|
It is inexplicable and totally predictable. It has been almost exactly two years since I made a post in this Working | blog. What I have been doing is closing down those things that resided on the other side of the "retirement" fence. Composers in retirement. Models. I've been sifting through my memories of aging composers to discern what I observed about the last 20-25% of their days. Here is Virgil Thomson living in the apartment in New York's Chelsea Hotel where he would do "sittings" and musical portraits of colleagues and patrons. He would place himself behind his composing desk and sketch and chat and sip his drink and silently contemplate his model's features and personality. I haven't heard of these works. I'm curious about their quality. I can certainly recognize the impulse to chat for long stretches with people who were near and dear to him (people he could tolerate). Virgil was a Missourian, raised in Kansas City where being homosexual was pretty much not tolerated. Negotiating his place in that universe was a challenge that he tried to solve in Manhattan. I wonder if he ever felt that he found his home. Anywhere. Home Studio. Models. I'm terrible with remembering dates but by my accounting it has been 37 years since my basement was "finished" for human activity. During that time my son used it for about 12-15 years and it devolved into a dust-covered storage space for the rest of the time because I didn't have the time or money to remedy with the storage or the dust.
Now I have an opportunity to re-define what I want to include in a home studio. Here's my list of models...
|
AuthorComposer-producer-cellist-teacher-executive director of Composers Institute, a Minnesota nonprofit empowering the creative work of musicians in week-long intensive experiences. More info at composersinstitute.org. Archives
April 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed