Reflections

Written September 9, 2017

As I sit here listening to an old recording of Brahms' Violin Sonata in G, I feel so blessed to be able to hear and play music. The inner voices of the piano/ pianist bring out his beautiful lines and colours. Indian classical music also has harmony, but it's understated like a watercolor painting. Here's a gesture that carries inside it its essence. As I played through the sonata again after many years, I heard it differently from before. A rag did I hear? Suchsubtle turns between his chromatics-- colours I had overlooked before... Now they seem to ignite other worlds in me, hidden from most.

Just as a rag is alive, so a Western mode can be. Maybe not equally so, but the great Western masters could also hear, access, and live in these other realms. Balance is utterly important-- between the the voices, choosing which amount to come out and declare, Here it is, or Here I am!, how to be clear but not boastful... How to hold the Truth of many worlds is a blessing with great responsibility. How to realize and release all that is within us, to recognize the Truth of the sun which never sets...