Imaginary

Fictional Narratives

Novels:

• Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A Novel (Doubleday, 2003): “Haddon manages to bring us deep inside Christopher's mind and situates us comfortably within his limited, severely logical point of view, to the extent that we begin to question the common sense and the erratic emotionalism of the normal citizens who surround him, as well as our own intuitions and habits of perception.”
• R.J. Palacio, Wonder: A Novel (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2012): “Born with several genetic abnormalities, 10-year-old August Pullman, called Auggie, dreams of being ‘ordinary.’ Inside, he knows he’s like every other kid, but even after 27 surgeries, the central character . . . bears facial disfigurations so pronounced that people who see him for the first time do ‘that look-away thing’ — if they manage to hide their shock and horror.”
• Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (Balzer + Bray, 2017): “As a teenager, Starr is a sneakerhead who uncomfortably straddles opposing worlds — Garden Heights, a predominantly black and lower-income neighborhood, is the place she’s always called home; Williamson Prep, a fancy predominantly white private school, is where she and her siblings, Seven (Lamar Johnson) and Sekani (TJ Wright), attend school. She works hard every day to keep them separate, hiding her white boyfriend, Chris (K.J. Apa), from her father, while policing her own appearance and actions at school.”
• Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower: A Novel (MTV Books, 2019): “. . . the story turns on Charlie (Logan Lerman), a melancholic teenager who has endured his share of sorrows and, when the story cranks up in 1991, is praying to make it through the new school year. His prayers are answered when he’s rescued by the friendships he makes with Patrick (a charismatic Ezra Miller) and Patrick’s stepsister, Sam (Emma Watson).”
• Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove: A Novel (Atria Books, 2014): “The novel’s protagonist, Ove, is a lonely curmudgeon who screams at his neighbors for parking in the wrong place and punches a hospital clown whose magic tricks annoy him.”

Poetry

From the dark side:

• Edgar Lee Masters, “Harmon Whitney”

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartets, Op. 20, “Sun” quartets (1772) (approx. 118-147’), express the composer’s reaction to a strain of strict rationalism in the Enlightenment of his time. He seems to have meant these quartets to express an opening to a freer emotional life, as expressed by a shining sun. These quartets “make the fullest use of four completely independent voices (in his earlier quartets Haydn would often fuse the viola and cello parts together to be one line), employ a much expanded range of texture and dynamics, and show for the first time the composer’s flexibility in phrase length and structure, with all its attendant capacity for wit and surprise. The set’s nickname, the ‘Sun Quartets’, is due merely to the sun that was displayed on the cover of the first edition; the name even seems somewhat misleading, since two of the quartets are in darker, minor keys (it was more the custom to have only one minor-key work in a set at this time), and since the many bright moments in these works are well balanced by passages that are more learned, convoluted, and experimental.” Musicologist David Tovey has observed: “Every page of the six quartets of Op. 20 is of historic and aesthetic importance; and though the total results still leave Haydn with a long road to travel, there is perhaps no single or sextuple opus in the history of instrumental music which has achieved so much or achieved it so quietly . . . With Op. 20 the historical development of Haydn's quartets reaches its goal; and further progress is not progress in any historical sense, but simply the difference between one masterpiece and the next.” Excellent recorded performances of the entire opus are by Hagen Quartett in 1993; Quatuor Mosaïques in 2000; Pellegrini Quartet in 2007; Kocian Quartet (1-3; 4-6) (2016); and Dudok Quartet (1, 4, 6) (2, 3, 5) (2020).

• Quartet No. 28 in E-flat major, Op. 20, No. 1, FHE No. 43, Hob. III:31 (approx. 25-26’)
• Quartet No. 25 in C major, Op. 20, No. 2, FHE No. 44, Hob. III:32 (approx. 25’): “Throughout this quartet, the cello is finally emancipated from its humble role as a keeper of the base line to become a fully independent voice in a four-part texture.”
• Quartet No. 26 in G minor, Op. 20, No. 3, FHE No. 45, Hob. III:33 (approx. 27’): “. . . Haydn couples the key of G minor with a spirited, feisty attitude, sometimes even turbulent and stormy; there is never that sense of fatefulness, of deep sorrow, that (Mozart) was to bring.”
• Quartet No. 27 in D major, Op. 20, No. 4, FHE No. 46, Hob. III:34 (approx. 25-26’), “opens softly with five enigmatic six-bar phrases, followed by a violent outburst. (And the three repeated notes that start the phrases become a sonic signature for this quartet.) It then goes boldly where no quartet had gone in terms of dramatic adventure, including the kind of silent pause and false recapitulation for which Haydn would become famous.”
• Quartet No. 23 in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5, FHE No. 47, Hob.III:35 (approx. 22-25’)
• Quartet No. 24 in A major, Op. 20, No. 6, FHE No. 48, Hob. III:36 (approx. 17’)

Other works:

• Olivier Messiaen, Cantéyodjayâ (1948) (approx. 11-14’) draws on Hindu rhythms.

Wes Montgomery played easy-going, straight-ahead jazz guitar. His work creates a sense of core inner goodness, and because it is in ensemble, an acceptance of others. Here are links to his releases; a documentary film; a Workship in Hamburg on April 28, 1965; and a live performance in 1965.

Accordionist Maciej Zimka has composed several works in which his instrument is paired in a way that many people might consider unusual. If an accordion can pair with a violin, a guitar or a clarinet, we should be able to accept each other, regardless of our differences.

Chiyomi Yamada is a Japanese soprano who has combined Japanese musical elements with those from Europe and the Americas. Here is a link to her releases.

• Sonata for Violin and Accordion (2009) (approx. 14’)
• Sonata for Accordion and Guitar (2018) (approx. 15’)
• Out of the Circle for clarinet and accordion (2018) (approx. 11’)

Albums:

• Rabih Abou-Khalil, “Blue Camel” (1991) (61’), “demonstrates . . . that a fusion between jazz and a musical form from another culture is possible and can work to the advantage of both.”
• Daniel Binelli & Pedro H. da Silva, “Tango Fado Duo” (2018) (53’)
• Paul Green, “A Bissel Rhythm” (2019) (46’), incorporating characteristic Jewish Klezmer sounds and jazz elements
• Lamine Cissokho & Manish Pingle, “New Continents: West African Kora Meets Indian Slide Guitar” (2019) (31’)
• Re/Semblance, “Saath-Saath: An India-China Musical Collaboration” (2021) (108’) – the title means “together-together”
• Gao Hong & Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde, “Alondra” (2024) (41’): “Inspired by the Skylark’s intricate melodies, this unique musical journey intertwines Pipa and Flamenco, transcending cultural boundaries.”
• Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, with Chao Tian, “From China to Appalachia” (2024) (48’): “Two opposite ingredients that gel to make something…delicious.”

Music: songs and other short pieces

• Barbra Streisand, “People” (lyrics)
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, “Same Love” (lyrics)
• Angel Haze, “Same Love”
• Michael Jackson, “Black or White” (lyrics)

Visual Arts

These are Visual Arts typed in by Terri.
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Here's a list:

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Film and Stage