| In the Nation's Capital |
| HUMAN AFFAIRS Dialogues on events that shape our world |
| MEMORY AND IDENTITY Exploring our heritage Testing our tradition |
| BEAUTY WILL SAVE THE WORLD Discovering the world of arts: performances and presentations |
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| BEAUTY WILL SAVE THE WORLD Discovering the world of arts: performances and presentations |
| Talking Music A listening guide to MOZART’S REQUIEM by Composer and Musician Jonathan Fields Friday March 30th , 2007 Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle WASHINGTON, DC Talking Music starts from the awareness that music expresses the deepest longings of the human heart, and can only be understood by allowing it to speak to our own humanity. SPIRTO GENTIL CD SERIES PHOTO GALLERY DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM |
| FROM THE OPENING SPEECH: "Talking Music" is the proposal of a new way of listening to music. The focus of these talks is not to deliver yet another esthetic or musicological analysis of a musical piece. Rather, the emphasis is on discovering the very foundation of music, viewed as the most sincere and moving expression of human experience, of the universal human desire and expectation for beauty, for happiness, for a mysterious Other who will fulfill the promises of the heart. There is a need felt by many people to rediscover the "extra dimension" of the artistic experience, when it is revealed, often unexpectedly, as a true prophecy of the ultimate meaning of human existence and history. It is not by chance that "Talking music" finds its inspiration in the Spirto Gentil series of CD's from Deutsche Grammophon, which was created and directed by the late Msgr. Luigi Giussani. Speaking of the role that music played in his life and in his pedagogical method, he once said: "In music, in nature's landscape, in a dream, ...what man pays homage to is something else, something he is waiting for: he is waiting for it. His enthusiasm is for something that music, or whatever is beautiful in the world, has awakened inside him. When man "fore-sees" this, he immediately bends his soul to wait for the other thing: even in front of what he can grasp, he awaits something else: he grasps what he can grasp, but he waits for another thing." Jonathan Fields is a composer, music teacher and lecturer who in his career has explored many regions of the musical world. After graduating first in his class from Mannes College of Music, he joined David Horowitz Music Associates in 1982, where he has been the award-winning composer of hundreds of television and radio spots. At the same time he has composed a variety of musical works spanning multiple genres, including film scores, soundtracks for TV series, a mass, hymns and many others. An accomplished guitarist, he has played in several bands including The Michael Gordon Philharmonic, The Glenn Branca Ensemble, The Bay Ridge Band. In recent years he has been a frequent lecturer and musical educator, and the author of several publications aimed at introducing new audiences to the world of classical music, including some of the listener's guide in the Spirto Gentil series. His approach to music is the perfect embodiment of the "Talking music" philosophy, because it starts from the awareness that music expresses the deepest longings of the human heart, and can only be understood by allowing it to speak to our own humanity. |
| “In music, in the panorama of nature, in dreams at night, it is something else that man pays homage to, from which he expects something; he awaits it. His enthusiasm is for something that music, or everything that is beautiful in this world, has awakened within him. When a person begins to feel this, his soul immediately harkens to await the other thing, even in the presence of what he can grasp, but he awaits another thing.” Fr. Luigi Giussani |