Sensitivity is an art, which we can cultivate. It allows us to appreciate others more deeply and thereby activate the Truth force.
Real
True Narratives
Historian Rick Atkinson uses his gift of storytelling to bring history down to the level of the personal experiences of those who lived it. Having completed a trilogy on World War II, he is now embarked on a history of the American Revolution.
- Rick Atkinson, The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington To Princeton, 1775-1777 (Henry Holt & Company, 2019): “A powerful new voice has been added to the dialogue about our origins as a people and a nation. It is difficult to imagine any reader putting this beguiling book down without a smile and a tear.”
Imaginary
Visual Arts
- Thomas Gainsborough, Philip James de Loutherberg (1778)
Film and Stage
- Birdy, about one traumatized soldier helping another escape from madness, adapted from William Wharton’s novel
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
As much as or more than any other composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos composed from within. The most famous example of this is the haunting melody in the aria of his Bachianis Brasileiras No. 5 but his entire series of Choros and Bachianis Brasileiras displays this quality.
- Choros No. 1
- Choros No. 2
- Choros No. 3, Pica Pau
- Choros No. 4
- Choros No. 5, Alma brasileira
- Choros No. 6
- Choros No. 7
- Choros No. 8
- Choros No. 9
- Choros No. 10
- Choros No. 11
- Choros No. 12
- Bachianis Brasileiras No. 1
- Bachianis Brasileiras No. 2
- Bachianis Brasileiras No. 3
- Bachianis Brasileiras No. 4
- BachianisBrasileiras 5
- Bachianis Brasileiras No. 6
- Bachianis Brasileiras No. 7
- Bachianis Brasileiras No. 8
- Bachianis Brasileiras No. 9
Isata Kanneh-Mason displays a gorgeous, soft, loving touch on piano. Her albums include:
- “Summertime”
- “Romance: The Piano Music of Clara Schumann”
Robert Schumann’s works for cello put his heartfelt romanticism fully on display. Here are recordings from Ella van Poucke and Gabriel Schwabe.
John Field’s alcoholism may have made him a more introspective composer. His sensitivity is on display in his 18 Nocturnes for Piano (1812-1836) (performances by Frith, O’Conor and Roe).
Tenor Cyrille Dubois has recorded Gabriel Fauré’s complete songs. The songs are in the style of late French romanticism, and Dubois’s gentle voice suits them brilliantly.
Albums:
- Andrew Rathburn Large Ensemble, “Atwood Suites” is “set to the poetry of the renowned Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood”.
- Walter “Wolfman” Washington, “My Future Is My Past”
- Carolyn Sampson & Joseph Middleton, “Album für die frau: scenes from the Schumanns‘ lieder”: sensitive readings of Robert and Clara Schumann’s songs
- Irina Kulikova, “It’s About the Touch”
- Jakob Bro & Joe Lovano, “Once Around The Room: A Tribute To Paul Motian” (2022), is a “. . . deeply felt and utterly original homage to a common inspiration and beloved colleague . . .”. “From the impressionistic resonance of ‘As It Should Be’ emerges ‘Sound Creation,’ a collective improvisation that seances Motian's thrill for spontaneity. It's an orchestral meander, each player regarding the other, waiting on the other to complete his thought and then add his own.”
- Bach Aria Soloists, “Le dolce sirene” (2023) (52’) is a sumptuous, sensitive, masterfully sung and played disc of music by “Johann Sebastian Bach, his contemporaries, and those he inspired”.