The ubiquitous nature of the beautiful sadness of love found and love lost, love kindled and love extinguished, makes me wonder if we are not trapped in a never-ending series of lifetimes in which our inclinations to love are the glue that keeps us mired in a forlorn state. Are we drawn to rebirth, over and over, in an endless attempt to perfect the movement of our heart toward that which is beautiful and endearing but never attainable. Do we suffer a lust that keeps us attached to the pursuit of perfect human union, even though it portends suffering and sadness? Is heaven merely the cessation of our foolhardy passions, a state where we know love without the chase, without the attachment, without the drama? Until we find such perfect love, are we lured over and over into the human drama, the beautiful sadness of romance.
Over a period of years I worked frequently with a French director who was, quite simply, a wild man. My calm control on a number of occasions moved us through choppy waters. We were never far from being at each other's throats, and on occasion the tension broke into screaming matches (his screaming and literally kicking) that were nonetheless celebrated by the french. A different demeanor was the norm. On our last outing at a location by the Pacific Ocean, after the shoot was completed, he walked out of the parking lot and then walked back, slowly, a profound look of Eureka in his eyes. "I've finally figured you out. You are a romantic!" Pleased with his new understanding he turned and walked away. I stood there, amused but a bit befuddled. I had just been called a romantic by a frenchman, and it was not entirely a compliment. I wonder if that is what St. Peter at the gates will say, "Ah, the romantic. That is what took you so long on getting here."
Beautiful, John! My father loved classical. Because I couldn't stand him, I eschewed classical music for a good portion of my life. In later years, I've found this beautiful music again.
I also enjoyed seeing the obvious love and adoration for the piece on the musician's face. War news wears us down. Such videos as yours brings us back to what makes us human.
So sad but very beautiful music. One of the problems of our times is that we reject sadness, suffering and melancholy as part of life. The idea now is that something is wrong with you if you experience those. It is like there is a disconnection between the reality of being human and some other creature that needs to be constantly happy and this idea is supported through advertisement and entertainment. It is not real with the human condition and that is why there is so much depression and dissatisfaction and confusion, depression comes because we are unable to feel reality, or we don't allow ourselves to embrace no only the good things but the bad ones. We are humans and as classic music shows us from those sad moments beautiful things come up, specially for creative people. No only classic, I was thinking in Freddy Mercury and the song Who wants to live forever, and he was dying of AIDS and I cry every time I listen to it. But we all live forever, as Calderon de la Barca said "Life is a dream", Shakespeare has also similar thoughts about life but this life on this realm is just a breeze that guide us to eternity.
How great sadness is processed by a wise and thoughtful human soul to produce such transcendent beauty is a marvelous thing to consider and, for me, always leads to our glorious Creator. Thanks for sharing this lovely, familiar piece with some context.
Thank you for posting this beautiful piece of music and Schubert's sad story.
The ubiquitous nature of the beautiful sadness of love found and love lost, love kindled and love extinguished, makes me wonder if we are not trapped in a never-ending series of lifetimes in which our inclinations to love are the glue that keeps us mired in a forlorn state. Are we drawn to rebirth, over and over, in an endless attempt to perfect the movement of our heart toward that which is beautiful and endearing but never attainable. Do we suffer a lust that keeps us attached to the pursuit of perfect human union, even though it portends suffering and sadness? Is heaven merely the cessation of our foolhardy passions, a state where we know love without the chase, without the attachment, without the drama? Until we find such perfect love, are we lured over and over into the human drama, the beautiful sadness of romance.
Over a period of years I worked frequently with a French director who was, quite simply, a wild man. My calm control on a number of occasions moved us through choppy waters. We were never far from being at each other's throats, and on occasion the tension broke into screaming matches (his screaming and literally kicking) that were nonetheless celebrated by the french. A different demeanor was the norm. On our last outing at a location by the Pacific Ocean, after the shoot was completed, he walked out of the parking lot and then walked back, slowly, a profound look of Eureka in his eyes. "I've finally figured you out. You are a romantic!" Pleased with his new understanding he turned and walked away. I stood there, amused but a bit befuddled. I had just been called a romantic by a frenchman, and it was not entirely a compliment. I wonder if that is what St. Peter at the gates will say, "Ah, the romantic. That is what took you so long on getting here."
This post was and is food for my soul. Thank you for sharing.
Danke! It’s one of my Schubert favorites and the cello accentuates the melancholy tone more than the human voice.
For those interested in the human voice, I recommend Fritz Wunderlich, German Tenor. Or Leo Slezak, if available.
Beautiful, John! My father loved classical. Because I couldn't stand him, I eschewed classical music for a good portion of my life. In later years, I've found this beautiful music again.
I also enjoyed seeing the obvious love and adoration for the piece on the musician's face. War news wears us down. Such videos as yours brings us back to what makes us human.
Beautiful. Museum was a great setting.
So sad but very beautiful music. One of the problems of our times is that we reject sadness, suffering and melancholy as part of life. The idea now is that something is wrong with you if you experience those. It is like there is a disconnection between the reality of being human and some other creature that needs to be constantly happy and this idea is supported through advertisement and entertainment. It is not real with the human condition and that is why there is so much depression and dissatisfaction and confusion, depression comes because we are unable to feel reality, or we don't allow ourselves to embrace no only the good things but the bad ones. We are humans and as classic music shows us from those sad moments beautiful things come up, specially for creative people. No only classic, I was thinking in Freddy Mercury and the song Who wants to live forever, and he was dying of AIDS and I cry every time I listen to it. But we all live forever, as Calderon de la Barca said "Life is a dream", Shakespeare has also similar thoughts about life but this life on this realm is just a breeze that guide us to eternity.
How great sadness is processed by a wise and thoughtful human soul to produce such transcendent beauty is a marvelous thing to consider and, for me, always leads to our glorious Creator. Thanks for sharing this lovely, familiar piece with some context.
There will, regrettably, be another Schubert.
💔
Here’s a performance by baritone Hermann Prey: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mRGlzMS66kM&ra=m
Chopin song is not too bad also.