The longest day of the year is 21st June. France celebrates this day as La Fete de la Musique with music and song, way into the wee small hours. The heat of summer has yet to descend on the Cote d’Azur, but the passion for life does not wait.
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done
The longest day of the year is 21st June. France celebrates this day as La Fete de la Musique with music and song, way into the wee small hours. The heat of summer has yet to descend on the Cote d’Azur, but the passion for life does not wait.
Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
Oliver Wendell Holmes
But die with all their music in them!
Oliver Wendell Holmes
A few months ago, I joined the Riviera International Singers, the most delightful choir made up of enthusiasts who sing for the joy of it. This summer, we were given quite an ambitious programme (from my point of view) to sing for concerts on the theme of Songs from the Silver Screen. I had never sung in a choir before. Over the past some 25 years, I have spent many hours in groups chanting the spiritual “Ani Hu”, Sanskrit meaning empathy with God. But I do not read music and while I can usually follow a tune, singing harmonies is a whole other matter.
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons.
You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
We are blessed with a wonderful musical director in Jo Walker who exercises more patience and good humour than almost anyone I have seen, bringing us to performance standard. The first two concerts were a lot of fun - we even gave encores! Going to rehearsals on Thursday evenings has also been very enjoyable. We do our best. No one takes themselves too seriously. We have a great team spirit.
My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us;
the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.
Edward Elgar
the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.
Edward Elgar
Learning songs has been quite an exercise for me. Being willing to sing a wrong note and take a lead from others who are more experienced is all part of it. But it takes me out of my everyday life and preoccupations. As I go home after rehearsals, I am singing aloud to myself in the car as if nothing else mattered.
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
Berthold Auerbach
Berthold Auerbach
I love that in our choir we are from so many backgrounds, nationalities and ages. I love the harmonies in our diversity. It reminds me how each of us is a valuable player in the orchestral composition that is life as a whole.
Are we not formed, as notes of music are,
For one another, though dissimilar?
Percy Bysshe Shelley
For one another, though dissimilar?
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Living in the South of France as I have for the past nearly 17 years, I am always amazed how so many I meet have a fascinating story to tell about their life and what has brought them here. I feel very at home with those who have in some way led a different life. There is a wealth of creative talent that thrives here, not always visible.
A painter paints pictures on canvas.
But musicians paint their pictures on silence.
Leopold Stokowski
But musicians paint their pictures on silence.
Leopold Stokowski
As the first half of the year comes to a close, what triumphs do we have to celebrate? What are the challenges we have met - and overcome? What are the issues we have yet to resolve - and how do we envisage celebrating successful outcomes in the next half of the year? Yes, we have had a lot of rain in the summer so far - but we have also seen growth in plants and flowers, and an exceptionally rich greenness. In nature, as in our own lives, blessings come in many disguises.
There's music in the sighing of a reed;
There's music in the gushing of a rill;
There's music in all things, if men had ears:
Their earth is but an echo of the spheres.
Lord Byron
There's music in the gushing of a rill;
There's music in all things, if men had ears:
Their earth is but an echo of the spheres.
Lord Byron
As you reflect on the past 6 months, you might like to think of those - close family, friends or acquaintances - whose presence has enriched you. How have they been a blessing to you? How have you been a blessing to them? Silently, or otherwise, you might like to express your gratitude for them, and for the contribution you have been able to make to them.
Celebrate them! Celebrate you. We are an extraordinary human family. Rejoice - it’s June!
I see so many people forgetting the fun of life.
They would rather be bored and bemoan what is going on.
But God is present here, now.
That is something to celebrate, to be in awe of.
Allow yourself to play inside,
even at times when people are being serious on the outside.
- John-Roger with Paul Kaye
(From: The Rest of Your Life, p. 179)
They would rather be bored and bemoan what is going on.
But God is present here, now.
That is something to celebrate, to be in awe of.
Allow yourself to play inside,
even at times when people are being serious on the outside.
- John-Roger with Paul Kaye
(From: The Rest of Your Life, p. 179)
12
Dance
A dancing heart is buoyant, not weighed down.
To dance with life. To embrace difficult emotions with loving acceptance.
To listen to the inner music and translate its rhythm and flow
in perfect movement and expression.
Behind a heavy beat, I hear a lighter tune that lifts me
with its humour and taps at my heart.
I am moved beyond logical care and concern
to take my dance out into the world and be known.
To dance is to be free and bring heaven on earth for an interlude.
I am reminded of whirling dervishes, spinning senselessly into ecstasy.
I see children spontaneously laughing
and engaged in their own world of pleasure.
A New Year’s Eve in Ojai, where people danced beyond their dancing years - had nobody told them - they were too old?
When did you last put on some really good music, and dance?
From: Random Soul - It’s About Time
Discovering the Spirit in You
and in the Everyday World Around You
Dance
A dancing heart is buoyant, not weighed down.
To dance with life. To embrace difficult emotions with loving acceptance.
To listen to the inner music and translate its rhythm and flow
in perfect movement and expression.
Behind a heavy beat, I hear a lighter tune that lifts me
with its humour and taps at my heart.
I am moved beyond logical care and concern
to take my dance out into the world and be known.
To dance is to be free and bring heaven on earth for an interlude.
I am reminded of whirling dervishes, spinning senselessly into ecstasy.
I see children spontaneously laughing
and engaged in their own world of pleasure.
A New Year’s Eve in Ojai, where people danced beyond their dancing years - had nobody told them - they were too old?
When did you last put on some really good music, and dance?
From: Random Soul - It’s About Time
Discovering the Spirit in You
and in the Everyday World Around You
Duke Orsino:
If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
Twelfth Night Act 1, scene 1, 1–3 179)
If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
Twelfth Night Act 1, scene 1, 1–3 179)
© Anne Naylor 2008
