Imaginary

Fictional Narratives

“And now,” said Legree, “come here, you Tom. You see, I telled ye I didn’t buy ye jest for the common work; I mean to promote ye, and make a driver of ye; and tonight ye may jest as well begin to get yer hand in. Now, ye jest take this yer gal and flog her; ye’ve seen enough on’t to know how.” / “I beg Mas’r’s pardon,” said Tom; “hopes Mas’r won’t set me at that. It’s what I an’t used to,—never did,—and can’t do, no way possible.” / “Ye’ll larn a pretty smart chance of things ye never did know, before I’ve done with ye!” said Legree, taking up a cowhide, and striking Tom a heavy blow cross the cheek, and following up the infliction by a shower of blows.

“There!” he said, as he stopped to rest; “now, will ye tell me ye can’t do it?” / “Yes, Mas’r,” said Tom, putting up his hand, to wipe the blood, that trickled down his face. “I’m willin’ to work, night and day, and work while there’s life and breath in me; but this yer thing I can’t feel it right to do;—and, Mas’r, I never shall do it,—never!” / Tom had a remarkably smooth, soft voice, and a habitually respectful manner, that had given Legree an idea that he would be cowardly, and easily subdued. When he spoke these last words, a thrill of amazement went through every one; the poor woman clasped her hands, and said, “O Lord!” and every one involuntarily looked at each other and drew in their breath, as if to prepare for the storm that was about to burst. / Legree looked stupefied and confounded; but at last burst forth, — “What! ye blasted black beast! tell me ye don’t think it right to do what I tell ye! What have any of you cussed cattle to do with thinking what’s right? I’ll put a stop to it! Why, what do ye think ye are? May be ye think ye’r a gentleman master, Tom, to be a telling your master what’s right, and what ain’t! So you pretend it’s wrong to flog the gal!” / “I think so, Mas’r,” said Tom; “the poor crittur’s sick and feeble; ’t would be downright cruel, and it’s what I never will do, nor begin to. Mas’r, if you mean to kill me, kill me; but, as to my raising my hand agin any one here, I never shall, — I’ll die first!” / [Harriett Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin or Life Among the Lowly (1852), Volume II, Chapter 33, “Cassy”.]

Novels:

• Chris Roschko, Seriously, Norman: A Novel (Michael di Capua Books/Scribner, 2011): “By the time the test day redux arrives, the pressure surrounding it has been diffused. Norman has become an international traveler and has triumphantly managed to persuade his father to give up his money-grubbing, bomber-selling ways. ‘Seriously, Norman!’ may be the only novel that carries both antiwar and anti-testing overtones, though its true position seems to be pro-‘paying attention to what’s around you.’”
• Laurie Frankel, One Two Three: A Novel (Holt, 2021): “. . . doesn’t rooting for uncomplicated integrity feel good these days?”
• Grant Farley, Bones of a Saint (Soho Teen, 2021): a teen struggles with resisting the demands of a gang.
• Lydia Millet, Dinosaurs: A Novel (W.W. Norton & Company, 2022), offers “a subdued portrait of a wounded middle-aged man’s journey toward wholeness.”

From the dark side:

• Zadie Smith, NW: A Novel (Penguin Press, 2012): “‘NW’ represents a deliberate undoing; an unpacking of Smith’s abundant narrative gifts to find a deeper truth, audacious and painful as that truth may be. The result is that rare thing, a book that is radical and passionate and real.”
• Dalia Sofer, Man of My Time: A Novel (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2020): “He Tried to Change the System. Then He Became It.”
• Damon Galgut, The Promise: A Novel (Europa, 2021): “Repeatedly Galgut invokes the motif of something bitter or rank buried at the ‘sour core’ within both the Swarts and their country, and perhaps within existence itself.”
• Alexander Maksik, The Long Corner: A Novel (Europa, 2022): “It is finally an argument for the necessity of irony, risk and integrity in the production of art as in life.”
• Tom Perrotta, Tracy Flick Can’t Win: A Novel (Scribner, 2022): “In middle age, Tracy’s optimism (or naïveté) is unchanged. There are two ways to look at this. Maybe it’s a credit to her integrity that she hasn’t been squashed into submission. Maybe it’s preposterous that she refuses, after all this time, to play by the rules of the game.”
• Winnie M. Li, Complicit: A Novel (Simon & Schuster, 2022): “She Stayed Silent When a Producer Turned Sexual Predator Went After a Friend”.

Poetry

From the dark side:

• Edgar Lee Masters, “Daniel M’Cumber”
• Edgar Lee Masters, “Editor Whedon”
• Edgar Lee Masters, “ Lloyd Garrison Standard”

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Known as “The Scholarly Virtuoso”, violinist Joseph Szigeti was known for a remarkably unique set of character traits, which he displayed in his art. “. . . what most shaped Szigeti’s career were . . . integrity, curiosity, and sheer dedication to the hard work of practicing.” “He did not produce an ear-titillating sound nor could he climax or conclude his runs with high voltage vibrancy. But in his prime he could negotiate the most awkward passages in the Brahms concerto with ease and precision and his intonation, always impeccable.” “Szigeti was an artist of rare intellect and integrity; he eschewed the role of the virtuoso, placing himself totally at the service of the music.” Here are links to his playlists.

Persian traditional music for solo instrument or one- or two-instrument accompaniment, performed by some of its great artists:

• Mohammed Reza Shajarian, with his playlists, and tracks on YouTube;
• Hossein Alizadeh, with his playlists, and tracks on YouTube;
• Kayhan Kalhor, with his playlists, and tracks on YouTube;
• Munir Bachir, with his releases, and tracks on YouTube;
• Erdal Erzincan, with his playlists, and tracks on YouTube;
• Houmayoun Shajarian, with his releases, his playlists, and tracks on YouTube;
• Mohammad Reza Lotfi, with his playlists, and tracks on YouTube;
• Ali-Asghan Bahari, with his playlists, and tracks on YouTube;
• Faramarz Payvar, with his playlists, and tracks on YouTube;
• Ahmad ʿEbādī, with his playlists, and tracks on YouTube;
• Habibollah Badiee, with his playlists, and tracks on YouTube;
• Mohammad Mousavi, nay solo, and tracks on YouTube; and
• Ali Akbar Moradi, with his playlists, and tracks on YouTube.

In Victor Herbert’s two cello concerti, the rich, mature voice of the cello finds full expression in the orchestra’s good company:

• Cello Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 8 (1882) (approx. 25-27’)
• Cello Concerto No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 30 (1894) (approx. 24-28’) 

Johannes Ockeghem was a fifteenth-century composer. A promotion for an album of his songs argues that he was “every bit the equal of J.S. Bach in contrapuntal technique and profound expressivity, and like Bach able to combine the most rigorous intellectual structure with a beguiling sensuality”. Though most musicologists would not put him on par with J.S. Bach, you can hear the combination of structure and sensuality in these recordings of his songs, performed by:

• Cut Circle, Jesse Rodin directing;
• La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Jordi Savall directing;
• Romanesque, Philippe Malfeyt directing;
• Blue Heron, Scott Metcalfe directing, Volume 1 and Volume 2. 

In his compositions, Maki Ishii focuses on the integration, or re-integration, of ignored and discarded musical forms and elements. The following notes are taken from the composer’s comments, accompanying an album on on the Denon label.

• In his Afro-Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, Op. 50 (1982) (approx. 27’), he integrates fragments of music from the Senuto and Pygmy tribes, Western orchestration, and Asian instruments.
• In “Lost Sounds III”, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 34 (1978), he rehabilitates consonance from an avant-garde graveyard.
• In Polarities for Soloists and Orchestra, Op. 22 (1973), he employs “Western music” and “Japanese traditional music.” The soloists are instructed to chafe against each other, yet produce an integrated performance.
• In Fū Shi (Shape of the Wind), for Orchestra, Op. 84 (1989) (approx. 18’), he integrates three tempi (jo, ha and kyu) from Japanese culture during the Muromachi Period (1393-1573) to address the “fundamental principle and philosophy of creation.” This may not be obvious to Western ears, or any ears not familiar with the Gagaku tradition. But if do a little research and listen carefully, perhaps you will get the idea. If you choose to defer the effort until after you’ve spent a few decades intensely studying musical forms, no criticism would be justified for it.

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis’ piano music:

• Eight Preludes (approx. 13’)
• Piano works, volume 1, on Marco Polo label
• Piano works, volume 2, on Marco Polo label

Johann Jakob Froberger painted his harpsichord suites and other works for harpsichord, in a few true and basic colors, evoking the core themes of a person’s life.

• This is true especially of his Strasbourg Manuscript (Fourteen Suites for harpsichord) (1657-1658) (approx. 135’).
• Hear also his Twenty-Three Suites for Harpsichord (mid-1600s) (approx. 127’).

Other compositions:

• Louis Gabriel Guillemain, Douze Caprices pour le violin seul (Twelve Caprices for solo violin), a/k/a Amusement pour le violon seul compose de plusieurs airs varies de differens auteurs, Op. 18 (1755) (approx. 64’)
• Richard Strauss, Capriccio, “A Conversation Piece for Music”, Op. 85, TrV 279 (1941) (approx. 135-146’), is a light-hearted opera about a serious subject: the importance of art in life. “Well-bred characters discuss aesthetics and philosophy for two and a half hours . . .” Seen more deeply, it is about the importance of every part of life coming together. Live performances with video are conducted by Stein, and Böhm. Top audio-recorded performances are by Schwarzkopf, Wächter & Gedda (Sawallisch) in 1957-1958; Della Casa, Kerns & Kmentt (Prêtre) in 1964; Janowitz, Fischer-Dieskau & Schreier (Böhm) in 1971; and Te Kanawa, Hagegård & Heilmann (Schirmer) in 1994.
• Arthur Honegger, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (Joan of Arc at the Stake) (1938) (approx. 75-78’) is an oratorio about a woman of integrity who was unjustly burned alive. Performances are conducted by Ozawa, Baudo, Bernstein and Altinoglu.
• Norman Dello Joio, The Triumph of St. Joan Symphony (1952) (approx. 27-28’)
• Ernst Krenek, Symphony No. 2, Op. 12 (1922) (approx. 57’): the composer explains that the symphony’s conclusion “sounds like a passionate prayer for peace from the mouth of someone who has finally overcome the prohibitions which had kept him from letting loose in such outbursts of yearning . . . The climax of the end . . . has . . . more of the lifting up than crushing quality, but does not act as solution to the conflict; it rather sounds like a delirious attempt to accept the contradictions as ordained by a supreme power and to integrate the conflicting elements into a sort of cosmic pandemonium.”
• Matthew Locke, Psyche (675) (approx. 105-110’): the story of this English semi-opera is that of Molière’s play, “Psyché”, which he modeled after the ancient myth of Cupid and Psyche. In the story, the virtuous protagonist resists envy, fury and false allure, is condemned to hell but then rises into heaven after she remains true to her ideals. Ensemble Correspondances has recorded the work. 

Albums:

• Hayk Melikyan, “An Armenian Palette” (2020) (87’): this disc of Armenian music for piano captures the character of the musical culture in the fullness of its dignity.
• Matthew Shipp Trio, “Signature” (2019) (63’) “is one of (Shipp's) albums that attaches itself with greater adhesion on each listen.” “It’s a peaceful exploration of melodic lines crafted with intervallic curiosity in the middle register and liberally anchored by left-hand conductions.”
• Matthew Shipp & William Parker, “DNA” (1998) (48’)
• Matthew Shipp Duo & Mat Maneri, “Gravitational Systems” (2000) (59’): “. . . the two musicians shoot for the stars while exhibiting boundless enthusiasm along with an acute awareness of their respective musical personnae . . .”
• Dave Liebman, “Trust and Honesty” (2022) (46’): the sense of the playing is that of transcendent self-confidence, and the certainty of being (metaphorically) in the right place. “This is a living legend of modern jazz, unlike many of his peers, not resting on his laurels, but discovering something new with each new work.”

Music: songs and other short pieces

• Taylor Swift, “The Man” (lyrics)
• JME, “Integrity” (lyrics)
• Stevie Wonder, “Uptight” (lyrics)

Visual Arts

• Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Sir Thomas More (1527)

Film and Stage

• Serpico, a biographical drama about Frank Serpico, a New York City police officer who refused to bow to corruption, blowing the whistle on his department instead
• Prince of the City, raising the issue of integrity in a police officer with damning information about his fellow officers
• The Prisoner: an excess of humility leads a priest to confess falsely under interrogation
• The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, an outlaw’s view of integrity, or, the difference between integrity and gratuitous defiance
• Mahanagar: a young married woman in tradition-bound India is forced into the workplace, where she thrives and demonstrates uncommon character, refusing to accept discrimination against a co-worker and quitting her own job despite her and her family’s need for an income.