#Johannes Fink

[history-of-fashion]

before 1669 Johann Fink - John George II, Elector of Saxony

(Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden)

[wienschrift]

Wienschrift: Walzer

[aschenblumen]

Johann Sebastian Bach, Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244 (Segunda parte, nº 39: «Erbarme dich»). René Jacobs, director Barbara Fink, mezzosoprano RIAS Kammerchor Akademie für alte Musik Berlin

[uovoc]

2022 media consumption year in review

God tier

Matthew Swift series and Magicals Anonymous duology by Kate Griffin (reread). London sorcerer is raised from the dead and accidentally gets fused to the blue electric angels of the telephone lines along the way. Luscious prose, best urban magic I've ever read, and wickedly funny sense of humor.

Kane and Feels - podcast. Paranormal investigators go around London poking the mystic forces with a sharp stick. Surreal. Funny. Moderately comprehensible. There's nothing else quite like it. Someone described it as "the anti-TMA: you cannot form any theories about it no matter how hard you try."

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (reread) - two time travelers, defined as people stuck in time loops of their own lives, attempt to unravel the mystery of their existence. Suspenseful and beautifully constructed piece of nonlinear storytelling.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (reread) - Rose tastes people's emotions in food. Her brother disappears into thin air. Their parents are fine. Surreal and haunting pearl of a story.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson - after a family tragedy, the surviving Blackwoods live in isolation from the village. A little Piranesi-ish subverted horror: the sense there's a secret at the heart of the world, and the secret is both joyful and terrible.

Our Flag Means Death - the crangst-filled pirate show that it seemed like the internet lost its mind over, for good reason.

Bee and Puppycat: Lazy in Space - Bee travels between the island and fishbowl space working temp jobs with Puppycat, until their pasts catch up with them. Dreamy, bittersweet, and gorgeous. Season finale was a banger.

Vesper Flights by Helen MacDonald (reread). Nature essays on humans and birds. Quiet, luminous, and filled with love of place. Faves were "The Human Flock", "High Rise", "Eulogy", and "What Animals Taught Me"

Natsume's Book of Friends (anime) - Technically about boy who can see youkai, learning how to navigate the world of human relationships. But really about masking, healing from trauma, and learning to trust.

Decent entertainment

The Deep by Rivers Solomon with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes

Encanto (2021) - movie

The Witcher, season 2 - show

What We Do in the Shadows - seasons 1-3, got bored afterwards

The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (reread)

The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Touch by Claire North (reread)

Sing - movie

Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare (reread)

The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren

Moon Knight - show, season 1

Moon Knight comics - 2011, 2014, 2016, 2021

The Batman (2022)

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts (reread)

The Bad Guys (2022)

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (reread)

The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker

The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North

Johannes Cabal series by Jonathan L. Howard (reread): Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, Johannes Cabal the Detective, Johannes Cabal: The Fear Institute, The Brothers Cabal, and The Fall of the House of Cabal

The Owl House season 2

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary (reread)

Strider by Beverly Cleary (reread)

Loki - show, season 1

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

Paprika (2006) dir. Satoshi Kon (rewatch)

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar (reread)

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

Supernatural - seasons 1 – 6, selected episodes

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman - comics (reread)

The Sandman - show, season 1

Microcosmic God: The complete short stories of Theodore Sturgeon, volume II by Theodore Sturgeon

Various Dick King-Smith books (reread): The Merman, Harry's Mad, and Harriet's Hare

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Girl From the Other Side - anime

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

The Farewell (2019) dir. Lulu Wang

Horatio Lyle series by Catherine Webb: The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle, The Obsidian Dagger, The Doomsday Machine, and The Dream Thief

Mononoke (2007) dir. Kenji Nakamura - anime

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson. Fave: "The Beautiful Stranger"

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson. Faves: "Like Mother Used to Make" and "Flower Garden"

Legend of Nezha (哪吒传奇) - the 2003 cartoon

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Lucie Babbidge's House by Sylvia Cassedy

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Pinocchio (2022) - dir. Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson

Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

You Suck by Christopher Moore

Bite Me by Christopher Moore

Disliked and usually DNF

Guardian (cdrama)

The Gameshouse by Claire North

Kim's Convenience - show

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

Victoriocity - podcast

Sporadic Phantoms - podcast

Guardians of Childhood series by William Joyce - okay I finished it out of loyalty but it was no rotg that's for sure

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Keep Your Hands off Eizouken - anime

Arcane - show

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender

Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender

The Color Master by Aimee Bender

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

Megan's Island by Willo Davis Roberts (reread)

First Light by Rebecca Stead

Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

To Your Eternity - anime

Bloomability by Sharon Creech

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) dir. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Malevolent - podcast

Midnight Burger - podcast

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

Carter & Lovecraft by Jonathan L. Howard

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

M.E. and Morton by Sylvia Cassedy

Forty Stories by Donald Barthelme

Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson

The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

The Stench of Adventure (podcast)

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Assorted nonfiction

Songs of the Gorilla Nation by Dawn Prince-Hughes

The Organized Mind by Daniel J Levitin - nothing new except for the part about using your spatial memory to hack organization.

The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker - how to organize social gatherings for meaningful and memorable experiences

Rust: the Longest War by Jonathan Waldman - investigative journalism book about corrosion, the hazard it presents to physical infrastructure, and how we mitigate it

Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8 by Naoki Higashida

Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life by Yiyun Li - DNF

The One-Minute Manager: The World's Most Popular Management Method by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson - techniques for one-minute goal setting, one-minute praisings, and one-minute reprimands

The Chinese Language: Its History and Current Usage by Daniel Kane. Good concise history of the development of written Mandarin Chinese and the underlying structure of the characters.

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold - essays on the American landscape and conservation ethics ca. 1950. Neat from a historical standpoint, but nothing to write home about these days. Which kinda is the point I guess.

Oregon Salmon: Essays on the State of the Fish At the Turn of the Millennium, ed. Oregon Trout

Caring for your Parents by Hugh Delehanty and Eleanor Ginzler

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks - DNF

The Grid by Gretchen Bakke - history of how the physical and regulatory infrastructure of the American power grid was developed, and how it needs to be reimagined for the future.

Wildlife Wars : The life and times of a fish and game warden by Terry Grosz. Tales from his career as a California game warden catching poachers.

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. DNF. author's writing voice was supremely annoying

Wilderness and the American Mind by Roderick Nash, 3rd ed (1982) (reread) - history of Americans' changing attitudes towards nature and definitions of wilderness. A classic banger.

Black, Brown, Bruised: How racialized STEM education stifles innovation by Ebony Omotola McGee - good summary of what the successful programs for STEM students of color are doing right, everything else is the same old same old

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb. Account of the experience of going through therapy while working as a therapist. Excellent look at how we construct our personal narratives, and how to change them.

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Gremmy, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. Strategies for having effective high-stakes conversations and managing your emotions. Good stuff.

Engineering and Social Justice by Donna Riley. Pretty entry-level, but it's a good bibliography for further reading.

Send in the Idiots by Kamran Nazeer

Why Are We Yelling? The art of productive disagreement by Buster Benson - DNF. disliked his writing style.

[edelsteinland]

Kleine Kostbarkeiten der klassischen Moderne – Orgelmatinée mit Wolfgang Fink

Zum Gedenken an Hermann Schroeder (1904-1984)

Hermann Schroeder stammt aus Bernkastel-Kues. Er war Organist an der STUMM-Orgel in St. Briktius, später Domorganist in Trier und schließlich Professor an der Musikhochschule in Köln. Als international bekannter Komponist vertritt er eine eigenständige und tief im Glauben verwurzelte Klangsprache, die auf Vorlagen der Gregorianik sowie Johann Sebastian Bachs und Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdys zurückgeht. Er gehört zu einer Gruppe klassich moderner Kirchenmusiker wie Flor Peeters, Joseph Ahrens, Ernst Pepping u.a. Die Matinée stellt Kostproben der alten und der neuen Musik vor.

Einführung und Orgel: Wolfgang Fink

Eintritt frei

[lesser-known-composers]

Johann Wolfgang Franck (1644 - 1710) - Das heil'ge Jesusblut die beste Hülfe tut

HIERONYMUS CONSORT :

Jeroen Finke - Bariton & Tobias Tietze - Barocklaute

[ansgar-skoda]

Konzerbericht: NRW singt Buchenberg! in der Kölner Philharmonie. Stelldichein der Chöre (20.3.2023)

[Alle Fotos vom Abschlussapplaus | Bild 1 + 5: Dirigent Nicolas Fink und Bariton Johannes Hill beim Abschlussapplaus | Bild 6 - 9: Die koordinierenden Chorleiter empfingen Blumen beim Abschlussapplaus | Bild 10: Der Komponist Wolfram Buchenberg empfing nach dem Konzert als Publikumsgast den Schlussapplaus]

[wien1983]

Mittwoch, 19. Oktober

Um sieben Uhr hat der Wecker geläutet, mir war zu kalt, ich wollte nicht aufstehen. Bin dann doch aufgestanden, ein paar Minuten später, habe mich schnell angezogen wegen der Kälte und mich geärgert, dass ich den Ofen noch immer nicht eingeschaltet habe. Zur Uni, auf dem Weg fiel mir ein, dass ich mir die Zähne gar nicht geputzt habe, kaufte mir deshalb eine Pfefferminzschokolade bei einer ganz unfreundlichen Dame, kein Wunder - im U-Bahn-Schacht, Neonlicht.

In der Vorlesung haben wir einen Text von Nathalie Sarraute gelesen. Loewe fragte mich beim Zettel austeilen, ob ich ihm das Buch von Hélène Cixous mitgebracht hätte. Nach der Stunde lieh ich es ihm, er sagte: "Ja, ANANKE kommt mir bekannt vor!"

In die Ringbuchhandlung, wegen Ernst Meister, das Buch war wieder nicht da. Kaufte DER PARK von Botho Strauß. Zur Sparkasse, meine liebe Mama hat mir 1000 Schilling überwiesen, kaufte einen Film für meinen Photoapparat. Wieder zur Universtität, eine Vorlesung über RACINE, ein Franzose hat über PHEDRE gesprochen, fast alles verstanden. Habe mir in einem kleinen Laden in der Maria Theresien Straße zwei Semmeln und eine Lift-Dose gekauft, das hat nur 22 Schilling gekostet, komisch, Mayonnaise und Käsewurst und Gitanes. In den Beserlpark beim Schlickplatz, gegessen, geraucht über meine finanzielle Situation nachgedacht und das Romanistik Manuskript gelesen.

Zur Theaterwissenschaft, bei Johann Hüttner für Botho Strauß angemeldet, nach langem Warten. In die Buchhandlung Herrmann, habe mich gefreut, dass ich den netten Mann wieder treffe, aber er war gar nicht da. Dafür eine Feministin mit blonden Haaren, sie war kühl. Meine Bücher gekauft, eines davon von Gisela Dischner, die ich so liebe, herausgegeben.

In der KOSMOS Buchhandlung in der Wollzeile bestellt: Thomas L'Obscur von Maurice Blanchot und von Pierre Klossowski Roberte ce soir. Musste 50 Schilling anzahlen, überhaupt sind die Verkäufer in dieser Buchhandlung sehr unsympathisch. Wenn ich keine Arbeit finde, mache ich nach dem Studieren die Buchhändlerinnenprüfung und eröffne eine eigene französische Buchhandlung mit Theaterliteratur. Ich werde sie BUCHFINK nennen, Fink ist mein Geburtsname, weil meine Mutter noch nicht verheiratet war. So ein Schönes wie den Shakespeare and Company Laden.

Brot und Joghurt gekauft, mich in die U-Bahn gestopft, nach Hause. Keine Post: noch immer nichts von der Evidenzstelle. Merde! Gegessen, geraucht, Bücher mit meinem Ex Libris versehen. Funeral in Berlin gehört, ich möchte wissen, wie meinen Schwestern die Cassetten gefallen. THROBBING GRISTLE sind so gut, da hörst du so viel. Wahnsinn. Diese Musik macht mich so traurig, dieses masochistische Gefühl, dieses Schreien. Claudius. Ich werde eine ÄSTHETIK DER HÄSSLICHKEIT schreiben!

In der Buchhandlung Herrmann war das Buch von Nitsch, das Orgien-Mysterien-Theater. Ich fragte, wieviel es koste, sie meinte: "Ja, der Nitsch...." Gut, dass ich es nicht gekauft habe. Heute verstehe ich diesen Wahn überhaupt nicht mehr.

Tee gekocht, dann ging ich ins STUDIO MOLIERE, gratis wars, ein kanadischer Film: CORDELIA, aber leider hat mich die Schauspielerin an die unsympathische Martina P. erinnert, konnte deshalb den Film nicht richtig sehen und das kanadische Französisch ist schwer verständlich. Nur ein paar Momente waren gut, da hat sie ihren Mann umarmt, der war so einer wie Claudius, das hat schön ausgesehen. Da hab ich an ihn gedacht, kann ihn nicht vergessen. Will ich auch nicht. Nach Hause, geraucht, es fängt an, mir zu gefallen. Auf der Straße ist es etwas, an dem man sich festhalten kann. Botho Strauß zu lesen angefangen. Um halb elf Nachtruhe.

[diyeipetea]

"hana" [Silke Eberhard's Potsa Lotsa XL & Youjin Sung Gaya (Trouble in the East Records, 2022)] Por Pachi Tapiz. JazzX5#476 [Minipodcast de jazz]

“hana” [Silke Eberhard’s Potsa Lotsa XL & Youjin Sung Gaya (Trouble in the East Records, 2022)] Por Pachi Tapiz. JazzX5#476 [Minipodcast de jazz]

“hana” Silke Eberhard’s Potsa Lotsa XL & Youjin Sung: Gaya (Trouble in the East Records, 2022) Silke Eberhard, Jürgen Kupke, Patrick Braun, Nikolaus Neuser, Gerhard Gschlößl, Johannes Fink, Taiko Saito, Antonis Anissegos, Igor Spallati, Kay Lübke, Youjin Sung. El tema es una composición de Silke Eberhard. ¿Sabías que? Gaya es la nueva grabación de Potsa Lotsa en formato XL. Este grupo está…

[yorgunherakles]

ego, düşünmeye değil inanmaya ve inandığını taklit etmeye eğilimli bir kendilik temsilcisidir.

jacgues lacan - psikanalizin temel ilkeleri

[nofatclips]

🎵 Pseudologia Fantastica by Foster The People from the album Supermodel 🎥 Concept by Mark Foster - Animation by Hannes/Johannes

[nadjakurz]

REKORD-Kunstkaufhalle @ Acud Macht Neu, Berlin (2.-4. Oktober 2020)

Shoppen, Shoppen, Shoppen! Ein 4-tägiges Ausstellungshappening mit über 70 KünstlerInnen, gemeinsam organisiert mit Liesa Fritzsche, Friederike Sigler & Matti Schulz

mit dabei waren: ADK, Antifa e.V., Lisa Maria Baier, BBF, Benzin, Melo Börner, Elizabeth Charnock, Cuntroaches, Destinys Chlid, Die letzten Ecken, Die Pest, Marie Donike & Johannes Specks, Nicolás Dupont, Claude Eigan, Alexander Endrullat, Ex White, Rainer Finke, Flaccid Knob, Lucie Freynhagen, Anni Fritzsche, Fuzzzgun, Ringo Gill, Gorbatshow, Bhima Griem, Gabriela Guarnizo, Jinran Ha, Konrad Hanke, Tobi Keck, Jake Kent, Klösse, Max Kowalewski, Magnus Krüger, Kryptkeeper, Nadja Kurz, Camille Lacroix, Petra Lange-Berndt, Lassie, Alizee Lenox, Moritz Liebig, Lova, Sarah Lüttchen, Simon Mann, Mangel Rec., Maske, Matthias Materne, Metzger, Wilhelm Mundt, Omen, Murat Önen, ÖPNV, Piss, Matthias Recht, Ricaletto, Johanna Rüggen, Raiko Sanchez, Marten Schech, Florian Schmidt, Olivia Schneider, Martina Schöne-Radunski, Ulrike Steinke, Stinkhole, Schreier Johann, Josefine Schulz, Willy Schulz, Max Schulze, Chris Shongo, Short & Pregnant, The Govenor himself, Ruth Unger, Urin, Laura Vargas, VCUNORDNUNGS AMT., Marcel Walldorf, Weazl, Mikka Wellner, (...) u.v.m.

[ashketchup119]

Musicality

Ok I LOVE this story!! I made a whole story based off a lil convo @jemtoka and I had, and I made oc’s based off each of us and went to town. It was very fun to write, and I got to combine my music knowledge with my writing skills.

Enjoy!

When Benji had first set out to find the ghost of Beethoven, he wasn’t actually sure that he’d be able to do it. His brother had once called him “all bite and no bark”, a reference to the fact that out of the four brothers, Benji had been the only one to not outgrow his infant habit of biting things- or people- when stressed. But in this situation, he definitely felt like he’d bitten off more than he could chew.

He absentmindedly chewed on his chewing necklace as he drafted a grant proposal with his friend, Mujika. Muji was drawing in a notebook, something for his art classes, though he looked up when prompted to review the words that had appeared on Benji’s screen. Muji had done his fair share of research, and though he did want to help with the writing of the research paper, it had been agreed that Benji was the more… academic writer. The two of them had met through social media a couple of years ago, and once they’d started direct messaging, had become close friends quickly through a mesh of shared interests, similar humor, and a half-baked scheme to take over the world.

Which led them here, to a table in the back of a 24-hour McDonalds, Benji chewing the head off a stiff chewable bat pendant and Muji using his nocturnal tendencies to do things like “make sure his friend drank water and didn’t forget that he was a person.”

“Fo you fink ish bit avou duh Immoruhl Bewuved ith done? Ish kinda duh hoh vashis of arr puhposal so…” Benji trailed off, jaw absentmindedly moving over the poor bat, whose head was holding on by sheer force of will to the rest of its body.

“What?” Muji asked. He did not speak bat-in-mouth.

Benji pulled the pendant out of his mouth with an audible pop. “Y’think this bit about the Immortal Beloved is finished? It’s like, the whole basis of our proposal n shit.”

He turned the laptop towards Muji, who closed his notebook, set it to the side, and pulled the laptop in front of him. He read it quietly, and Benji began to tap out the beat to the song playing on low volume in his earbuds. He began to hum, too, murmuring lyrics under his breath as he stared off into the distance.

“I think it looks good.” Muji finally replied, turning the laptop back toward Benji and grabbing his notebook again. “I can’t think of anything else we could add to that section.”

Benji gave a little half shrug. “I guess you’re right.”

The two of them once again worked in solitude, only broken by Benji ordering fries at about 1 AM. At 3, they decided to call it quits, though Benji seemed more wired than ever and voiced some apprehension about “going to sleep when there’s so much work to be done, Muji!” Muji chastised him slightly and promised that they could come back the next day- or rather, later that day- to finish up. There were only slight revisions to be done, then it could be sent off to the Music Master Scholars, an organization dedicated to the care and keeping of the ghosts widely considered Music Masters, which included household names like Mozart and Beethoven, but also lesser-known composers like Joseph Bologne and Francesca Caccini.

Ghosts were, of course, a commonplace occurrence, though one could theoretically live their life without interacting with one. That was rare, though; ghosts had a tendency to wander, though they could only appear in places that held significance to them in life and graveyards, but even living in a house increased the average person’s chances of encountering a ghost exponentially.

But these ghosts were special, because of the knowledge they possessed and the lives they’d lead. The Music Master Scholars were the only people in the world who both knew and had access to the location of every ghost, and to join their ranks, one had to find the location of one of the ‘hidden’ Music Masters- of which Beethoven was the most hidden. Their non-administrative members were unknown, but said to be most, if not all, of the foremost music scholars in the world. How could they not be, with the Masters themselves guiding their research?

Benji and Muji really, really wanted to be Music Master Scholars.

When he was 10, Benji had been given some sort of “young musician” scholarship to visit Europe for a month. He was a double bassist, a dying breed in the modern age, and the fact that he had progressed from monotonic exercises to Baroque sinfonias in the span of four months had impressed his teachers.

His parents had gone along, too, mostly because they knew their child, and Benji did have a propensity to get into trouble. Devil’s luck, his mother had tsked, and that had been that.

He’d managed to escape the group in the middle of a museum, though he didn’t wander far. He just wanted to look at everything without feeling like people were constantly breathing down his neck.

Well. HE didn’t consider “the park near the museum” to be far. His parents did, though, he found out later.

At the park, he found a man. Well, not a man. A ghost. The ghost was staring wistfully at the museum in the distance, and started when he noticed a small child staring at him.

“Hi! Who are you?” Benji asked, clutching the stuffed animal his parents had gotten him at another museum the day before.

The ghost cleared his throat. “I’m uh…” He started in a raspy voice before pausing and clearing his throat again. “I’m,” He sighed. “I’m Johannes Brahms.”

“Yo-hahn Brahmzzzz.” Benji repeated, drawing out the last “s” sound. “Oh! You did music, right?”

Brahms smiled slightly, and nodded.

The two of them talked for a while before Benji’s parents arrived, harried and frustrated. They apologized profusely to the ghost, who insisted it hadn’t been a problem.

The whole experience left Benji starry-eyed, and with the help of a friend he’d made in Germany, he would call and converse with Brahms for hours, asking about counterpoint and meaning and technique and just in general picking his mind. The composer took this with grace, and seemed more than happy to answer the young musician’s questions. When he’d told Benji about the Scholars, Benji had immediately decided that he was going to be a Music Master Scholar.

Muji had played violin until he’d dropped out of high school to take care of his mom, and hadn’t resumed it until after him and Benji had been talking for a while. He didn’t know much about composition, but he loved music history, and after getting his GED and enrolling in college, had even majored in it. Plus, he just kinda just thought the whole thing was cool.

They’d been researching for a year and a half, with pointers from Brahms, and tips from a professor Benji’d had two years ago, a Classical scholar named Dr. Chang. Benji had once emailed her and asked, point-blank, if she was a Music Master Scholar, but she’d only sent back a cryptic winky face emoji in response.

The next day, after three more hours of sitting in McDonalds, revising the proposal (most of which was Muji saying “Benji it looks fine!” and Benji responding with “No, no, this comma in paragraph seven just makes it sound better! Ties it all together, don’t you think?”), it was sent off in an email, and Benji resolved not to think about it while Muji resolved to mention it at the most inopportune moments, just to mess with his friend a little.

They were approved a month later, and three months after that day at McDonalds, they were sitting on a plane heading to Austria, Benji mouthing practice phrases in German as Muji slept. They had about a month to traipse all over Europe in search of a ghost very few people had been able to find, and they were excited to start.

The first week was spent in Austria, visiting Beethoven’s own grave (a nonstarter; the ghosts there hadn’t seen Beethoven since he was buried, and none knew where he’d gone), his childhood home and the area surrounding.

Nothing.

The second week was spent in Vienna. There, they visited the ghost of Mozart, who was a fidgety, flighty sort. He was known for being somewhat immaterial, and often took to jumping on top of objects in a manner that caused the people around them to panic for a few seconds before realizing he was too immaterial to do anything more than whisper vaguely about his childhood. He’d tried to pet Muji’s hair and got annoyed when nothing happened, so it wasn’t a particularly long visit.

They tried to visit Haydn, but while the location of Haydn’s ghost was well-known, only Music Master Scholars were allowed to see him, as he claimed the crowds exhausted him, and he wanted to be able to give his full attention to those visiting him. It made sense, since ghosts used massive amounts of energy to communicate and interact with the world around them, and the more energy they expended, the less time they were able to spend on earth. Despite this, the two  of them did make an effort, but were summarily barred from entering.

“Next time!” Benji declared confidently as they walked to their next potential Beethoven hot spot.

They visited Brahms, who had resolved to meet them in Vienna upon learning they were coming, and spent a whole day with him, visiting locations which had been important to him and letting his impromptu history lessons wash over them with a look of awed reverence.

Beethoven wasn’t in Vienna, and by the third week the two friends were feeling the threat of rejection hot on their heels. They began keeping odd hours, trying their hardest to figure out their next move.

“Maybe we should reread our proposal? Clearly the Scholars saw something in it, right?” Muji theorized from the bed he’d claimed as his their first night in the hotel.

“Mmmm.” Benji responded from his position on the floor at the foot of his bed, still feeling the after-effects of a well-deserved mental breakdown.

“Come on, Benji!” Muji tried to motivate him. “We can do it! You’re a super cool music spy, remember?”

Benji huffed at the reminder of an old, inane conversation between the two. “I don’t know, Muji. I think it’s kinda pointless.”

“Come on, Benji!” Muji tried again. “This is like, your dream! It’s now or never! Put our mutual brain cell to use so we can find Beethoven!”

Benji sighed and got up. “Fine, fine.” He murmured as he got off the floor, grabbed his copy of the proposal from his bag, laid down on the bed, and stuffed another chewable pendant into his mouth. “Wet’s fee.”

Silence reigned for a few, brief seconds, before Muji suddenly exclaimed, “Hey! We never checked out anything about the Immortal Beloved, right?”

Benji sat up straight on his bed and spit out the pendant. “Holy shit, we never checked out anything about the Immortal Beloved.”

After a quick Google search, two train tickets, a couple of sandwiches, and a dash through the rain, they arrived at the Frankfurt Main Cemetery. There, they asked after the name they’d listed in their proposal as the possible Immortal Beloved, and the ghosts pointed them towards the back of the cemetery.

In a ghost grotto, they found a woman, calmly humming the tune from one of the Diabelli variations, though in their excitement neither Benji nor Muji could name the tune.

“Are you-“ Benji paused and took a couple of deep breaths. “Are you the Immortal Beloved?

The woman stopped humming and smiled at them.

“Ah, that is a moniker I have not heard in some time.” She arose and walked away from them, lifting her skirts elegantly in a manner which conveyed a sense of class. “Come; I think you are the ones I’ve been expecting.”

The two followed after her eagerly and looked confused when they stopped at a mail office in town. There, she reached into a P.O. box, pulled out a silver envelope, and gave it to Benji.

“This is yours.” She murmured. “Please do come to visit; it’s rare that I receive visitors.”

With this, she disappeared.

The two stared at the envelope for a couple of seconds before Benji eagerly opened it, accidentally ripping the envelope in half. He then read it, brow furrowing in confusion.

“What’s it say?” Asked Muji, eagerly, from over his shoulder.

“It says… it’s just numbers? I don’t get it.” Benji gave him the paper, trying to puzzle out what it meant.

Muji frowned, then plugged the numbers into Google.

“It’s a location!” He burst out, excitedly shoving the phone in Benji’s face.

The two of them hurriedly called a taxi, listing the location Muji’s phone had given them. They were dropped off in front of the building, and saw someone standing at the entrance. They showed the person (a Scholar!) their letter, and with a large smile, they were taken inside, their guide walking confidently as Benji and Muji trailed behind them. The interior of the building was long and winding, which left the two feeling as though they’d been deceived by the outward appearance of the building. The building had looked small and unassuming, and this place was built like a maze. They were sure they’d be lost if they tried to head back without a guide.

Near the end of the path they heard the sound of a piano playing, and warm light spilled into the hallway. They eagerly rushed ahead, much to the amusement of the Scholar.

There, facing the wall, conducting half a beat behind the sound coming from the recorder behind him, stood Beethoven.

Benji gasped, and clutched Muji’s shoulder. He pointed ecstatically at the figure in the room. “It’s Beethoven!!!” He stage-whispered.

Muji smiled widely as he nodded back. “Yeah!!”

The two of them turned around when a voice behind them cleared. The Scholar gave them each a thick letter with the recognized seal of the Music Master Scholars on the back, and the two of them stared at it, unsure of what to do.

“Well?” The Scholar prompted, rocking back and forth on their heels. “Aren’t you going to open it?”

Benji ripped into his envelope first, completely abandoning the flap as he tore the side off. His hands shook as he pulled out a letter on creamy white stationary. He skimmed the words and began crying, clutching the letter and envelope to his chest.

Muji was slightly more careful, removing the letter from the envelope via the flap and pulling out the other contents of the envelope. A laminated membership card, a list of locations of other ghosts, and an alphabetized list of other Scholars with contact info and a small bio were also in the envelope. He pulled out each one, looked at it, and put it back in the envelope. He then stopped and held the envelope in his hands, staring at it.

After about ten minutes, the guide worriedly asked Muji, “Is Benji alright? He’s been crying for a while.”

Muji nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah, he cried for like two hours after I finished streaming Crisis Core for him.” At the guide’s look of confusion, he added, “Video game.”

The guide made a small noise of understanding and nodded.

When Benji’s sobs finally faded into sniffles, the three of them began the trek out of the building.

“Sorry this route is so long.” The Scholar apologized. “Oh! Also! I forgot to introduce myself.” They paused and turned, offering their hand. “I’m Soraya Cham! I was the last person to find Beethoven’s ghost. When I heard about you guys, I got excited, really. I was rooting for you!”

The two of them shook her hand and nodded, unsure what else to say.

Soraya continued, then hailed a taxi when they reached the road. They waved goodbye to Benji and Muji as the two of them got in the backseat.

“We did it!” Benji shouted once they were back at their hotel.

[burlveneer-music]

Potsa Lotsa XL - Silk Songs for Space Dogs - saxophonist Silke Eberhard’s 10-piece band for performing her own compositions

Silke Eberhard (altosax, composition) Jürgen Kupke (clarinet) Patrick Braun (tenorsax, clarinet) Nikolaus Neuser (trumpet) Gerhard Gschlößl (trombone) Johannes Fink (cello) Taiko Saito (vibraphon) Antonis Anissegos (piano) Igor Spallati (bass) Kay Lübke (drums)

Silke Eberhard is a saxophonist, clarinetist and composer based in Berlin.

Since the mid-90s she has dedicated herself to the freer variations of jazz and improvised music. Her collaboration with Jan Roder and Kay Lübke, which began then and eventually resulted in the Silke Eberhard Trio, moves in this tradition in search of new challenges, that recently led to “The Being Inn” (the 3rd trio album, awarded the German Record Critics’ Prize, a concept album) – a cozy inn.

Her intensive occupation with the music of Eric Dolphy led to the project Potsa Lotsa, initially a wind quartet, interpreting the complete works of Dolphy. The project expanded to the Septet Potsa Lotsa Plus (plays Love Suite by Eric Dolphy) and ultimately to the tentet Potsa Lotsa XL, which so far performs solely Eberhard’s compositions.

She composes for small and large ensembles, contemporary music and jazz. In her wide-ranging work as a performer she also focuses on improvised encounters in dance, theatre and visual arts.

She works with many collective ensembles, including the duo with Ulrich Gumpert, the duo with Uwe Oberg ( + trio with Gerry Hemingway), Matsch & Schnee, I am Three …. she performs / recorded with numerous musicians of the international jazz scene such as Aki Takase, Nikolaus Neuser, David Liebman, Sandy Evans, Hannes Zerbe, Wayne Horvitz, Dave Burrell, Michael Zerang, Maggie Nicols, Joe Morris, Michael Formanek, Talibam! amo… and travelled with her music all continents except Antarctica.

[bild-akademie-blog]

Chancen in 5 von 10 Kategorien

Im Rahmen des Offenen- und Jugendwettbewerbs ehren die Sony World Photography Awards SWPA 2019 innerhalb von zehn Kategorien die weltweit besten Fotografien. Bereits zum zwölften Mal haben Fotografen auf der ganzen Welt ihre Arbeiten eingereicht. Sechs deutschen Fotografen stehen auf der Shortlist! Wir gratulieren Frank Machalowski, Klaus Lenzen, N.A. Vague, Alexandra Fink-Milosavljevic, Johannes Laufs und Tim Cavadini und drücken die Daumen für den Gesamtsieg als Open Photographer of the Year!

[lesser-known-composers]

Johannes Brahms - Four Songs, Op. 17: I. Es tönt ein voller Harfenklang ·

Ensemble Pygmalion · Raphaël Pichon · Bernarda Fink