My own personal nostalgia.
Ancient Egyptian music notation
From a set of 6 parchments described by German musicologist Hans Hickmann in his 1956 book Musicologie Pharaonique, or Music under the Pharaohs, as dating from the 5th to 7th centuries C.E. Colors are presumed to indicate pitch and size to indicate duration. Writings on the parchment are in Coptic with indications like “Spiritual Harmony” and “Holy Hymn Singer”. This manuscript had a profound influence on Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh’s music notation and paintings when he discovered a reproduction in Vogue magazine in 1952.Note: I wasn’t able to locate these manuscripts and couldn’t find any reference to them online, but they are presumably in NY’s Metropolitan Museum collections. This image comes from Theresa Sauer’s book Notations 21, Mark Batty Publisher, USA, 2009.
January 15th
3:20 AM
3:20 AM
そして間もなく、あの汽車から見えたきれいな河原に来ました。
カムパネルラは、そのきれいな砂を一つまみ、掌にひろげ、指できしきしさせながら、夢のやうに云ってゐるのでした。
「この砂はみんな水晶だ。中で小さな火が燃えてゐる。」
「さうだ。」どこでぼくは、そんなこと習ったらうと思ひながら、ジョバンニもぼんやり答へてゐました。
河原の礫は、みんなすきとほって、たしかに水晶や黄玉や、またくしゃくしゃの皺曲をあらはしたのや、また稜から霧のやうな青白い光を出す鋼玉やらでした。
宮沢賢治「銀河鉄道の夜」
Campanella spread out a pinch of the beautiful sand in the palm of his hand.
Rubbling it with his finger so that the grains grated gently against each other, he said dreamily, “The grains of sand are al crystal. There are little fires burning inside.”
”That’s true,” replied Giovanni, caught up in his own thoughts. He had the feeling he had learned about the sand somewhere.
All the pebbles along the river bed were translucent. There were clearly pieces of crystal and topaz among them.
Some showed complex patterns of folds and swirls while others, diamond-bright, released a pale light like mist where two facets met.
Kenji Miyazawa “Night of the Milky Way Railway”
Seen Clearly in Hazy Conditions, Diane Stockler
“infinity” by scott kim
