Imaginary

Fictional Narratives

Novels:

• Sahar Mustafah, The Beauty of Your Face: A Novel (W.W. Norton, 2020): “The first 14 pages of Mustafah’s novel take place during a school shooting. We see the events unfold from two perspectives — the shooter’s (glancingly) and the school principal’s.” [on the acceptance of an immigrant in a school after a shooting]
• JoAnne Tompkins, What Comes After: A Novel (Riverhead, 2021): “. . . a powerful and inspiring reminder of how a close-knit community will rally around people in trouble, no matter their age . . . ”

Poetry

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Franz Joseph Haydn’s two cello concerti drip with graciousness and generosity of spirit. Each set in a major key, and following a standard fast/moderate-slow-fast format, they bear the unmistakable ebullience of a Haydn composition. The value of welcoming, or open-handedness is clearly identifiable on listening. Top recorded performances of the two concerti together are by Rostropovich in 1975, Coin in 1982, Mørk in 1991, Isserlis in 1996, Chang in 1998, Gautier Capuçon in 2002, Queyras in 2003, Weilerstein in 2018, Croisé in 2019, and Poltéra in 2022.

• Haydn, Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob. VIIb:1 (1761-1765) (approx. 25’), “is one of the most successful of Haydn’s works in the form, perhaps because it breaks through the limits of the Baroque concerto, enriching the ritornello with themes that are so full of subordinate ideas that they allow a greater variety of material.” “. . . Haydn composed this work to please the brilliant cellist, Joseph Franz Weigl, who was a member of Prince Esterházy’s excellent orchestra at Eisenstadt and the magnificent summer palace known as Esterházá, located now in Fertőd, Hungary.” “The main theme of the Moderato is the best sort of melody: cheerful, hummable, an earworm that one wouldn’t mind running through their head for most of the day. The Adagio is gorgeously ecclesiastic, reminiscent of Baroque-era slow movements in its harmonic progressions and breathy phrasing. The Finale: Allegro molto is light and enchanting.” Top recordings of the first concerto are by Sádlo in 1963,  du Pré in 1967, and Gabetta in 2009.
• Haydn, Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, Hob. VIIb:2 (1783) (approx. 27’), less well-known, is similar in character to Concerto No. 1. A top recording of the second concerto is by du Pré in 1967. 

Orchestra Boabab, “Pirates Choice” (1981) (94’) album, is Senegalese music influenced by Cuban and other Latin music. The way the players embrace music from across the ocean makes this a suitable entry for this topic. This disc is among the finest of all international recordings. 

Youssou N’Dour is a Senegalese singer who describes his approach as Pan-African: “What all of us Africans share is more important than what we don’t share.” His album, “The Guide (Wonmat)” (1993) (72’), offers numerous enticements for listeners outside Senegal, the employment of several well-known artists from outside Africa being less important than the creative spirit and artistry of the music. He has an extensive set of releases. Live performances include Bercy le Grand Bal in 2008 (78’) and Grand Bal in 2020 (73’). 

Another Senegalese artist, Ismaël Lô, has drawn on European and American influences. Here is a set of playlists. 

Khadja Nin is a singer from Burundi whose releases display a similar openness of spirit. 

Luciano Biondini is an Italian jazz accordionist who pairs with a wide variety of other instruments, welcoming each of them into his musical world – quite apart from his openness in bringing the accordion into the jazz world. His releases are linked here.

Compositions from the Western Classical idiom:

• Cesar Franck, Symphonic Variations (Variations symphoniques), M. 46 (1885) (approx. 13-17’): trying new things, in the open where everyone can see and hear: “The work has a unique confidence and breeziness, with Franck bringing his virtuosic piano composition skills to the piano (as he had done earlier in two variation sets he had written in 1834) but now the piano and orchestra are interlined – the piano doesn’t always have to show off, sometimes it operates more as a commentator, an accompanist, or a decorator to the orchestra’s music.”
• Antonín Dvořák, Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 21, B. 51 (1880) (approx. 31-34’), “is an ample work, well crafted for piano trio showing Dvořák's gifts for lyricism, color and vivid contrast within a fresh, natural style.”
• Aleksandr Borodin, Symphony No. 1 in E-flat Major (1867) (approx. 32-35’): “The drive and personality in much of this symphony come more from strong, inventive rhythms rather than a plethora of sweeping melodies . . .”
• Hugo Alfvén, Den forlorade sonen (The Prodigal Son) Suite, R. 214 (1957) (approx. 19-20’)
• Luigi Boccherini, Flute Quintets, Op. 17, G. 419-424 (1773) (approx. 54’); and Flute Quintets, G. 437-442 (approx. 69’) 

Albums:

• María Cristina Kehr, Krishnasol Jiménez & Roberto Koch, “Navigating Foreign Waters: Spanish Baroque Music and Mexican Folk Music” (2021) (51’) examines the two cultures, while ignoring the tragic history of Spanish-Mexican relations in the Baroque era.
• Felipe Salles Interconnections Ensemble, “Home Is Here” (2022) (74’): Salles “had extensive conversations with each of the guest musicians on the record before composing the pieces on which each would be featured, thus highlighting their own stylistic and personal characteristics.”
• Nicole Mitchell & Ballaké Sissoko, “Bamako Chicago Sound System” (2024) (63’): “Ballaké Sissoko plucks and strums his kora, his gently clipped phrases and lace-like patterns expressing both melody and countermelody. Fassery Diabaté strikes his wood-and-gourd balafon, building simple patterns and then subtle variations. Through this, Nicole Mitchell threads lovely, undulating flute tones.”

Music: songs and other short pieces

• Jakob Bro, “Welcome”
• Journey, “Open Arms” (lyrics)

Visual Arts

• Norman Rockwell, And the Symbol of Welcome Is Light (1920)
• René Magritte, The Window (1925)
• Georges Braque, Harbor in Normandy (1909)
• Paul Gaugin, Breton Girls Dancing at Pont-Avon (1888)
• Georges Seurat, Harbor in Honfleur (1886)

Film and Stage

Catholic priests have been subjects of several films illustrating the virtue of welcoming in the negative.

• Diary of a Country Priest, abouta mentally tortured priest who tries to minister to a remote French village
• Priest, a lookat the “tortured soul of a gay priest”