I just got back from Ulysses’ flat. A chamber music soirée with Schumann, Beethoven, Mozart, Elgar and Dvořák. Ulysses usually has musicians coming to his place once a week to play music. Most of them are good enough to sight read a whole chamber music piece without an ounce of a flinch. Maybe a couple of ducky notes here and there, but the enjoyment never fails.
I’ve always had this fantasy of musical afternoons or evenings with friends where we would sing lieder and art-songs and play chamber music. That’s something I will set once I have a bigger flat and a decent piano.
I didn’t play anything this time, but my fingers were indeed itching!
A shame Andersen doesn’t live in Paris because it would have been great to bring him there. I’m sure his beautiful voice would have made wonders. Ulysses is the only friend I know who’s organizing such evenings, and God knows I have been around musicians.
Oh! For a piano!!! My fingers are rusted.
I have finalized my ideas and found the thread for my uncle’s book. A chronological view on his work or a critical analysis would be as boring as contemplating flying dust. The thread will be one long Vietnamese poem that will run through the book and serve as a reflection of my uncle’s soul. On looking up books of sketches by Goya and Odilon Redon it wasn’t hard for me to see that my uncle’s strong point wasn’t his sketches – not fair to compare him to those two giants, I know. Of course his are done with great skills and talent, but there’s something desolate and empty when I look at those drawings. An intense sadness and peace of mind also. But fifty pages of that will kill even his most fervent friends. Good that we have those beautiful paintings.
I met my parents today before going to the publisher’s. I exposed my idea and they agreed. The publisher agreed to all my suggestions. Now I’m going to ask my friend Colin Phu to help me on the book design.
We have month or so before I go to New York. I hope we can complete our task before that deadline. It will take three months to print the book. I’m not worried about time. Everything will happen as it has to.
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