Clavichord music may be a bit of an acquired taste. It is so very quiet -- a little tinkling noise in the distance -- that it is almost impossible to record. You can't truly hear what is happening unless you are sitting at the instrument.

Clavichord music may be a bit of an acquired taste. It is so very quiet -- a little tinkling noise in the distance -- that it is almost impossible to record. You can't truly hear what is happening unless you are sitting at the instrument.

Not a usual match with Beethoven.



Originally shared by Wim Winters

L.V.BEETHOVEN :: SONATA OPUS 14 /2:: WIM WINTERS, SAXON CLAVICHORD
After having played the clavichord extensively for quite some years now, I still find it remarkable how many of the earlier works of Beethoven, roughly said written before 1800, sounds so well on clavichord. Yes, as a player, one 'sniffles' the pianoforte in some notes, some grips, some effects, but overall, the classical technique, closed hands, positioning playing, ... still is so close of the world of the clavichord. That certainly applies for the two sonatas op Beethoven's opus 14/2, and most certainly for this one, the n°2 in G Major.
The clavichord takes you back to the 18th century, where this music, if only due to the date of composing (1799) still belongs. Contrasts become suddenly so big, accentuation's so pronounced, cantabile lines so ... well...cantabile.
Would Beethoven raised eyebrow's when he would walk into my living room and hear me play this music on clavichord. I don't think so. We earlier heard the input of Carl Loewe, stating the fact that in 1810, even Gottlob Türk had not exchanged his old clavichord for the new pianoforte (http://bit.ly/2qpowAz). And of course, in Vienna 1800, one of the capital's of modernization, Beethoven had to compose for the pianoforte, but again, the tradition ran through his blood, and one can feel that while playing his music.

I have made a whole series of videos around this sonata, which you can watch by simply clicking on this playlist:
http://bit.ly/2pJT3pd

Looking forward to reading your reflections !
https://youtu.be/cSDq_w4W_KA
https://youtu.be/cSDq_w4W_KA

A two-year old surprise from a seed packet labeled "Swiss Meadow Wildflowers".

A two-year old surprise from a seed packet labeled "Swiss Meadow Wildflowers".

An old picture -- Number 9, Via del Corso, Florence

An old picture -- Number 9, Via del Corso, Florence

A brilliant short essay...

A brilliant short essay...

Originally shared by Helen Ikua

"I'll make sure that no one, NO ONE, ever speaks to you again!" Oh don't be so charming, chubby beaver!

You see, flailingly unhinged threats, are exactly how to denote your excalmatory emotions if you're the guy who's tasked with speaking on behalf of the numerous numerous skeletons in the empty and echo filled closet that is Rex Tillerson's State Department. Now, for a guy who's worked in the field of public communications for most if not for all of his adult life, Rex Tillerson's hatchet man and guy voted most likely to go for a third helping of apple strudle pie at the State Department's annual all-you-can-eat buffet, RC Hammond is beginning to sound rather far-aways and increasingly out of his depth when it comes to fielding tetchy and thorny queries from nosy members of the fourth estate. And it was amazing how RC Hammond who's also affectionately known as chubby beaver to those nearest and dearest in the field of international diplomacy, it was amazing how RC most recently brought down on a poor journalist's head such verbal excruciation as,"WE DON'T THINK YOU'RE SMART ENOUGH TO HANDLE OUR INFORMATION!" Such road rage I tell ya, such road rage! And all because Michelle Kosinski in the course of her journalistic duties, wanted to know why RC Hammond's creaky information machine was showing itself to be a Dodo, especially when it came to responding to reporters' e-mails and other assorted questions directed at the truly Einsteinian RC Hammond. And it's telling how a reactive State Department, which department by the way has became reactive rather proactive, mainly because no one can get ahead of unpredictable behaviour like an American president who perceives nothing pernicious at all in spilling his guts to the chief Russian spy in Washington who also happens to moonlight as Russian ambassador to Washington from time to time, it's telling therefore how this current State Department under its current Secretary of State can't seem to get out of its own way for trying. Still, even for an administration that's clearly and demonstrably falling over backwards to defy all previous convention that goes to the smooth functioning of government, a State Department Communications Adviser who demands that a journalist reveal to him the name or names of alleged "moles" within the State Department or risk losing whatever shred of credibility that she should always aspire to maintain in the eyes of the unethical, such a State Department Communications Adviser is either being deliberately obtuse or is being deliberately sinister, none of which augurs well for a country's relations with the outside world, particularly seeing as how the State Department now clearly sees itself as the perfunctory propaganda machine of an administration rather than seeing itself as the country's first line of defence in the ever escalating war between major powers for hearts and minds worldwide.

Originally shared by Rhys Taylor

Originally shared by Rhys Taylor

This makes a lot of sense. Via Gilmoure deTrimar.

The people in there with him are the people who did not realize that what they had on their hands was an animal. Now they are trying to whisper him, like a horse. Do horses understand whispering? Horses probably think that people are just conspiring against them all the time. Horses are probably quite paranoid and delusional. But at least a horse would not fire the FBI director.

Where's Caligula when you need him ?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/05/17/the-president-is-not-a-child-hes-something-worse/?tid=ss_gp&utm_term=.b3ee8b775781

Zaid El-Hoiydi "Normal" vs the Olympus "watercolor" effect. Sometimes pretty, but generally "eh?"

Zaid El-Hoiydi "Normal" vs the Olympus "watercolor" effect. Sometimes pretty, but generally "eh?"

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Pascal's Other Wager

http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/pascal39s-other-wager

Belize - end of the dry season

Belize - end of the dry season

Havana, Cuba

Havana, Cuba

From a bus... unique architecture!

From a bus... unique architecture!

Leaving Havana 2. What is interesting about this picture? Dead center is a strange building, sort of like a fist with an upthrust middle finger. You may have to enlarge to see it at all..

Leaving Havana 2. What is interesting about this picture? Dead center is a strange building, sort of like a fist with an upthrust middle finger. You may have to enlarge to see it at all..

That's the Russian Embassy.

Originally shared by Helen Ikua

Originally shared by Helen Ikua

Laughed at who? Why that's outrageous!

Apparently, nothing has the potential to rain on a Jeff Sessions confirmation parade than Code Pink protesters showing up unannounced to disrupt smooth as jello proccedings, and dressed as of all things, Ku Klux Klan devotees! And the whole sordid business happens to be peculiarly strange, not because one of the protesters laughed hilariously when Senator Richard Shelby climbed to the highest branch of the iroko tree and from that vantage point proceeded to boldly and unashamedly declare that Senator Jeff Sessions has an,"Extensive record of treating all Americans equally under the law," that is to say the same Jeff Sessions who once missed out on a plum legal appointment during Mr Reagan's time in the White House, and based solely on allegations [totally unfounded of course] of using the heft of his legal office in Albama to advance a sinister agenda whose clear aim was amongst other things to hinder unfettered access to the ballot box for elderly black voters. But mostly and most importantly, this whole unseemly business of protesters trying to remind Jeff Sessions of the life that he left behind in an Albama closet, is strange because these verbal insurrectionists forgot to put on the decorum of their good manners blouses, and subsequently became willfully disruptive when in the hallowed presence of a man who once habitually referred to a black colleague who worked with him down in Alabama as,"Boy."

Leaving Havana

Leaving Havana

What lovely teeth you have...

What lovely teeth you have...

Mosquitoes and Vultures

Mosquitoes and Vultures