The subject of Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden, which is available here, is the contract life imposes on a human being as the fundamental condition of its existence. It is explored as the unstated, never negotiated covenant between existence and life; that is, the conditional situation that existence provides to those that live within it, and the […]
Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden
The Ferryman's Obolus – Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden II:III
[First published two years ago, 14 April 2021.] “The Ferryman’s Obolus,” the third and concluding sequence of Part 2 of Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden, “The Covenant of the Lost Arias.” The obolus, an ancient coin, in additional to everyday mercantile use (one obol purchased a bowl of a double magnum of wine, and three secured […]
Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden – Of the Pilgrimage of Life
The subject of Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden, a book of poetry, is the contract life imposes on a human being as the fundamental condition of its existence. It is explored as the unstated, never negotiated covenant between existence and life; that is, the conditional situation that existence provides to those that live within it, and […]
Franz Liszt : Revolution and the Héroïde funèbre
The originating event of Liszt’s composition was the second French Revolution of 1830, which overthrew the Bourbon King Charles X and the gaining of the throne, as a constitutional monarch, by his cousin Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans. Related romantic revolutions and events occurred as well in Belgium, Italy, Poland, Brazil, Portugal, and Switzerland. The […]
Tchaikovsky’s Symphonie Pathétique
The thematic material of this symphony’s last movement – one of the very finest symphonic slow movements – is derived in compressed form from the lyrical theme of the opening movement, and the trombone chorale that is heard near the end of the finale is itself a further reduction of the compressed material; only, in the […]
Political Insurrection and the Symphony – Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden II:II:1
The subject of the poem “Insurrection” is the search for clarity of content in a chosen form. The forms selected are political insurrection and the orchestral symphony, both constrained by the norms of place and society. The setting is in the Hungarian forests, where the insurgents are, and the nearby Esterháza Palace, where Haydn is […]
Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden I:II:1 – Nearing the Apex of Midnight
Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden, Part One, II:1 . I am wakened to stumble Into the Maritime thunderstorm Of my aging, Lightning flashing through the blinds, Falling water smashing at the house. I picture Dürer in self-portrait With paper almost too wet To sketch on. Cantata strains Of Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen Play very […]