Sincerity is the emotional component of honesty – the desire to be honest. Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite. [attributed to Charles Spurgeon] . . . for a creative writer possession of the “truth” is less important than emotional sincerity. [George Orwell] I suppose my best attribute, if you want…
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Value for Saturday of Week 30 in the season of Ripening
Cherishing
To cherish is to hold something dear; to hold someone close and still be able to let go, to be present, to stand up, to respond to another person’s needs. All of these things transcend ego, and open us to Love.
- . . . our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal. [John F. Kennedy]
- Go well, do well, my children. Cherish sunsets, wild creatures and wild places. Have a love affair with the wonder and beauty of the earth. [Stewart and Lee Udall]
- Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it. [attributed to Ninon de L’Enclos]
Real
True Narratives
Technical and Analytical Readings
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Poetry
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Arcangelo Corelli, 12 Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 (1680s) (approx. 121-146’) (list of recorded performances): composer Angelico Corelli lavished a lifetime of care and attention on these works, to the point that we can justifiably say he cherished them. That attitude comes through in the music. Excellent recordings are conducted by Pinnock in 1988, Beyer in 2012, Beznosiuk in 2018, and Dantone in 2023.
Felix Mendelssohn, String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 (1827) (approx. 30') (recordings): At eighteen, Mendelssohn built his whole quartet around three hushed notes lifted from his own love song — “Ist es wahr?”, “Is it true?” — yet the music never poses the question in order to answer it; it asks tenderly, reverently, and keeps circling back to hold the question dear. That is the line between desire and cherishing: you resolve what you want, but you return to what you treasure, and this quartet returns and returns, finally laying its question down in A major like something too precious to put away. And the treasuring reaches past the beloved to Beethoven himself, whose late quartets this boy alone could yet hear — so the piece becomes one long act of holding dear the things he could not bear to lose. Top recordings are by Carmina Quartet in 1991, Eroica Quartet in 1998, Pacifica Quartet in 2004, Emerson Quartet in 2005, Mandelring Quartet in 2011, Minetti Quartet in 2012, Tetzlaff Quartet in 2014, and Goldmund Quartet in 2026.
Giovanni Sgambati, symphonies:
- Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 16 (1881) (approx. 43’)
- Symphony No. 2 in E-flat Major (1885) (approx. 38’)
Mauro Giuliani, Duets for Flute and Guitar:
- Gran Duetto Concertante, Op. 52 (1812) (approx. 14’)
- Grand Serenade, Op. 82 (1822) (approx. 18’)
- Grand duo concertant, Op. 85 (1817) (approx. 20’)
- Serenade, Op. 127 (1827) (approx. 15’)
Reynaldo Hahn’s chamber music:
- Piano Quartet No. 3 in G Major (1946) (approx. 24’): “the opening Allegretto moderato, after the easy and graceful opening subject, adopts a more muscular and impassioned character. Melodic charm and restfulness in the Andante are interrupted by the central passage which sails into troubled and expressive waters and the finale (Allegro assai) rolls gracefully to its compelling conclusion.”
- Piano Quintet in F-sharp Minor (1921) (approx. 31’) (list of recorded performances): “Hahn casually pursues the mood of the Belle Époque, oblivious to the new aesthetics advocated by his younger colleagues.”
Three Violin Sonatas by Niels Gade:
- Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, Op. 6 (1842) (approx. 24-26’) (list of recorded performances)
- Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 21 (1849) (approx. 19-21’) (list of recorded performances)
- Violin Sonata No. 3 in B-flat Major, Op. 59 (1885) (approx. 20-15’) (list of recorded performances)
Other works:
- Gabriel Fauré, Piano Quintet No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 115 (1921) (approx. 32’) (list of recorded performances), “has the paradoxical merit of bringing together two generally incompatible virtues: youth and serenity. It has the youthful privilege of freshness, ardour, generosity and persuasive tenderness; it also possesses the sober gifts of wisdom, idealised passion, fine and delectable balance, and tranquil reason.”
- Johannes Brahms, Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 5 (1853) (approx. 35-42’) (list of recorded performances), “is a work of symphonic proportions and scope, bursting at the seams with ideas to the point that it needs an extra movement to explore different directions with material from earlier movements. It is his biggest solo piano work, and indeed his last Piano Sonata.”
- Felix Draeseke, String Quintet in F Major, Op. 77 (1901) (approx. 27’)
- Hayden Wayne, The Rosenberger Variations, "The Romantic" (1998) (approx. 41’)
- Robert Fuchs, Piano Trio No. 3 in F-sharp minor, for piano, violin and viola, Op. 115 (1921) (approx. 27’)
- Rodrigo Ruiz, Sonata for Violin and Piano in F Major, R. 6 (approx. 23’)
- Ruiz, Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano in A Major, Op. 9 (approx. 27’)
- César Franck, Premier duo concertant pour piano et violin sur les motifs de “Gulistan”, Op. 14, FWV 6 (1844) (approx. 12’)
- Ralph Vaughan Williams, String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor (1944) (approx. 20-22’) (list of recorded performances), “arose from Vaughan Williams’s friendship with the viola player Jean Stewart, who as a student had played in the orchestra at the annual Leith Hill Festivals which he conducted, and had become one of his ‘honorary nieces’, as his favourite younger female friends were known. . . Completed in 1944 it bore the dedication ‘To Jean on her birthday’, and on her personal copy of the score Vaughan Williams wrote ‘price 1000 kisses’. ” The mood is tender, warm and solicitous.
- James K. Wright, String Quartet No. 1, “Ellen at Scattergood” (2022) (approx. 20’) “is a celebration of the union of Carleton University Professors David and Ellen Cray, and their life in a cottage on Lac Scattergood.”
- Salvatore Lanzetti, Cello Sonatas, Opp. 5 & 6 (approx. 134’): these are heartfelt works delivered through the medium of the expressive violincello.
- Giuseppe Torelli, 12 Concerti da Camera for 2 Violins and Basso Continuo, op. 2 (1686) (approx. 74’) are reminiscent of Corelli’s concerti grossi.
Oded Tzur caresses music with his saxophone. “Brooding but true: that's one way to describe Oded Tzur's saxophone sound. The Israel-born saxophonist, composer and bandleader, who is now a New York resident, embraces music as an art as well as a form of prayer . . .” “Tzur’s unraveling is profundity incarnate, gracing the inner circle of every chord change as the tongue might move a morsel around the mouth for proper chewing. The result is more than a conversation; it’s an interactive prayer.” “Tzur plays as if shielding his eyes from the sun, seeing in the distance a vessel he might have known as a child yet which is now haggard and without a sail, going only where the water and waves will permit it. He swings and whispers, meditates and shouts, holding each dichotomy as a eulogy.” Here he is in live performance with his quartet, and in interview on TeaMasters Part 1, TeaMasters Part 2, through India’s Ministry of Culture, and on WKCR radio. His albums include:
- “Isabela” (2022) (35’)
- “Here Be Dragons” (2020) (40’)
- “Translator’s Note” (2017) (54’)
- “Like a Great River” (2015) (40’)
Albums:
- “The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album” (1974) (35’). One reviewer comments: “. . . it's very hard for any singer, especially a lower voiced male to be this naked, singing with just a piano. But Tony Bennett, with his raspy voice and his insecure pitch... Tony Bennett is in complete control of his performance, the dynamics, the phrasing, the diction, and the expressiveness.”
- Jeroen van Veen, “Piazzolla: Para el Ángel: piano music” (2021) (156’) – a reviewer writes: “. . . I was not sure whether I was admiring skilful piano writing by Piazzolla or skilful arranging by van Veen. Perhaps this does not matter. Those who like to hear their Piazzolla on the piano should be well content.”
- Calidore String Quartet, “Beethoven: The Late Quartets” (2023) (204’): this rendition of Beethoven’s string quartets 12-16 stands out for Calidore’s warm, tender, cantabile (singing) approach.
Music: songs and other short pieces
- “Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms” (lyrics): According to at least one account, Irish Thomas Moore’s wife refused to allow herself to be seen after she contracted smallpox. So Moore composed these words to a traditional Irish air, and sang the song to her from outside her bedroom door. Through his love and acceptance of her, perhaps she was reminded to love and accept herself.
- The Association, “Cherish” (lyrics)
- Frank Sinatra, “The Way You Look Tonight” (lyrics)
- Michael Bublé, “The Way You Look Tonight” (lyrics)
