Strange Attractors

[arisbe]

An email from ANGeL uses this evocative term to invite us to their new Guidance page with what looks to be an interesting journey through the Labyrinth for their third anniversary. And once again seraphimsigrist posts the text of the Akathist of Thanksgiving so beautifully set by John Taverner -- though his Grace is perhaps rightly distrustful of classical composers who show off their chest hair.

As you may know, the poem was discovered among the papers of a man who died in Stalin's Arctic death camps, though the authorship has been attributed to an earlier victim. I mention this because lines which might annoy coming from the conversation pit of a split-level suburban house have a certain authenticity in terms of where they come from. It is one thing to give thanks for the beauty of winter from a well heated room, quite another when you have been sent off to die from cold, hunger, and exhaustion.

With the poem +S has posted some remarkable visual art from the Gulag.

Comments

HAIR

[seraphimsigrist.livejournal.com]

well it was more Peter Bouteneff who
was dismissive on that ground...he
quoted someone as saying admiiringly
of Taverner
"the photo showing the open shirt with
the cross on his chest hair..that says
it all!"
and Peter said in effect although perhaps
a bit more strongly ,although he does not
speak strongly in his own fields of dogmatics
and jazz which is a winsome thing maybe,
"fageddaboudit!"

I do not care what he does with his shirt but
I never much liked his music either in theory
or in fact... I admire the music of Olivier
Messiaen and the thought behind it but I cannot
say that Ihave enjoyed listening to it....
but if it redeems my taste at all I liked
Verkarte Nacht and admire the faith of its
composer and his life as far as I know it too.
+Seraphim.