Romantic Bohemian

　　
　　
Thursday, February 21, 2013
　
　
Romantic Bohemian
　
　

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Subj:Spring is

just around the corner!

From: diane@vancouver.ca
To: barclay1720@aol.com
Date: Wed., Feb. 13, 2013 14:59:02
Pacific Standard Time

Hi Kato,

Yes, we have lots of wet weather lately and nobody seems to enjoy his or her life as much as a carefree happy-go-lucky brat.‏

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But I hear there will be sunshine tomorrow.
Good thing, we could use it.

It was wonderful to see you this evening.
I went to Joe Fortes Library specifically to see you after my yoga class and thought I had missed you.

At that point I had seen your note and listened to “Ave Verum Corpus” by Mozart.

I must tell you I was in heaven.
What a glorious piece of music—very uplifting.

Now I have had the time to listen to and enjoy “Eine kleine Nachtmusik.”

Eine kleine Nachtmusik

(on period instruments)

I also enjoyed the rest of the pieces you included and an interesting summary of his life.
I DID see “Amadeus” years ago and loved the movie as well.

Amadeus – Funny Parts

Your article brings back fond memories.

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■“Talk with Mozart”

Thanks for this, it was delightful.
… hope you’re taking real good care of yourself, kiddo.

Love, Diane ~

So, Diane … you enjoyed “Ave verum corpus,” didn’t you?

You bet. 　You also sent me another piece of the same name composed by Franz Listz.

Yes, I thought you would love it, too.

Doulce Memoire

Ave verum corpus

by Franz Liszt

Ave verum corpus

Ave verum corpus, natum

de Maria Virgine,

vere passum, immolatum

in cruce pro homine,

cuius latus perforatum

fluxit aqua et sanguine:

esto nobis praegustatum

in mortis examine.

O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie, O Iesu, fili Mariae.

Miserere mei. Amen.

Translated into English:

Hail, true Body

Hail, true Body, born

of the Virgin Mary,

who having truly suffered, was sacrificed

on the cross for mankind,

whose pierced side

flowed with water and blood:

May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]

in the trial of death.

O sweet Jesus, O pious Jesus, O Jesus, son of Mary,

have mercy on me. Amen.

Oh, you’re a dear heart, Kato. 　Thanks ever so much for keeping me in such bliss.

You’re quite welcome. 　I’m glad you really enjoyed those pieces.

Incidentally, Franz Liszt reminds me of “La Campanella.”

Do you like the piece, Diane?

Yes, very much so.

I happen to have a video clip for the performance of Fujiko Hemming. 　I’ve pasted it here for you, Diane. 　Just listen to this.

Oh, marvellous! 　I wish I could play it like that.

I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to play like that, if you keep on taking the piano lesson.

Do you really think so?

Yes, I do. 　By the way, the above performance reminds me of the following passage:

Memories of

Saint Germain des Prés

In spring, I was sitting in the cafe of Saint Germain des Prés.
It was raining and cold.
I’ve taken two cups of café au lait.

Soon it started downpouring. Nobody walked outside.
I looked out blankly when an old woman came in with a mandolin, followed by two dogs with drooping ears.
The old lady in a shaggy overcoat and the two dogs were soaked up in the rain.

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The lady sat down at a table near me.
After wiping her dogs, she then wiped herself.
She was about 70 years old, apparently one of the street artists of Saint Germain des Prés.
Both dogs were gentle, tightly wrapped up for protection with a tiny blanket.

When a boy came in, the old lady ordered two café au lait, hot milk, and a snack.
The boy didn’t throw out two wet dogs.
In Paris people care about dogs as much as themselves.

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When the boy brought the drinks, the old lady took out a pan from her luggage, and poured some milk into it, then gave each dog some food.
Both dogs started licking warm milk happily.

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The lady also sipped café au lait, holding the cup with cold-numb hands.
Relieved somewhat, I glanced at the adorable dogs once in a while.

Aftre half an hour, the old lady took out her purse and cheked into it, then she called the boy and asked for a favor.
Apparently, she didn’t have enough money.

Although I was poor myself at the time, I couldn’t ignore the scene, and walked up and paid on her behalf.
It wasn’t much anyway.
The old lady thanked me a lot, saying that she would pay later after doing her performances on the street.

“Oh, don’t bother. It was my present for your adorable dogs.”
I like animals. 　So, I really meant it.

“Well, they are brothers, and I love both,” said the old warm-hearted lady.

Whenever I walk through Saint Germain des Prés, the lady and the dogs come into my mind, warming my heart.

(Note: Picture from the Denman library
Translated by Kato)

---

SOURCE: “My heart’s in Paris”
by Fujiko Hemming
５７ページ 『我が心のパリ』
著者： フジ子・へミング
２００５年２月２５日 初版発行
発行所： 株式会社 阪急コミュニケーションズ

Oh, it is a heart-warming episode, isn’t it?

Yes, I think so, too. 　And the old lady in the above episode reminds me of your e-mail.

My e-mail?

Yes… Diane, do you remember the following mail?

Subj:Seniors’ dinner party

was successful.

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From: diane@vancouver.ca
To: barclay1720@aol.com
Date: Mon., Dec. 10, 2012 4:10:37 PM
Pacific Standard Time

Hi Kato,

Thanks for asking.
Yes, the seniors’ dinner party was successful.
We did have a wonderful evening and I loved every minute of it.
As one of the volunteers, I served wine, served meals and served coffee.

There were about a dozen students from the highschool next door and they were a great help serving meals and for cleanup, but the organizers said they couldn’t serve alcohol and they didn’t trust the kids with the coffee.
It seems we all enjoyed ourselves.

When the dinners were all served, the volunteers were able to sit together and have a turkey dinner ourselves, so that was a lot of fun, too.
Did you peek your head in the door of the auditorium to see how we were doing?
If so, you’d have seen a packed house and lots of smiles.

I’ll read your blog later, kiddo,
Thanks for sending it along.

Of course, you’re too young-minded to join a group of seniors,
Forever young, that’s my Kato.
And you’re my real romantic Bohemian.

Love, Diane ~

Come to think of Fujiko who paid on behalf of the old lady, your serving the seniors at the party as a volunteer is quite heart-warming.

Do you really think so?

Oh yes, most definitely. 　Volunteering is considered an altruistic activity, which promotes good and improve human quality of life, which in return produces a feeling of self-worth and respect.

Yes, but no financial gain.

You’re telling me, Diane. 　That’s why volunteering is an act of heart-warming. 　As you wrote, when the dinners were all served, the volunteers were able to sit together and have a turkey dinner ourselves, so that was a lot of fun, too.

【Himiko’s Monologue】

As you know, Fujiko Hemming is a classical music pianist.
Born on December 5, 1932 in Berlin, Germany to a Japanese mother and a Swedish-Russian father but educated in Japan, Fujiko began learning to play the piano at a young age from her mother.
She was identified as a child prodigy and performed her first concert at seventeen.

She graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and began her professional career immediately.

Hemming received many prestigious honors during this time, including the NHK-Mainichi Music Concour and the Bunka Radio Broadcasting Company Music Prize.
She relocated to Germany at the age of 28 to study at the Berlin Institute of Music.

During a concert in Vienna in 1971, Hemming lost her hearing from a bout of high fever.
She relocated again to Stockholm, Sweden to take advantage of its medical facilities.
She performed many more concerts throughout continental Europe before returning to Japan in 1995.

A documentary that aired in 1999 raised public interest in her music.

Her subsequent debut CD, La Campanella, sold over two million copies.

Hemming performed at Carnegie Hall in New York in June 2001.
By 2002, Hemming had performed at every major population center in the world.

In any case, I hope Kato will write another interesting article soon.
So please come back to see me.

Have a nice day!
Bye bye …

If you’ve got some time,

Please read one of the following artciles:

■“Diane Chatterley”

■“From Canada to Japan”

■“From Gyoda to Vancouver”

■“Film Festival”

■“Madame Taliesin”

■“Happy Days”

■“Vancouver Again”

■“Swansea”

■“Midnight in Vancouver”

■“Madame Lindbergh”

■“Dead Poets Society”

■“Letters to Diane”

■“Taliesin Studio”

■“Wright and Japan”

■“Taliesin Banzai”

■“Memrory Lane to Sendai”

■“Aunt Sleepie”

■“Titanic @ Sendai”

■“Birdcage”

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■“Roly-poly in the wild”

■“Silence is dull”

■“Zen and Chi Gong”

■“Piano Lesson”

■“Dangerous Relation”

■“Electra Complex”

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■“Covent Garden”

■“Fatal Relation”

■“Notre Dame”

■“Anne Frank”

■“Biker Babe”

■“Diane Girdles the Globe”

■“Diane in Casablanca”

■“Infidelity Neighbourhood”

■“Forest Bathing”

■“Enjoy Ramen!”

■“Sex, Violence, Love”

■“Halifax to Vancouver”

■“A Thread of Destiny”

■“Fujiyama Geisha”

■“Beaver Lake”

■“God is Near!”

■“Holy Cow@Rose Garden”

■“Vancouver Earthquake”

■“Birthplace”

■“KIFF”

■“You Love Japan, eh?”

■“Eight Bridges”

■“First Love”

■“Fright on Flight”

■“Boy’s Movie”

■“From Summer to Eternity”

■“Sōseki & Glenn Gould”

■“Dream Dream Dream”

■“In Search of Your Footprint”

■“Little Night Music”

■“Merry X’mas”

■“Happy New Year!”

■“Long live Diane!”

■“Mona Lisa”

■“Flu Shot”

■“Selfish TD Bank”

■“Talk with Mozart”

■“Bliss for Diane!”

Hi, I’m June Adams.

Franz Liszt was born on October 22, 1811, and died on July 31, 1886.

Liszt became renowned in Europe for his virtuosic skill as a pianist.

He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age, and in the 1840s he was considered by some to be perhaps the greatest pianist of all time.

Liszt was also a well-known and influential composer, piano teacher and conductor.

He was a benefactor to other composers, including Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, Camille Saint-Saëns, Edvard Grieg and Alexander Borodin.

As a composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the “Neudeutsche Schule” (“New German School”).

He left behind an extensive and diverse body of work in which he influenced his forward-looking contemporaries and anticipated some 20th-century ideas and trends.

Fujiko Hemming plays

Libestraum No. 3

ところで、愛とロマンに満ちた

レンゲさんのお話をまとめて

『レンゲ物語』を作りました。

もし、レンゲさんの記事をまとめて読みたいならば、

次のリンクをクリックしてくださいね。

■『愛とロマンのレンゲ物語』

■『軽井沢タリアセン夫人 – 小百合物語』

とにかく、今日も一日楽しく愉快に

ネットサーフィンしましょうね。

じゃあね。