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Monthly Archives: November 2018

Enhancing Connectivity

November 11

In historical Asian art, expansive landscapes of nature only hint at the presence of humans, with people depicted as miniscule in relation to the vastness of outdoor settings, with mountains, bodies of water, and clouds being more commanding of one’s attention. This indicates a belief that humans are part of the overall natural integrity of the planet but that the vastness and power of nature are much greater than the will of mankind.

I consider Feng Shui to be a nature-inspired mindset which (when well-applied) can cultivate a state of connectivity to that which is greater than us, situating us in the context of our current circumstances and life, supporting our orientation on a trajectory aligned with our true nature and role. An image in the home that shows the expanse of nature with a human for proportional reference helps to cultivate a state of connectivity with the wider landscape of our life, of nature, of the universe – and our place in it.

This gorgeous photograph by Tomas Havel (click here for his People In Nature images) is a prime example of showing the beauty of nature and the contextual place of humanity in its midst. This is environmental friendliness – humanity coexisting harmoniously with nature. Your home is your most immediately impactful environment, and an image that stimulates this connectivity to the natural world beyond its walls helps you to connect to your innate nature as well as to that which exists beyond the manmade spaces in which we reside.

Evlyn Howard-Jones

November 11

I had never heard the name of Evlyn Howard-Jones until I stumbled across some YouTube uploads of a few Bach Preludes and Fugues that were played with extraordinary beauty. It turns out that this British pianist recorded eight of these works in what was ostensibly to be the first recording of the complete Well-Tempered Clavier, shared by several pianists: the Columbia label had recorded Harriet Cohen playing the first nine Preludes and Fugues on October 11-12, 1928, and then Howard-Jones recorded the next eight on October 8, 1929 and February 19, 1930. It is believed that Harold Samuel was intended to record the remainder of Book 1, but the project folded when HMV merged with Columbia.

These performances have to my knowledge received no LP transfer and it was only a single Biddulph CD released in 1995 (LHW 023, long out of print) in transfers by David Lennick that featured both Cohen’s and Howard-Jones’ landmark recordings. Previous uploads have only included Preludes and Fugues 10 through 16 as the online source for No.17 had some technical glitches, but I fortunately located a copy of the full set and am therefore making Howard-Jones’ complete contribution to the project available in a single upload.

It’s most unfortunate that Evlyn Howard-Jones is so forgotten and that his recordings are so hard to come by, as the playing on these discs is absolutely magnificent: a beautifully polished sonority, wonderful use of the pedal to add tonal colour without loss of clarity, transparent voicing, fluid phrasing, and refined dynamic shadings.

Howard-Jones recorded the Delius Five Pieces that were dedicated to him, as well as a number of other works by various composers. Here is a recording of him in Three Preludes by Delius:

All of the recordings by this neglected pianist should be made available for collectors – he was truly an extraordinary artist! He was a popular teacher as well as conductor, highly praised by students and colleagues alike, yet today he is so obscure that locating a single photograph was surprisingly difficult. Let us hope that this fine musician will once again be known to lovers of great piano playing!

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