leonardcohenforum.com

good of you to write, lisa, and so informatively - thank you!

yes, there have been conversations about paganini earlier, but i believe you supply new information here - and in any case on such a subject it's good to refresh one's memory. i have heard only a little of his guitar compositions, and of berlioz's life and work know next to nothing, not to mention legnani - so there are huge gaps here that this peasant needs to fill. how lucky berlioz was to be gifted with paganini's guitar, he must only have been in his 30s when that happened. i wonder if he ever played it publicly? i googled paganini's violin and discovered that it was bequeathed to an italian city where it remains on display, so that instrument has probably not been touched since. all of this is so interesting!

as for shelley, he too had a guitar. never played it though, simply gave it to an appreciative girlfriend.

we will never know for sure, but part of paganini's 'allegro maestoso' (1st concerto) could possibly have inspired leonard cohen to write a couple of sentences in one of his novels. all one needs do is delete the word 'bird' and replace 'the animal' with 'paganini'.

"Experts with tape recorders say that what we hear as a single bird note is really ten or twelve tones with which the animal weaves many various beautiful liquid harmonies. This he proves by slowing down his tape."

in one or two seconds notes too numerous to count can be heard, some so high that perhaps only a dog might hear them.
https://youtu.be/IrM1oukGxyo?si=BnhGIIQ6iGXGOVgU
(play from 16:20 to 19:30)

Geoffrey wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 12:31 am ...as for shelley, he too had a guitar. never played it though, simply gave it to an appreciative girlfriend.

we will never know for sure, but part of paganini's 'allegro maestoso' (1st concerto) could possibly have inspired leonard cohen to write a couple of sentences in one of his novels... in one or two seconds notes too numerous to count can be heard, some so high that perhaps only a dog might hear them.

I, too, have read about Shelley giving a guitar to his "appreciative girlfriend" as you call her, a woman named Jane (and the appreciation may have gone both ways -- some accounts refer to Jane as Shelley's muse, and he apparently admired her singing). When he gave her the guitar, he included a poem he wrote entitled, "With a Guitar, To Jane", which has some rather lovely lines about guitars and music (it is a long poem -- I won't post it here, but it is easy to find online if anyone is interested). I have attached, at the bottom, a photo of that guitar -- such a pretty instrument with lovely decorative inlay in the soundboard. It lives at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. I do love to read about and see these old instruments that belonged to famous people: what stories they could tell if they could talk!

As for Paganini, I had not previously known about his violin, and curiosity led me to do a quick search. I discovered that it was indeed played after his death, and rather recently (relatively speaking) -- there are some videos of people playing it on Youtube. Rather coincidentally, the video you posted of Shlomo Mintz playing the Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 is actually with Paganini's own violin -- isn't that cool! Here is a video about that (including excerpts from the concerto):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZBjBy_VQAA

Regarding Paganini's very fast passages containing notes too numerous to count, and your mentioning of Leonard's words, perhaps Paganini was inspired by birds to play and write his violin passages with so many notes played so quickly (or, maybe he just wanted to show off when he played his own pieces in concerts!). It is certainly impressive to see and hear someone play such fiendishly difficult music.

The Shelley-Jane Guitar:

Geoffrey wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 12:31 am ...of berlioz's life and work know next to nothing...

Berlioz was quite a character! A good place to start in his music is his "Symphonie Fantastique" -- it is one of his most famous pieces, which is very enjoyable, and comes complete with its own semi-autobiographical story! It is an instrumental work for which Berlioz wrote a rather detailed description of what each movement represents (this is known as "programme music", which became popular in the 19th century -- which tells a very specific story created by the composer and provided in written notes, contrasted with "absolute music", which does not tell any story and is simply music for its own sake, about itself and nothing else, although people often "read" things into absolute music).

The "programme" that Berlioz wrote for his Symphonie Fantastique is quite imaginative, and is summed up (in Berlioz's own words) as follows:

“an artist, gifted with a vivid imagination, [falls in love with] a woman who embodies the ideal of beauty and fascination that he has long been seeking. . . . In a fit of despair, he poisons himself with opium, but the narcotic, instead of killing him, induces a horrible vision” in which he believes that, having killed his beloved, he is condemned to death and witnesses his own execution. After death, he “sees himself surrounded by a foul assembly of sorcerers and devils. . . . [His beloved] is now only a prostitute, fit to take part in such an orgy.”

This website provides the complete programme notes written by Berlioz in 1845:

https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-D ... antastique

thank you, lisa - wonderful!
have to leave home, spending the day across the fjord at langevåg. meanwhile a couple of pics related to the discussion here revisited. quite old, especially the shelley painting. all portraits of him look different, but it was said he had effeminate features - so this is just one version.

back tomorrow

i now know a little more about berlioz than earlier, thanks to you, lisa. it made me think that if i stopped a million random people in the street and asked them what they knew about berlioz's 'march to the scaffold' i would be astounded if even a single one of them could supply any info, and yet here in this cohen forum exists someone who knows everything about it - plus a whole lot of other things. you are a very special person.

it would not surprise me if you also had knowledge of shelley's 'tanyrallt assailant', as it is called - but let us keep that for another time.

take care of yourself.

Geoffrey wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 11:30 am ... if i stopped a million random people in the street and asked them what they knew about berlioz's 'march to the scaffold' i would be astounded if even a single one of them could supply any info...

it would not surprise me if you also had knowledge of shelley's 'tanyrallt assailant', as it is called - but let us keep that for another time...

Oh, I don't know about your first assertion: Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique should be somewhat known in classical music circles -- it is considered one of the great Romantic era Symphonies, there are many recordings of it, and it is regularly performed by orchestras worldwide -- and thus surely there would be a few amongst a million random people who would know about it. I know that classical music aficionados number less than fans of pop music, etc., but we aren't that rare!

As for Shelley, well, I know a lot of things about a few things, and a few things about a lot of things (having a good memory helps!), but there remain countless gaps in my internal database, and I am afraid that the life and times of Shelley have thus far never really captured my attention (other than related to a guitar!). Therefore, I actually did not know about his 'tanyrallt assailant' (although I do now!). Clearly, Shelley was a very intriguing fellow, and now that I know a bit more about him, I will probably make of point of learning more and filling in some of those gaps!

One should never feel bad about what one does not know -- the amount of knowledge and information in the world is so utterly vast that it would be absolutely impossible for one to know everything. Everyone follows their own paths, being intrigued by different things and drawn to different things, and thus the range and depth of each person's interests and knoweldge will vary greatly. I have always been baffled (and annoyed) when people say things like, "I can't believe you didn't know that!" -- as if everyone should know the same stuff. That's just silly (and unncessarily insulting) -- we're all different, including what we know.

Besides, not knowing everything makes life more interesting, because one can always learn something new, and that's always fun! I'm glad that there are a lot of things that I don't know, because that makes for wonderful surprises around every corner!

due to your encouragement, i will play 'fantastique' tomorrow - perhaps while making a picture. thank you for giving me a nudge.

>I know a lot of things about a few things, and a few things about a lot of things

that's a good sentence! romantic era music and musicians i know little about, but have studied romantic era writers - especially shelley - quite a lot. not wishing to sound too intellectual, i should quickly add that (unlike most in my circle) much enjoyment is derived from modern day music.

>One should never feel bad about what one does not know

you have an enviable outlook upon life. i love to learn, but in the company of academics have a tendency to feel inferior. still, none of us are perfect.

thank you again for the berlioz programme notes. he did indeed have a vivid imagination!
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below some books. not meant to impress; to show that i truly do have this interest

Geoffrey wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 12:52 am ...below some books. not meant to impress; to show that i truly do have this interest

My goodness, that is quite the P.B. Shelley library you have there! Nice!

LisaLCFan wrote:
>My goodness, that is quite the P.B. Shelley library you have there! Nice!

thanks. lots more stuff where that came from.
on this leap year day i visited sunnmøre museum restaurant with three friends. came home and made a messy picture of cohen, 'fantastique' coming through the speakers. the symphony was not too bad, but as is often the case, especially with classical music, maybe needs repeated listening before one can appreciate it properly. i also read about it on wikipedia.
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Geoffrey wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 1:34 am ... 'fantastique' coming through the speakers. the symphony was not too bad, but as is often the case, especially with classical music, maybe needs repeated listening before one can appreciate it properly. i also read about it on wikipedia...

That's nice that you listened to the Symphonie Fantastique --"not too bad" -- ha-ha, I've read worse reviews! There is a lot going on in that symphony, that's for sure!

Nice pic of that Cohen guy.

LisaLCFan wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 6:35 am

Geoffrey wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 12:31 am ...as for shelley, he too had a guitar. never played it though, simply gave it to an appreciative girlfriend.

we will never know for sure, but part of paganini's 'allegro maestoso' (1st concerto) could possibly have inspired leonard cohen to write a couple of sentences in one of his novels... in one or two seconds notes too numerous to count can be heard, some so high that perhaps only a dog might hear them.

I, too, have read about Shelley giving a guitar to his "appreciative girlfriend" as you call her, a woman named Jane (and the appreciation may have gone both ways -- some accounts refer to Jane as Shelley's muse, and he apparently admired her singing). When he gave her the guitar, he included a poem he wrote entitled, "With a Guitar, To Jane", which has some rather lovely lines about guitars and music (it is a long poem -- I won't post it here, but it is easy to find online if anyone is interested). I have attached, at the bottom, a photo of that guitar -- such a pretty instrument with lovely decorative inlay in the soundboard. It lives at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. I do love to read about and see these old instruments that belonged to famous people: what stories they could tell if they could talk!

As for Paganini, I had not previously known about his violin, and curiosity led me to do a quick search. I discovered that it was indeed played after his death, and rather recently (relatively speaking) -- there are some videos of people playing it on Youtube. Rather coincidentally, the video you posted of Shlomo Mintz playing the Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 is actually with Paganini's own violin -- isn't that cool! Here is a video about that (including excerpts from the concerto):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZBjBy_VQAA

Regarding Paganini's very fast passages containing notes too numerous to count, and your mentioning of Leonard's words, perhaps Paganini was inspired by birds to play and write his violin passages with so many notes played so quickly (or, maybe he just wanted to show off when he played his own pieces in concerts!). It is certainly impressive to see and hear someone play such fiendishly difficult music.

The Shelley-Jane Guitar:
Shelley to Jane Guitar.jpg

As for Paganini's violin, the fact that it's still played today, including by Shlomo Mintz in his rendition of Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1, is remarkable. Paganini's compositions, with their lightning-fast passages, evoke imagery of birds in flight, showcasing both his technical prowess and perhaps a bit of showmanship. It's awe-inspiring to witness musicians tackle such virtuosic pieces. Thanks for sharing these insights and the link to the video!

LisaLCFan wrote:
>Nice pic of that Cohen guy.

thank you. i have not seen his latest book about lepers, partly because you gave it a less than radiant review. being the data nerd that i am, i could surely read it online - but other pursuits always seem to take priority.

murphybridget837 wrote:
>As for Paganini's violin, the fact that it's still played today . . . is remarkable. Paganini's compositions . . . evoke imagery of birds in flight, showcasing both his technical prowess and perhaps a bit of showmanship. It's awe-inspiring to witness musicians tackle such virtuosic pieces.

indeed. the creativity and skill achieved by certain individuals, especially in the world of culture and entertainment, never ceases to astonish. this is not to criticise folk at the other end of the human quality scale. without two-dimensional people who cannot sing or play an instrument, or egoistic thieves and fear-mongerers unable to paint or draw a picture, or illiterate hero worshippers who've never had an original thought and can hardly write a single sentence, thinking people would be unable to appreciate so much the likes of paganini, shelley, berlioz or cohen. it is a basket full of green apples that make a rosy one so appealing.
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leonard cohen wrote:
>you know that you will trust her, for she's touched your perfect body with her mind!

to anyone wondering why the silence. i am fine. there has been some technical issues concerning uploading of images. the webmaster and his son are working on it, and things will likely return to normal in due course

I figured you have been too immersed in the Shelley books to post.

its4inthemorning wrote:
>I figured you have been too immersed in the Shelley books to post.

no, this i have not been doing. being with friends takes up the lion's share of most days. it is difficult to say no when they ask for company. in any case, reading books (not to mention writing them) is generally for introverts, people with few contacts. it is a pleasurable but lonely pastime - also time consuming. i think this is probably why leonard knocked it on the head and picked up a guitar.