Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
— Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)
As Robert Frost captures in his Nothing Gold Can Stay, what is precious to us eludes us. And yet, we are drawn to what is fleeting; we try to grasp and hold on to it despite our awareness of its impermanence.
I will perform a new program titled Fleeting at 4:00 pm on Saturday, April 27, 2019 at St. Mary’s Hall, St. Mary’s College of Maryland. It is an attempt to capture what attracts us to fleetingness through the eyes of composers from different periods while exploring fleeting sounds, fleeting landscapes, fleeting visions, and fleeting moments.
Usually audience members do not see program notes until they arrive at a recital, but due to the nature of this program, I think the listeners can better understand what this recital has to offer if information is provided beforehand. That is why I decided to launch this website so that I can share what the recital is about and invite you to experience the music in a meaningful way. My plan is to do that through a series of posts about the music in the program until the recital date. (I will add one or two posts per week.)
In a way, I am going against this fast-paced society by asking for your time and attention. Why? Because I do believe that it takes time to both create and savor meaningful experiences. To express the spirit here, I would like to quote Glenn Gould, one of the most inspiring (and perhaps controversial) pianists from the twentieth century. (This is also referred to as part of the vision of Piano Festival by the River at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.)
“The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline
— Glenn Gould
but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.”
I hope you will find this journey meaningful.
Rie Moore 