By PHK
It occurred to me last week that I had written nothing about music, drama or anything else that went beyond posts relating to the mind deadening, mostly depressing political morass of the past several months. The closest I came to an uplifting post since mid-September was on November 29 about the Pope’s visit to Turkey.
Maybe it’s because I’m still recuperating from a foot operation in early October and haven’t been as active as usual – or maybe it’s because I became so engrossed in the neverending twists, turns and squirms by our Kafkaesque political leadership since I returned from a trip to Greece and Turkey in late September that my brain has been riveted on the politically absurd as opposed to venturing into the far more pleasurable artistically sublime. Or maybe it’s simply because I’m still identifying photos from that trip and haven’t figured out how to make the best use of them as well as spending much of the time I reserve for the arts to practicing/attempting to play the oboe.
Who knows – I don’t, but John Brown’s recent article on the cultural dimensions, or actually paucity thereof, in America's public diplomacy which I mentioned briefly in my review of the book America’s Dialogue with the World drew me back to the importance of art in our lives and the world. By art, I don’t mean only painting, sculpture or drawing but enjoyment of the beauty and richness of the entire world of the arts as opposed to the all too often skuzzy universe of politics in which we are, or at least I am, often sunk.
Favorites on this Night before Christmas
So I thought I would change the theme today in keeping with the mood of the holidays and offer here several of my favorites on the Night before Christmas.
To begin, I asked Elaine Heltman, the Santa Fe Symphony’s principal oboist and my incredibly patient oboe teacher, for recommendations of works for oboe or pieces featuring the oboe that are performed during the holiday season. Since the oboe is not mercifully or normally a part of those over-played all too familiar Christmas carols, jingles, country rock or pop tunes that we are subjected to endlessly and especially in their ever familiar, stale Musak renditions, this list is not exactly what you, or anyone else I’ll venture, will find among the top 100 or probably even the top 1,000 in the commercial Christmas music vendors’ repertoire.
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