Imaginary

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, is an extended musical study of the movement of life, in blissful harmony. (Follow these links to additional performances by Vengerov, Vengerov,  Szeryng, Oistrakh, Oistrakh, Grumiaux, Perlman, Perlman, Heifetz, Heifetz, Chung, Faust, Hahn, Jansen, Kreisler, Kreisler, Stern and Stern.)

• Beethoven’s humanism is apparent from the opening bars (00:45), as the orchestra announces the primary theme, which is thoroughly life-affirming in the highly resolved D major key. When the violin soloist joins the party (4:23), he pauses for a time on an extended riff on the theme, and then he and the orchestra explore the main theme and its affirmations throughout the remainder of the first movement (Allegro ma non troppo). There is no need to rush, say the players; life flows in its own time and we along with it.
• The second movement (Larghetto) offers a pause for reflection, contemplation and rest. This, too, is a part of flow. The orchestra sets the peaceful and gentle tone at the outset, and the soloist remains fully in the mood and the moment throughout.
• The third movement (Rondo {Allegro}) is the most forceful and vibrant of the three. It is a full-forward affirmation of a joyful life riding the wave of whatever time and space surrounds us.

Six of Stephan Micus’ albums express the value of living in flow, as suggested by their more active-themed titles (in contrast to the albums expressing reverence), and as reflected in the music. If life is a set of paradoxes, and we are to be the riddle, then living in the flow of life, without demanding to understand it all first, is an important life skill. Here is a list of Micus’ albums on the theme, with links and commentary:

• “Nomad Songs” (2015): the theme is that we are not entirely bound by our bodies and the physical world, but can create our own journey. Track titles suggest this: “Everywhere, Nowhere”, “The Promise”, “The Story”, “The Spring”, “The Feast” and “The Dance”. “As a life's work, Micus' music has, over the years, been predicated on both a distinctive language and sonic universe that represent, perhaps, the most accurate definition of "world music." Nomad Songs may be simpler in concept and sparer in instrumentation than many of Micus' recent recordings, but its emphasis on the introduction of new instruments from countries around the world makes it nothing more than the continuation of that life's work . . .”
• “Bold As Light” (2010): “. . . Bold as Light's overarching tranquility can, for those engaged in the hustle and bustle of modern life, become a welcoming, fifty-minute hiatus from reality, and a chance to consider that it truly needn't be that way.”
• “On the Wing” (2006): “. . . here the voice of the man behind the means comes through his playing rather than his singing.”
• “Towards the Wind” (2002): “Being a perpetual student, Stephan Micus usually makes world music by default. He breathes patience and skill into the exotic instruments he uncovers, but certainly with respectful bending of the rules along the way. Towards the Wind follows in the same exploratory tradition -- educated, but unassuming as to the nature of what an instrument is ‘supposed to do.’ Here, the album evokes an easily digestible cross section of Middle Eastern mysticism -- swirling sand dunes, rust-colored sunsets, and sacred spaces.”
• “Athos: A Journey to the Holy Mountain” (1994), is a spiritually advanced take on journeying. “Inspired by a visit to the holy Greek mountain of Athos, his album of the same name bears traces of . . . a traveler, one whose artistry sees medium and message as one.”
• “Wings Over Water” (1982): “An expressly visual journey that skips across rice paddies, this music moves as water strider on pond, and leaves in its wake the promise of a good harvest.”

Other works:

• Corentin Boissier, Flute Sonata, Op. 23b (2018)

Albums:

• Carrick, “The Flow Cycle of Strings”
• Jakob Bro, “Streams”
• Ludovico Einaudi, “Underwater”. Einaudi says: “It came naturally, more than ever before. I felt a sense of freedom to abandon myself and let the music flow differently. I didn’t have a filter between me and what came out of the piano; it felt very pure. The title Underwater is a metaphor – it is an expression of a very fluid dimension, without interference from outside.”
• Ludovico Einaudi, “Le Onde” (The Waves): “It takes as its inspiration the Virginia Woolf novel The Waves and the undulating, hypnotic melody evokes images of the rhythms and patterns of the ocean.”
• Melissa Stylianou, “No Regrets” (2014), “is all about the joy of spontaneity and making the most of the moment.”