Benches in the Sunshine

I like the rhythm of lines - maybe it is from reading so much music - I can picture notes running up and down, playing a soundtrack to the sunny day. Patterns, repetition, modulation, turning the theme around as the shadows echo and change the melody.

Spring is Slowly Coming

Almost there. These are the first crocuses I have spotted. They are in a protected, sunny spot. Shoots are poking up in many gardens. Spring is early this year.



While the day started with some new fallen snow, it ended with snowdrops. I cherish these early blooms - growth after the sleep of winter. The change of seasons brings magic.

Reflections on Buildings

There is something interesting to me about how reflections change a building's surface. You don't quite know what you are looking at - the building wears the facade of another building on its walls. Which is the real surface?



Like a giant mirror, this building plays tricks - which of these are reflections and which are part of the building itself? Walking down this street can be a bit Alice in Wonderland like - things are not quite like they seem.

A Belated Happy Birthday to Telemann

My spouse and I play duets together. Telemann is one of our favourite composers to play - all his flute duets are well crafted and they provide equal challenges in both lines. I play the voice flute (a recorder in D - above) and my spouse plays the traverso, or baroque flute. It is made of wood and only has one key, unlike the modern flute. The books above represent only some of the sonatas we play by Telemann. And, though we tackle music by other composers as well, we always come back to Telemann.

Telemann's birthday was on March 14. He was an incredibly prolific composer and publisher. Many of his works were aimed at amateurs. The burgeoning middle class was the perfect target as they had the funds to buy music and instruments and the time in the evenings to play music together.

Dictionary

How different the homes of younger people are! Mine has several dictionaries, well-used. Although I do look up words online, I still love leafing through a dictionary and discovering new words. I like to find the derivation of the words (too many years of studying Latin in high school led me down that path).

We even play Boggle with dictionaries - one in English and one in French as we play our bilingual version of the game. While having the fun of playing we strengthen our vocabulary in both languages. I no longer own an encyclopedia and while I love the easy access to knowledge via the internet, I still miss turning the pages of the Encyclopedia Britannica which we had in our home when I was a child. Though the books were helpful for school projects, it was the discoveries I really enjoyed as I happened upon a topic that drew me in - discoveries made when you don't always know what you are looking for.

Morning Clouds

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” 
― Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds

In this case it was sunrise - a lovely start to the day.

Another Concert Another Church

This is probably the oldest church in Montreal - there are others that may have been built earlier, but they suffered fires and were rebuilt. I wrote about it once before. Concerts bring me to many churches. The concert this time featured Suzie LeBlanc, Eleanor Frey and Esteban La Rotta who played and sang music from a manuscript Eleanor found in Como, Italy.



The concert was truly beautiful - interesting music, some heard nowhere else. There will be a recording made.



This church organ, installed in 1990s was made by Helmutt Wolff. It replaced the original organ which dated from the 1800s, but retains many of the characteristics of the previous organ.



Being in a church in the daytime lets one appreciate the stained glass windows and the play of the light on the walls.



All in all, it was a beautiful afternoon - full sunshine outdoors, beautiful music and a lovely venue to hear it in.