Mozart's Bassoon Concerto

At lunch today, a couple of residents who sat down at my table started talking about their favorite music, sort of singing a bit of a song they liked.  But they both looked rather blank when I said my favorite is Mozart's Bassoon Concerto.  (Click on the labels below, if you want to hear a version of it that I have shared before about bassoons and Mozart.)  I'm not sure my two friends even know what a bassoon is, but it's what I used to play years ago  When I came back to my apartment, I called my friend Ginny in Tallahassee.  We played together in high school, and she now plays clarinet in the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra.

Mozart's Bassoon Concerto in B flat major

My favorite music is Mozart's Bassoon Concerto (1774), and today is Mozart's birthday (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791). Maybe you don't know I played the bassoon, back in high school and college, and was in the Chattanooga Youth Symphony once upon a time. I could NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, play like this:

Let's begin by imagining something

Beginning

Right now:  imagine dying.  Make it what you want.  You could be in your bedroom, on a lonesome hill, or in a beautiful hotel.  Whatever you want.  What is the season?  What time of day is it?  Perhaps you want to lie in sweet summer grass and watch the sun rise over the ocean.  Imagine that.  Perhaps you want to be cuddled in a soft bed, listening to Mozart -- or Beyonce.  Do you want to be alone?  Is there a particular hand you want to hold?  Do you smell the faint scent of baking bread -- or Chanel No. 19?  Close your eyes.  Feel the grass.  The silk sheets.  The skin of the loving hand.  Hear the long-held note.  Dance a little.  Smell the bread.  Imagine that.

Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying ~ by Sallie Tisdale, 2018, planning, 242 pages

Sallie Tisdale offers a perspective on death and dying that is informed by her many years working as a nurse with more than a decade in palliative care.  From the sublime (the faint sound of Mozart as you take your last breath) to the ridiculous (lessons on how to close the sagging jaw of a corpse), she leads us through the peaks and troughs of death with a calm, wise, and humorous hand.  This is more than a how-to manual or a spiritual bible: it is a graceful compilation of honest and intimate anecdotes based on the deaths she has witnessed, as well as stories from cultures, traditions, and literature around the world, including:

What does it mean to die “a good death”?  Can there be more than one kind of good death?  What can I do to make my death, or the deaths of my loved ones, good?  What to say and not to say, what to ask, and when, from the dying, loved ones, doctors, and more.  What you might expect, physically and emotionally, including the limitations, freedoms, pain, and joy of this unique time.  What happens to a body after death?  What options are available to me after my death, and how do I choose — and make sure my wishes are followed?  In other words, she offers the resources and reassurance that we all need for planning for the end.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Mozart's Bassoon Concerto ~ my favorite music

For those of you who don't already know, I used to play the bassoon,

though I was never THIS good and never got to play this particular piece.

Mindful March

The Mindful March Calendar is from the folks at Action for Happiness, who say:

Let's take action to look after ourselves and each other as we face this global crisis.  We may be physically apart, but we can still be together.

March 1 ~ Set an intention to live with awareness and kindness.
March 2 ~ Notice five things that are beautiful in the world outside.

March 3 ~ Start today by appreciating your body and that you're alive.

March 4 ~ Notice how you speak to yourself.  Try to use kind words.

March 5 ~ Take three calm breaths at regular intervals during your day.

March 6 ~ Bring to mind people you care about and send love to them.

March 7 ~ Have a 'no plans' day and notice how that feels.

March 8 ~ Eat mindfully.  Appreciate the taste, texture, and smell of your food.

March 9 ~ Take a full breath in and out before you reply to others.

March 10 ~ Get outside and notice how the weather feels on your face.

March 11 ~ Stay fully present while drinking your cup of tea or coffee.

March 12 ~ Listen deeply to someone and really hear what they are saying.

March 13 ~ Pause to just watch the sky or clouds for a few minutes today.

March 14 ~ Find ways to enjoy any chores or tasks that need doing.

March 15 ~ Stop, breathe, and just notice.  Repeat regularly during the day.

March 16 ~ Get really absorbed with an interesting or creative activity.

March 17 ~ Look around and spot three things you find unusual or pleasant.

March 18 ~ If you find yourself rushing, make an effort to slow down.

March 19 ~ Cultivate a feeling of loving-kindness towards others today.

March 20 ~ Celebrate the International Day of Happiness.  (Look for my post.)

March 21 ~ Listen to a piece of music without doing anything else.  (Mozart.)

March 22 ~ Walk a different route today and see what you notice.

March 23 ~ Tune in to your feelings, without judging or trying to change.

March 24 ~ Appreciate your hands and all the things they enable you to do.

March 25 ~ Focus your attention on the good things you take for granted.

March 26 ~ Notice when you're tired, and take a break as soon as possible.

March 27 ~ Have a device-free day, and enjoy the space it offers.

March 28 ~ Appreciate nature around you, wherever you are.

March 29 ~ Notice what is working today, and be thankful that this is so.

March 30 ~ Mentally scan down your body, and notice what it is feeling.

March 31 ~ Notice the joy to be found in the simple things of life.

"Mindfulness means that we commit fully in each moment to be present."

~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

Being sick is not fun at all

The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick ~ by Gene Stone, 2010, health and fitness, 212 pages

Who does not want to be healthier?  The author wanted to find out what might actually prevent him from getting sick himself.  This book tells the stories of twenty-five people who each possess a different secret of excellent health — a secret that makes sense and that Stone discovered has a scientific underpinning.  There are:

1. food secrets — take garlic and vitamin C, eat more probiotics, become a vegan, drink a tonic of brewer’s yeast.
2. exercise secrets — the benefits of lifting weights, the power of stretching.
3. environmental secrets — living in a Blue Zone, understanding the value of germs.
4. emotional secrets — seek out and stay in touch with friends, cultivate your spirituality.
5. physical secrets — nap more, take cold showers in the morning.

There's a lot more, as you can see from this photo of the contents pages.  The stories make it personal, the research makes it real, and the do-it-yourself information shows how to integrate each secret into your own life and become the next person who never gets sick.

1. The topic of my Monday Musing post was a Mozart Concerto, HERE.
2. On TWOsday, I posted two photos my two daughters sent while traveling to visit me, HERE.
3. Wednesday's Word was "parasocial," HERE, pre-posted long before my daughters came to visit.
4. I didn't post while my daughters were here, so that's it for my blogging week.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Friday Five ~ a wee pool of loveliness

Friday Five @ RevGalBlogPals is from Julie:

"In this week of the world spinning off into melt down; and fear and mistrust being the dominant emotions, let us create a wee pool of loveliness.  On Tuesday on the Facebook page a thread of fluffy kittens and heartwarming YouTube clips was started to bring a little light into the darkness, this has brought laughter and feel good goose bumps to many.  On Wednesday this week, many Scottish Gals gathered in Edinburgh for a festive lunch and a time to catch up. We were celebrating a new call and a new job and an imminent wedding amongst other things, and it was a lovely, fun, noisy time!  For Friday Five this week, let’s keep the light, love, and laughter going with a random selection of things to make your heart sing."

1.  Music:  a song or orchestral piece that stirs your soul.

My favorite piece of music is Mozart's Bassoon Concerto in B flat major, so I've posted it a couple of times before on this blog.  Here's Aligi Voltan playing the bassoon.  If the video quits working, hear it on YouTube.

2.  Indoor Place:  Have you got an oasis at home that you can hide away in?

Since I live alone in a very active retirement center, my oasis is my apartment.  When I've had enough of socializing and talking to others, I retreat into my own space.

3.  Outdoor Space:  Is it water, hills, woodland?  Is it the fresh country air or the bustling city?

It's also here at the Crown Center for Senior Living.  If I want to sit outside, I can do it on the patio or in the gazebo.  The photo at the top shows the irises around the gazebo in the spring of 2015.

4.  Picture:  this may be a piece of art, something you created, something someone gave you.

The glazed tile showing T.C. the cat, on the wall behind the man, was painted by Jane Yelliott (on the right).  It is now in my bedroom, given to me by Jane when she was dying in December 2013.  It isn't the only piece of her artwork I have, but this one especially brings Jane back to me every time I look at it because she apologized for not being able to paint MY cat before she died.  I miss her smile and visiting together.  By the way, "T.C." stands for "Top Cat," according to Jane's daughter.

5.  Person:  Do you have a go to person, for when the world is crowding in?

Donna has been my best friend for nearly 20 years, and I can definitely say she's one of the "cool people" who care and make the world better.  This was taken when we attended a program in the culinary kitchen here at the Crown Center.  Behind us is part of the library, where Donna and I volunteer to re-shelve books returned by the residents.

Throwback Thursday ~ me and my bassoon

Did you know I used to play the bassoon?  In high school and college, I did, and here's a picture to prove it, though I wish someone had taken it out of their photo album before taking a picture of it.  I'm wearing the uniform I wore for high school orchestra, concert band, and marching band — when marching, I played a glockenspiel rather than the bassoon and wore a shako with a white plume.  (A shako is a tall hat, for you non-band folks.)  When I played in the Chattanooga Youth Symphony we wore something else entirely.

Here's my favorite bassoon music, though I never played it.  Mozart's Bassoon Concerto was played in live concert in Vicenza, Italy, with Aligi Voltan on bassoon and G.B.Rigon conducting the Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza in June 2004.  If the video quits responding, listen to it on YouTube (16:49).

Four favorites ~ meditating on a Monday

1.  My favorite view is either from Signal Mountain looking south across the Tennessee River and Chattanooga (above) or from Lookout Mountain looking north across the Tennessee River and Chattanooga (below).  Do you see a pattern here?  I first posted the photo below in 2013.

2.  My favorite comfort food is extra crispy fried okra.  Jeff at Shuford's BBQ knows I like it extra crispy and makes it perfectly.  When I visited Chattanooga in April, Sandra asked where I wanted to eat lunch on my birthday.  Not only did I get extra crispy okra, but Jeff also took me out to his van and gave me a Shuford's shirt like the one he was wearing.  If you are in Chattanooga, I highly recommend Shuford's BBQ, now located in the old Southern Restaurant building in Red Bank.


3.  My favorite genre of music is classical music, but my VERY favorite piece is Mozart's Bassoon Concerto.  I've posted it several times on this blog, and this is a good short version.  If the video doesn't work, here's the YouTube link.

4.  My favorite theological writer is Marcus Borg, especially his The Heart of Christianity, published in 2003.  I reviewed this book ten years ago (click on the title for that blog post).  Borg, who died in 2015, often wrote with John Dominic Crossan, most of whose books are also on my shelves.  I still need to read The Search for Jesus: Modern Scholarship Looks at the Gospels (1994) by Borg, Crossan, and Stephen Patterson, that was edited by Hershel Shanks.  When I bought this book, years ago, I'd never heard of Patterson.  But now his 2018 book The Forgotten Creed: Christianity's Original Struggle against Bigotry, Slavery, and Sexism is on top of the stack beside my chair, waiting to be read.  Now both books are on the stack.

M is for Monday, so choose the right words

It's Monday, and most folks are mindlessly going through their mundane lives.  When I saw this illustration, I smiled and saved it to use here.  So today, look for something meaningful in your day, maybe even something so marvelous that it becomes memorable.  Magical seems a bit extreme, but who knows?  Maybe this will be your best Monday ever.  Try to do something you'll enjoy.  I have plans, which include both lunch with a friend and reading a good book.

"Music" is another word that starts with a W, so here's my favorite music for you (and me) to enjoy this morning.  My favorite piece of music is Mozart's Bassoon Concerto in B flat major, so HERE is Aligi Voltan playing the bassoon.  You can also hear it on YouTube.

Listen to the music!

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession ~ by Daniel J. Levitin, 2007, music and science, 322 pages

This is an eye-opening investigation into an obsession at the heart of human nature.  Neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin explores the connection between music — its performance, its composition, how we listen to it, why we enjoy it — and the human brain.  Taking on prominent thinkers who argue that music is nothing more than an evolutionary accident, Levitin says that music is fundamental to our species, perhaps even more so than language.  Drawing on research and on musical examples ranging from Mozart to Duke Ellington to Van Halen, he reveals:

• How composers produce some of the most pleasurable effects of listening to music by exploiting the way our brains make sense of the world.

• Why we are so emotionally attached to the music we listened to as teenagers, whether it was Fleetwood Mac, U2, or Dr. Dre.

• That practice, rather than talent, is the driving force behind musical expertise.

• How those insidious little jingles (called earworms) get stuck in our head.

Starring Grace as Peter Pan

Amazing Grace ~ by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Caroline Binch, 1991, children's picture book, 32 pages, 10/10

Grace loves stories, whether they're from books, movies, or the kind her grandmother tells.  So when she gets a chance to play a part in Peter Pan, she knows exactly who she wants to be.  The watercolor illustrations fully express Grace's high-flying imagination.

Grace wants to be Peter Pan, but her classmates tell her:  "You can't be Peter -- that's a boy's name" and "You can't be Peter Pan ... He isn't black."  But Grace kept her hand up.  Before the class auditions, Grace's Nana told her:  "You can be anything you want, Grace, if you put your mind to it."  Re-read my title.

1. On Monday, I posted another version of Mozart's Bassoon Concerto, my favorite piece of music, HERE.
2. On Tuesday, I asked for your opinion about children's books, HERE.
3. On Wednesday, I wrote about a children's book, HERE.
4. Thursday's post was philosophical, about buying something on sale and about what TL;DR means, HERE.
5. Friday's post was about a memoir of a family moving to Gaza in 1948, HERE.
6. On Saturday, I wrote about two sole survivors, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Friday Five ~ I can see clearly now!

Today's Friday Five suggestions are from 3dogmom:

"My husband had cataract and corrective surgery this week, and he is giddy with excitement as he experiences restored vision.  Listening to his enthusiastic proclamations related to his sight made me think about our senses, and what excites us about the experiences we enjoy through them, inspiring today’s Friday Five."

1.  A sight or view that brings me continual pleasure

My new kitty looking out the window or napping in the sun.  That's her in the photo above, sitting in the window AND in the sun.

2.  A sound that brings me joy

Mozart's Bassoon Concerto.  Although no concert band or orchestra I was in performed this one, I did play bassoon once upon a time.  The solo begins 1:55 minutes into this video.  If the video quits working, view it at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=36&v=lnqexXheK98

3.  A taste that I savor

Fried okra the way my mother used to make it.  I have okra on my grocery list right now.

4.  A smell that brings me comfort

Hyacinths.  When we moved into my grandmother's house after she died, my dad built our sandbox beside hyacinths my grandmother had planted.  When I smell hyacinths, I'm transported back to that spot, remembering my grandmother, the old family home, and the feeling of warm sand.

5.  A tactile experience that surprised me

"Surprise" is the key word here for me.  I can think of lots of things I like to touch, like the soft fur of a cat.  But something surprising?  The only thing that comes to mind is when I first touched a snake.  I was a child, so I only remember being surprised its skin was not slimy or scaly.  Just smooth and soft.