Bach’s finest moments produce an auditory ecstasy, and the feeling that no one else has ever been able to extract such sounds from the instrument that stands out in the composition. The same is true of the harpsichord, the viola, the violin, the flute… when we think of the ensemble as a whole, Bach seems to be the composer who mastered everything and explored everything with incomparable skill. Beethoven’s finest moments, however, produce something different, and there are perhaps no words to describe the miracle that characterizes his compositions. A deaf man, yet one who produces in the listener, through auditory stimulation, a paralyzing shiver from head to toe.
Category: Notes
Being Able to See the Present Moment…
Being able to see the present moment in perspective requires a level of awareness so rare that it perhaps deserves to be described as a gift. Doing so allows one to integrate correctly into time, acting as appropriate, that is, giving due justification to the past and ensuring that, in the future, there will be something to celebrate. Perhaps this alone does not justify the label of genius, but those who achieve it, even once, will forever remember this moment of rare enlightenment.
Some Memories, When They Shed Light…
Some memories, when they shed light on aspects of the past that went almost unnoticed, give us food for thought. It seems incredible that they evoke feelings that were not experienced when the circumstances in question were actually lived through, or at least not given their due value. Now, it is time to be moved by nostalgia. When we delve into these memories, it seems that the set of situations experienced at a certain moment, even if apparently unhappy, even if they leave an unpleasant mark in some way, also hold something else that is truly special. And it is this, after all, that we may not have known how to take advantage of, and that we cannot do so now, because the moment has passed.
The Ease With Which an Author Approaches…
The ease with which an author approaches his favorite themes hides how dangerous it can be to imitate him. Reading him, everything seems very simple. But it is simple because the approach stems from an authentic inclination, and this cannot be imitated. To discover it, however, sometimes it is necessary to experiment. And even the best cannot escape this. A fine example is Machado de Assis’ Americanas. Certainly, to a friend who could see inside him, see his future works and creative potential, half a dozen verses would suffice for the jocular recommendation: “Come on, my good Joaquim! Drop this Anhangá and tacape stuff! You don’t even know what that is.” And, certainly, there would be no better advice: the author of those verses was not Machado de Assis. The hard part is that, in practice, it is only possible to say this because Machado, alone, walked the path of failure to discover himself and reveal himself to us.