Rosa 'Benjamin Britten'

When I think about contemporary life it’s impossible not to realize that we are balanced on the edge of time’s end. It is frighteningly close. But is there any point to composing a piece that only mirrors our being one step away from extinction? To my mind every honest composer searches for a way out of his time’s crises – towards affirmation, towards faith. He shows how humanity can overcome this passion for self-annihilation that flares up in a column of black smoke from time to time. Ptēris Vasks

In the beginning of November 1980 Vancouver Magazine writer Les Wiseman and I drove to Vancouver, Washington on an assignment to write an article about Americans voting for either Reagan or Carter. On our return, in my Maserati Biturbo, we were driving in the evening in that partially covered overhead freeway in Seattle. On the tape deck we were listening to The Clash’s London Calling. It was then that I thought of the concept of bridge-crossing music. It had to be loud and fast.

Bridge-crossing music was what I heard last night at the Microcosmos Quartet house concert at Alan Storey /Jori Woodman residence.

This time around I decided I was not going to sit up front in order to take pictures. I sat in the back with no obligations. 

The bridge-crossing music, which began quietly in sound and most lyrical (Elegy) consisted of two Tocattas ( I & II) by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks. For me this was a wonderful celebration of the extremes in sound in one composition.

After the intermission the Benjamin Britten had a couple of surprises for me. One was the complicated sounds (almost noises) of the movement - IV Burlesque that the composer imposed on the string instruments. According to Marc Destrubé, Britten was a fine viola player so he knew about those sounds.

The second surprise was my anticipating the last movement V Recitative and Passacaglia (La Serenissima) , Britten wrote the first four movements elsewhere but the last one in Venice and he was not well.

The beautiful quote in the program page by Vasks confirms that as a photographer (sometimes I think I am an artist)  I  too am compelled to keep on. To date I have scanned over 4000 plants from my garden. This particular one of the English Rose, Rosa 'Benjamin Britten' came to mind.