Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Spring, Movement 1

Joyful spring returns with its unending message of new life:

And yet, in the midst of life we are in death.  The Guardian reports:

Pope Leo on Sunday said death and suffering caused by the war in the Middle East are a “scandal to the whole human family”, as he once again pleaded for an immediate ceasefire.

As the US-Israeli war on Iran enters its fourth week, the first U.S. pope said that he continues to follow with “dismay” the situation in the Middle East and in other regions torn apart by war and violence.

“We cannot remain silent in the face of the suffering of so many people, the defenceless victims of these conflicts. What hurts them hurts the whole of humanity,” Leo said at his weekly Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.

“I strongly renew my appeal for us to persevere in prayer, so that hostilities may cease and the way may finally be paved for peace,” he added.

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Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Winter

As performed by the great Itzhak Perlman:

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Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Autumn

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Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Summer

As recomposed by Max Richter, 2012:

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Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Spring, 1st Movement

Redbud and dogwood are blooming here in Texas.  Spring has sprung!  At last. 

 

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Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Winter

Bonus:  On today's CBS Sunday Morning, host Jane Pauley interviews Vice President Elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff:

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Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Mandolin Concerto in C Major

 The familiar concerto, played here by a full ensemble of mandolins, and featuring a brilliant performance by the renowned Israeli mandolinist Ari Avital.

 

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Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, NIsi Dominus

Truckbuddy Tim kindly suggested today's musical offering:  Andreas Scholl singing the largo from Vivaldi's Nisi Dominus, an apt work for our troubled times.

Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Spring

Itzhak Perlman performs:

Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Autumn

A week or so ago, M.P. caught these geese on the wing just at sundown, not far from our house:

Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Spring

From The Four Seasons:

Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Winter

As performed by David Garrett:

Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Summer

As recomposed by Max Richter for the album on Deutsche Grammophon:

Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Autumn

Julia Fischer performs:

Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Winter

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

--Thomas Merton, via Wounded Bird

Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Summer

Fascinating:

Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Autumn

Well boys, the weather has finally changed here in Texas. Last night the thermometer dipped all the way down to 49 degrees, and your Head Trucker was sure feeling it when he crawled into a cold bed. I piled everything on top of me that I could grab, including my housecoat, and eventually got cozily warm and drifted off to sleep.

Uncannily, this change from summer to autumn nearly always seems to happen during the first weekend of October, for some reason. Tonight it's going waaaaay down to 38 degrees, brrr! I reckon you fellas up in the frozen Nawth are laughing your asses off at this news, no doubt, but it means something to this Southern boy. To mark the occasion, here's Vivaldi's classic:

Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Summer

Vivaldi: Largo from Winter

It's just how I feel right now: an old man alone at home on a cold winter's night.



But tomorrow night, the Pork Boys will have their delayed mini-Thanksgiving dinner, with a roasted hen and some luscious down-home trimmings, so that will be fun.