Autobiography & Memoir
Jilliana's Vignettes
Jilliana's Vignettes
The Silent Sound of the Music of Life
In the beginning there was silence
But how often am I silent?
I HAVE to have the sound of music in my life
It helps me relax
It helps me think
It helps me concentrate
It helps me observe life in all it’s forms
Classical music is my backdrop like a canvas
My mother’s influence
I grew up listening to the tinkling keys of Emil Giles playing Rachmaninov
Issac Stern playing Bruch’s violin concerto
Elgar and Grieg on Sunday mornings
Fast forward to my teens. The usual 50s sounds and memories
Elvis, Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and Paul Anka.
I can still hear them in the silence of my mind
Voices from my past years that have faded away
Now just fond memories
And the 50s crooners
The father of them all. Frank Sinatra
Easy listening it is called today or The American Song Book
TV had become the norm
Watching AND listening to
Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis and Perry Como at Xmas
Next my switch to Modern Jazz
Alone in my bedroom
Listening intently and taping recordings off the radio
Beginning with Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’ I became more knowledgeable
Monk, Bill Evans, Getz, Mulligan and my favourite Chet Baker
But then jazz was abandoned
Bossa Nova flooded into my life with Jobim and I was enchanted for the rest of my life
I HAD to go to Brazil
No silence there
Decades later the lure of lush tropical vegetation and the Bolero ‘Feelin’ sounds enticed me
I HAD to go to Cuba
No silence there
I equate silence with peace
The peace I have never found
I found it hard to be still
To meditate
To BE
I tried in the 70s and 80s
But abandoned today
Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt
I have dipped in and out of paths of Life
Into the unknown
But always back into reality
Music in all it’s forms has been MY key
I have never thrown the key to its mystery away
Long live the music of Life!
VIVA!
Written in a Sufi writing class at The Brighton Friends Centre on 11 May 2019.
In the beginning there was silence
But how often am I silent?
I HAVE to have the sound of music in my life
It helps me relax
It helps me think
It helps me concentrate
It helps me observe life in all it’s forms
Classical music is my backdrop like a canvas
My mother’s influence
I grew up listening to the tinkling keys of Emil Giles playing Rachmaninov
Issac Stern playing Bruch’s violin concerto
Elgar and Grieg on Sunday mornings
Fast forward to my teens. The usual 50s sounds and memories
Elvis, Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and Paul Anka.
I can still hear them in the silence of my mind
Voices from my past years that have faded away
Now just fond memories
And the 50s crooners
The father of them all. Frank Sinatra
Easy listening it is called today or The American Song Book
TV had become the norm
Watching AND listening to
Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis and Perry Como at Xmas
Next my switch to Modern Jazz
Alone in my bedroom
Listening intently and taping recordings off the radio
Beginning with Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’ I became more knowledgeable
Monk, Bill Evans, Getz, Mulligan and my favourite Chet Baker
But then jazz was abandoned
Bossa Nova flooded into my life with Jobim and I was enchanted for the rest of my life
I HAD to go to Brazil
No silence there
Decades later the lure of lush tropical vegetation and the Bolero ‘Feelin’ sounds enticed me
I HAD to go to Cuba
No silence there
I equate silence with peace
The peace I have never found
I found it hard to be still
To meditate
To BE
I tried in the 70s and 80s
But abandoned today
Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt
I have dipped in and out of paths of Life
Into the unknown
But always back into reality
Music in all it’s forms has been MY key
I have never thrown the key to its mystery away
Long live the music of Life!
VIVA!
Written in a Sufi writing class at The Brighton Friends Centre on 11 May 2019.