34th Street Subway Station. Manhattan, NY.
The 34th Street Station is home-base station for me in NYC. Right outside the station are Korea town, the enormous block-wide Macy’s, and most important of all, Minus’s office.
Integrity, Life, and Art
The meaning of integrity. I have used the word integrity imprecisely. I have used it to refer to vague notions of idealism; uncompromising ideals; determination; rigor; and seriousness. On reflection, I should say that one has integrity if he maximizes the expression of truth: we are honest if we tell the truth, and we have integrity if we tell the complete and truest truth available to us.
Optimizing the balance of life. The value of achievement in each aspect of life (e.g. respect, money, sex, and so on) is subject to diminishing returns. The more we invest in one aspect of life, the smaller the marginal return. So optimizing the balance of life is about striking the right compromise.
Integrity compromises. Integrity, then, compromises the balance of life. To live a life with integrity is a deeply beautiful approach; to live a pure expression of one’s individuality and potential. But it is an approach with profound sacrifices. Integrity, as life lived, is extreme.
Art as solution. Perhaps art is what happens when we section out parts of life and declare these parts as expressions of integrity - a kind of compromise where we can experience integrity while for the most part optimizing the balance of life.
On the Edge. Manhattan Subway, NY.
This scene in one of NYC’s subways struck me as very cinematic…the woman standing on the edge, the pensive guy.
The US Post Office on 6th Avenue and W 32nd Street.
Manhattan is beautiful. What kind of city has a post office that looks like this? I pass by this building everyday on my way to work.
The Lyrical and the Gritty
Anna Swir, who was the only daughter of a poor painter in Poland, writes:
For the last time I wash the shirt
of my father who died.
The shirt smells of sweat. I remember
that sweat from my childhood,
so many years
I washed his shirts and underwear,
I dried them
at an iron stove in the workshop,
he would put them on unironed.From among all bodies in the world,
animal, human,
only one exuded that sweat.
I breathe it in
for the last time. Washing this shirt
I destroy it
forever.
Now
only paintings survive him
which smell of oils.
Anna Swir, you take my breath away with this poem. The sweat, the washing, the fierce physicality of your writing. You let me glimpse my father in the flesh.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Adagio in A Minor for Piano and Violin, Opus 9.
Parts in pdf format · Full Score · Violin
As of August 2005, I consider this my finest composition in terms of emotional intensity and directness of expression.
In January of 2005, I began taking lessons from the composer and professor Larry Bell at the New England Conservator of Music. For the first three months, each lesson was the highlight of my week. I worked every evening composing into the night preparing for the next lesson. For the first few pieces, he provided strict restrictions to ease the composition process. This piece was the first I composed without the aid of his finely designed frameworks. I composed this to express longing.
Composed in May 2005.
Recorded live on 5 June 2005 at the New England Conservatory of Music with Anna Anderson on the violin and me on the piano.
Florence, Italy.
I went to Italy in June of 2005 by myself for a week. I visited Florence and Rome. This picture was taken in an alley by the Duomo in Florence.
Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy.
After the stifling heat during the day, it was a relief to walk around Rome at night. This statue and the gothic architecture behind is at the Piazza Navona in downtown Rome.
The Pantheon, Rome, Italy.
NYC has both colorful street musicians and beautiful backdrops, but Rome is ridiculous.
Piazza Navona, Rome.
After the stifling heat during the day, it was a relief to walk around Rome at night. This statue and the gothic architecture behind is at the Piazza Navona in downtown Rome.
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Beethoven’s Spring Sonata for Violin and Piano. Opus 24. (11 minutes)
Moving to Boston gave me my first chance to play chamber music. Under the tutelage of Gillian Rogell at the New England Conservatory, I began to learn to listen and play this repertoire. Recorded in July 2004 in my home in Boston. Performed by Anna Anderson on violin and me on piano.
Florence, Italy.
For one who loves beauty, Florence is like finding a friend. Every corner and street beckons to be explored. This picture was taken behind the San Lorenzo Duomo.
Piazza Venezia. Rome, Italy
The oldness of Rome seems to give commonplace scenes a depth of texture. These stairs are at between the Foro Romano (the Forum) and the Piazza Venezia.
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Chopin’s Nocturne in E major. Opus 62, No 2.
This piece caused me great tribulation technically, artistically, and psychologically. By the time I recorded this piece, I have obsessed over every phrase, dynamic marking, and rubato for several months. I am still dissatisfied with recording, but it was the best I could do.
Recorded on 10 March 2003 in my home in Seattle.
