outrageous outlay.
ReplyDeleteAnd this recital is only me accompanying viola players.