The Artist's Way

The Artist Way and its exercises have been dormant for a while. I was travelling in December and beginning of January. Then my father suddenly passed away in mid January and my life went on a hold. He was 100 years old, but it still came as a chock, partly because it happened so fast. I was in time to spend some days with him in the hospital before he quietly passed, and I am happy about that. Still, it has affected my life, and the emptiness takes away my energy.

I am now trying to hold on to slowly starting living my life again. The Artist Way is one of the projects I have, and I hope it will help me find my energy again. I started yesterday morning with the Morning Pages and it felt good to write down what has been happening lately. I wanted to start all over again with week 1 and 2, but decided to continue with week 3.

The Artist Date

My Artist Date this week was a visit to Malmö Live Concert House for a concert with Shostakovich. His 2nd Waltz is one of my favourite classical pieces, the most beautiful music you can imagine. But, there was more on the programme.

Frederick Delius - On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, tonpoem för orkester (1912)

Benjamin Britten - Violinkonsert i d-moll, op. 15 (1939)

Dmitrij Shostakovich - Symfoni nr 10 i e-moll, op. 93 (1953)

It was a beautiful concert with Martin Brabbins as the conductor, and he was excellent. I have never heard of Delius before, but it was a light, rather short peace. I am not that familiar with Britten’s work, this is probably the first I ever heard. It was technically a difficult piece, and the guest violinist, Alexandra Conunova from Moldova, did an excellent performance. Britten might not be my favourite after this piece. I did see though, that he has written a short opera on The Turning of the Screw. I would like to listen to that. Maybe for next week’s artist date?

The best came at the end. Shostakovich’s 10th symphony was nothing but powerful and full of beautiful parts in between. Shostakovich wrote this following the death of Joseph Stalin. Shostakovich lived in a constant state of anxiety during Stalin’s regime. His life and career hung in the balance more than once. Julian Barnes has written a great book on his life in The Noice of Time. Highly recommended if you are interested in Shostakovich.

This piece has been understood as Shostakovich’s long-suppressed response to decades of political terror, artistic censorship, and personal fear. The opening movement is dark and brooding, unfolding slowly. Then comes the second one, a more violent and powerful tune, often interpreted as a musical portrait of Stalin himself - short, brutal, and terrifying in its force. This might not have been the composer’s intent, but it is there and it is very powerful. The third movement is going back to a more quieter tune, paving way for the finale which gives a sense of triumph. You draw a breath when the last tunes have faded out. Absolutely fantastic.

I am continuing with my morning pages which is a great way of getting rid of inner turmoil. There are questions to be answered; tasks to perform and finally the Check-out. Have you done what you should do this week. It gives you a push in - hopefully - the right direction.

Have you heard of the Artist’s Way? Have you been following it? Leave a comment and tell me all about it.