The Rach Essay

My awesomely talented friends Lee and Tyler, a dynamic couple combining visual artist and pianist, are putting on a recital in August. Each piece will have a visual representation, a verbal representation, and then the audial representation. I was asked to write a short piece on Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini. It turned into quite a spiritual experience. I have been struggling with my health lately and this essay came as an answer during a brief break in the monsoon rains we have been having lately. Enjoy.


Listening to Rachmaninoff is like walking down a hall of mirrored doors. Each note is an opening to an emotion, one’s life caught in neatly staffed lines on a white page of manuscript. When the door is opened a tidal wave of the actual feeling, the love, the loss, the joy, the hope, the despair hits the listener before there is even a chance to breathe. The notes create a deep jungle of our own experience that must be traversed with a machete, a sense of humor, and plenty of snake bite remedy.

On the surface Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme from Paganini may seem to be
an ardent explosion of love, longing, and lust. A frenetic opus to the disquietude of romance it may well be.

But to me, when heard in the context of the complete movement, the rhapsody is less about romantic love, than the love of survival, of living life, of the heart pulsing in the chest and the throat and the wrist. Each breath, each beat, each pulse building the bittersweet fragility of life. It is the morning dawn soft and smudged across the dark memory of night. The glimpse of genius in a life that seems dull and spent.

The cry of a baby.

The blossoming of a rose.

It is the prayer of longing from one soul to another to be heard, and loved, for who one truly is and not what one seems to be.

The quieting of the inner voices.

The knowing of self.

The shaft of light through the darkening cloud, the sea of calm surrounded by the maelstrom of hurricane. The breathing point between one despairing disaster and the next reversal of life. A flickering candle in a livid tinged nightmare, the ease of somnolence after a sleepless night, the transparent, unbelievable moment of casting aside pain, rejuvenation after chronic illness.

Cliché? It may be, but the reason these are cliché images are because they are common, experienced by all. They will never be trite. As with all of Rachmaninoff’s music,though it holds a promise of respite, it also holds the reality of hardship. This most beloved variation of Paganini’s theme is so beautiful because it occurred to Rachmaninoff to turn the notes upside down on the staff, to invert normalcy and discover the unexpected beauty in a reversal. We wouldn't have the rhapsody if it weren't for a change, a break with what was wanted or expected. Each bright note is paired with darker notes. The dark underpinnings of life, the heartbreak, the hurt, the finality of death may be real, but the rhapsody encapsulates the eternal pulse of life, of breath, of hope.

The Beatles: One Artist Game

Using only the song titles of a SINGLE artist or band, answer the following questions. Avoid using the same title twice.

Your artist: The Beatles

Your are a(n) ______________man/woman: Girl

Describe yourself: Paperback Writer

Describe where you are currently living: Yellow Submarine

Your current thoughts on yourself: I Will

Your best friend(s) is/are: Polythene Pam, Dear Prudence, Martha My Dear, Michelle, Elenor Rigby, Julia

Describe the weather: Good Day, Sunshine

Your favorite time of the day: Golden Slumbers

If your life were a television series, it would be titled: In My Life

The best advice to give: All You Need is Love

If you could change your name, it would be: Hey Jude

Your favorite food is: Honey Pie

Thought of the day: Think for Yourself

How you would like to die: I'm so Tired

Your current spiritual state: I'll Follow the Sun

Your motto: Let It Be

The Power of One Person

I know I have done a slew of video posts lately, but these are all things that have helped me to feel better. I am over pneumonia now. Yay! Hope you smile today.

Validation: Another Thing that makes me Smile

I know it is long, but I have been smiling since I watched it. It makes my little romantic heart flutter and my insecure self feel better. Enjoy! Because You are GREAT!