Rach On!
With the Monster…
Sergei Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Opus 30. Vladimir Horowitz, Piano; Zubin Mehta, Conductor.
New York Philharmonic; September 24, 1978; Avery Fisher Hall.
As any regular reader might have observed, the Cowboy is a bit of a sentimental sap. So it should come as no surprise that one of his longtime favorites is the Monster. Yes, it’s all show and flash and raw sentimentality, but what’s wrong with that?
Fathers And Sons
The Cowboy found himself thinking about Eva Evdokimova the other day. She died earlier this year at the relatively tender age of 60. She is undoubtedly still dancing in the heavens.
Autumn Rain
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897); Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1 in E Minor, Opus 38: Allegro non troppo.
Gregor Piatigorsky, Cello; Arthur Rubinstein, Piano. 1936
Autumn
Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain,
With banners, by great gales incessant fanned,
Brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand,
And stately oxen harnessed to thy wain!
Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne,
Upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand
Outstretched with benedictions o’er the land,
Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain!
Thy shield is the red harvest moon, suspended
So long beneath the heaven’s o’er-hanging eaves;
Thy steps are by the farmer’s prayers attended;
Like flames upon an altar shine the sheaves;
And, following thee, in thy ovation splendid,
Thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves!
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1845
Cue The Carrier
Whatever you thought of his politics, his weekly “On Language” column provided immense pleasure to many readers including the Cowboy. Never retire indeed; his last column was two weeks ago. He will be missed.
Afeição
Afeição: (n., f.) fondness, affection, devotion, friendship.
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What do you wake up to in the morning?
The sun rises across the high desert chaparral. The sky, indigo, the mountains glowing their infinite hues of red and orange.
Hilaire
Edgar Degas* (1834-1917). Portrait of Hilaire de Gas, Grandfather of the Artist. 1857. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris
A monsieur le grand-père,
joyeux anniversaire papa !
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* né Hilaire-Germain-Edgar de Gas
Semi-Solid
Are you solid? Perhaps it is an illusion. Maybe it is the cracks in the perfect façade that form the source of the art that is you.
“Hark ye yet again- the little lower layer. All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event- in the living act, the undoubted deed- there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike though the mask! How can the prisoner reach outside except by thrusting through the wall?”¹
