Dear Friends,
I am so happy to offer you an original composition:
At the Window for piano solo
composed and performed by Ishmael Wallace
John Keats writes of “magic casements”: what belongs to one world belongs to others as well. When seen with the eyes of love, it becomes a window. This is a common experience in music: as we muse upon a sound, it leads us to many worlds.
What is junk in one world may be a treasure in another; this is the subject of a poignant novel, Elidor, by Alan Garner:
Walking through another world — in Lilith, by George MacDonald —the hero cries,
“Two objects cannot exist in the same place at the same time!”
And his guide answers,
“…No man of the universe, only a man of the world could have said so!”
For what in that world is a rose bush, in ours is a piece of music.
Thank you so much.
With every good wish,
Ishmael
I offer lessons online in keyboard harmony; for a taste of the insights to which it may lead, please see my website:
Blooming Rose Bush Photograph by Jeffrey Wegrzyn
The piece has a feel of some theme constantly being returned to. If it was a little more driving I would call it insistent but the way it is played perhaps reflective is closer. But I know very little about music. I would be interested to know what you thought and felt when you composed it. It's quite a nice piece.
And nice to be reminded of Lilith, one of the best examples of 'good death' in the MacDonald canon. I don't think I have ever seen anyone else reference Lilith. I've been reading Lily 'At the Back of the North Wind' for her bedtime story, which deals with death and adversity as divine gifts so MacDonald has been on my mind very much already. Thank you for this.