More Bach and Wednesday Book(s)

The Sunday night concert of the Bach Cello Suites performed by Joshua Roman was amazing beyond any imagining. It was a quite remarkable tour de force just to do it in one concert, but musically and depth-wise it was incredible. He played 1 and 2, we had a 15 minute intermission and he played 3. Then there was a two-hour dinner break. Larry came and picked up me and our friends Lynn and John Williams and we went to Cafe Presse on 12th and Madison. (A great place if you're pining away for France!) The concert resumed with 4 and 5, again followed by a 15 minute intermission, and then 6. Although he must have been way tired (even for a 27-something) at the end, the whole performance was riveting. I realized in the middle of the 2nd that I had better move my head or my neck was going to freeze in place! We are very glad we were there for what will be remembered as one of those very special musical evenings. There are several young performers who are finding great meaning in playing Bach, and doing it beautifully. It was often considered the realm of the "mature" musician. But Mr. Roman certainly proved otherwise Sunday night. And Hilary Hahn is just the best for the unaccompanied violin pieces. And I particularly like Simone Dinnerstein's recording of the Goldberg Variations. They all have such great energy to bring to these profound and complex works. Mr. Bach would be very happy, I think. Maybe he is!

I am still reading my way through Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins books - just can't help myself! They get better as he goes along. His historical stuff is so well researched that I also learn a lot as I go. I love novels where you learn things - then you feel just fine reading fiction. (I wouldn't need to learn things to do that.) Anyway, the good news on the fiction front generally is that Hilary Mantel's sequel to Wolf Hall is coming out in the Fall. Yippee! The title is Bring Up the Bodies. Sounds cheerful. But what a writer!

I did take a break from Merrily Watkins to read The Help. (Downloading ebooks for my Kindle from the library is way cool!) I thought I should read it because it has been so popular, but that also makes me skeptical. It was very good. It dealt with such painful topics with fluency and grace. And it is a great story. It was nice to learn that the author had similar experiences. But I think she could have told the story - or stories - even without that extra life foundation. I just heard of a book (non-fiction) about African-American women moving north after the Civil War. The title is The Warmth of Other Suns and sounds quite compelling. Do comment if you've read it or heard about it.

Tomorrow we can open our Advent calendars! If you don't have it, check out the Jacquie Lawson online version. All happens in London! Hooray!

Advent 1

Here it is the first Sunday in Advent. Seattle wears its normal Advent garb: rain, rain, rain. But the first candle is lit and we pray for Immanuel to be God-with-us once again.

At the end of worship at Phinney Ridge today we sang this verse:

Can it be that from our endings,
new beginnings you create?
Life from death, and from our rendings,
realms of wholeness generate?
Take our fears, then, Lord and turn them
into hopes for life anew:
With this light, and with our witness,
through us let the world see you.
-Dean W. Nelson

This is a nice Bach day as well. It started, as I have on this Sunday for 40+ years, with listening to Bach's Cantata 140: Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying. Now this afternoon I'm going with friends to hear all six of the cello suites. Joshua Roman, the young former principal cellist with the Seattle Symphony is doing them. He'll play three, then we get a break for dinner, then come back for the other three. It's a little too much Bach for Larry, so he'll come and join us for dinner.

Happy Advent!