Medieval History
The title is that of Eric Edberg, professor extraordinaire of "cello, life, and everything" (his blog rocks). He, on the cello, and his wonderful ex-wife Allison Edberg, on the violin, set up shop at the restaurant Chief's tonight, which ran specials on barbecue - because alliteration is awesome and because, it turns out, rich and saucy is sometimes exactly what Bach's cello can be. Mac and I have listened to the Yo-Yo Ma CD for years, and I'd always been hushed by the intensity of the pieces. But when Yo-Yo Ma played here this fall, yes, the room was quiet, by there was a joy in the room emanating from his love of the music. That joy was there tonight: deep affection for the two generous musicians in this little restaurant of twelve tables, eager pleasure to hear lush live music, and the comfort of good food.
I felt especially safe there as not an hour earlier, we'd been rear-ended on the rainy road coming back from ice skating in Bloomington. Everybody in both cars is fine (yea! seatbelts!), and our car is even drive-able (not the other driver's though - really, seatbelts are everything). So we found ourselves driving back into town still with the possibility of making it to Bach and Barbecue. Originally, I was just going to go, but then all three kids wanted to go as well, so we all went. And I'll be honest, for Oliver and Eleanor it was more the Alfredo than Bach, and for Iris it was definitely the barbecue, but once they were there, they loved it. The tables at Chief's are covered in paper that the kids can color, so we started drawing "What this music makes me think of." Iris, ever the literalist, drew a bunch of notes.
I bet that Bach would have enjoyed this evening. What were the listening conditions for his Coffee Cantata? Ok, wait, I just looked it up, and it appears that it was performed at Zimmerman's Coffee House in Leipzig in the 1730s. The libretto is hilarious. And quite the feminist rebellion: (a daughter refuses to give up her three (!!!) bowls of coffee a day, despite her father's entreaties; she won't marry any man that won't let her drink her coffee; and it turns out that generations of women have loved coffee). Why do people relax around music when there is food? It must be the sensuality and comfort of the food, the pleasure of the meal shared.
Of course, one can go too far with these things! No need to "go medieval" on this - may your holiday tables be filled with mirth, music and many tasty morsels!
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Medieval History
Bach and Barbecue
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| Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor |
I felt especially safe there as not an hour earlier, we'd been rear-ended on the rainy road coming back from ice skating in Bloomington. Everybody in both cars is fine (yea! seatbelts!), and our car is even drive-able (not the other driver's though - really, seatbelts are everything). So we found ourselves driving back into town still with the possibility of making it to Bach and Barbecue. Originally, I was just going to go, but then all three kids wanted to go as well, so we all went. And I'll be honest, for Oliver and Eleanor it was more the Alfredo than Bach, and for Iris it was definitely the barbecue, but once they were there, they loved it. The tables at Chief's are covered in paper that the kids can color, so we started drawing "What this music makes me think of." Iris, ever the literalist, drew a bunch of notes.
I bet that Bach would have enjoyed this evening. What were the listening conditions for his Coffee Cantata? Ok, wait, I just looked it up, and it appears that it was performed at Zimmerman's Coffee House in Leipzig in the 1730s. The libretto is hilarious. And quite the feminist rebellion: (a daughter refuses to give up her three (!!!) bowls of coffee a day, despite her father's entreaties; she won't marry any man that won't let her drink her coffee; and it turns out that generations of women have loved coffee). Why do people relax around music when there is food? It must be the sensuality and comfort of the food, the pleasure of the meal shared.
 |
| from Robert Bartlett's Medieval Panorama |
Of course, one can go too far with these things! No need to "go medieval" on this - may your holiday tables be filled with mirth, music and many tasty morsels!
- These Days
And then there are extraordinary ordinary days. Like when your brother and his awesome wife and their two fantastic boys come to where you live, and you find yourself very soon at the park and the kids are running around and maybe you've actually...
- Very Sad
A.-F. Desportes, Dog and Pheasant, 1780sThis painting has always reminded me of Sawyer: change the coat to black and elongate the tail, and there's our hound.Was. I'm so sad to write that we've decided to find another home for Sawyer. ...
- The Fragility Of Goodness
Sometimes the reminders of the above are incredibly swift. Iris had a bicycle accident yesterday - in the strangeness that follows, we spent five hours in the emergency room, were under lockdown for an altercation in the waiting room, had conversations...
- Glimpses
Oliver's been questioning Santa's existence, though at this point he has "no evidence that Santa does not exist," as he puts it. But, crafty kid that he is, he thought of leaving the iPhone with its built-in camera and asking Santa in the...
- The True Meaning Of Macmas
Today is Macmas! Or, as some call it, Macanalia. It is a day of celebration for a man whose kindness and wit and patience and light makes this planet pretty terrific to dwell in. Brunch for friends in the morning, great big snowstorm in the...