Joan's Ageless Spirit: On Bresson's 1962 Trial of Joan of Arc; An Essay by Payman Akhlaghi (2015)

Joan's Ageless Spirit: On Bresson's 1962 Trial of Joan of Arc
An Essay by Payman Akhlaghi (2015, Draft 2)
[A revision of this post is in preparation which will expand on some themes, and clarify certain ambiguities.]
(*) First published on Monday, May the 25th, 2015, on Facebook.com/PAComposer, under Joan's Ageless Spirit: On Bresson's 1962 Trial of Joan of Arc.

"Procés de Jeanne d'Arc"(*)

(1962, French, BW, 64 mins)

"The Trial of Joan of Arc"

Writen & Directed by Robert Bresson

Music by Francis Seyrig

It's hard to exaggerate the purity, beauty, sophisticated simplicity, and insights of  "The Trial of Joan of Arc", Robert Bresson's deliberately modest film of 1962. In straight terms, the extraordinarily powerful image that ends the movie, a prolonged meditation on the burnt stake from which the body has vanished, by itself justifies an attentive viewing of what has preceded the epilogue. Bresson, as he writes toward the beginning, attempted to approach historical veracity by relying on extant transcripts from both the trial of 1431 and the "rehabilitation" testimonies 25 years after Joan's brutal execution. He also seems to have furthered aimed for authenticity and enhanced "truth" by casting non-professionals to act in the roles. Whatever one's reserves regarding the amateur feel of inexperienced actors, at the end, one is indeed left with a striking sense of the "truth" of the events that took place centuries ago, via the eyes of the artist.

Visually, if in "Pickpocket" Bresson follows the movements of the hands -- as Dr. Babak Ahmadi noted in his 1987 book in Persian(**) -- here, beginning with the opening images, he systemically traces the movements of the feet and the legs, as a consistently recurring stylistic and conceptual element throughout. On another note, there's an emphasis on the torturous tedium of the mock trials before the bishop, yet each return to the almost same frames and positions, day after day, is uniquely enhanced by the meticulous arrangement of the tableau in the background, composed mainly of men in "white" or "dark" robes, standing still before the grey stone walls. Each body is carefully oriented, and each look in the eye is directed to maximize the composition. Expressions, whether subdued or fluidly projected, remain unique and honest to most each face of the characters.

Aurally, the mob outside is primarily suggested by off-screen crowd noise and occasional shouts; while the distinction between English and French is used to enhance the political complexity of Joan's perilous situation. Dramatically, the dangers of the proceedings are often framed in very few words in scenes that punctuate the many appearances before the judges. Musically, the minimal use of tenor drum rolls and an occasional brass melody, scant and rare, has further underscored the cold solitude of the atmosphere, while the instrumentation suggests the militarist shadow that looms over and drives a quasi-ideological interrogation.

Bresson's vision of the tragedy unfolds in no sentimental or demagogic terms. This is a solemn reflection on not only a catastrophic moment and unspeakable cruelty in social history, but on the timeless fragility of innocence and freedom of thought in the face of powers far greater than an individual, which are yet threatened by her mere dissent at their foundation. The director's screenplay and presentation, with their recurring scenes and extended conclusion, read as a poem with refrains, while the tranquil tone of this realization renders the impact of the tragedy the more chilling and lasting on the audience. Furthermore, admitting a musician's bias, one can't help notice the decided resemblance of the structure of the screenplay to a "theme and variation" form, with a prelude (the recitation of Joan's mother's letter in her defense), the theme and progressive rondo variations (several appearances before the interrogators, followed by images of her solitude), codettas (the closing remarks for each scene) and a coda (the walk and the execution). As such, I find the film highly poetic and deeply musical.

In conclusion, we would be wrong, regardless of our ideological positions or creeds, to impose our hard-earned contemporary views about "religious vision or inspiration" on the story off Joan of Arc, if we could imagine for a moment that she did not suffer for them as horribly as she did. It would be equally wrong to take our heartfelt interest in her story as an approval of the content of her beliefs, as if to unearth and relive by some medieval worldview.

To be sure, on a larger scale, one may read Joan's tragedy in terms of naive religious superstition, psychological anomalies, or innocent if stubborn fanaticism, on the one hand, against a tremendously cruel and dogmatic religious, political and economic hypocrisy, which claims to unravel the falsehood of her claims, on the other. But that would be to miss and misunderstand the timeless dramatic, philosophical, and intellectual import of the story, and to reduce it unjustly within some accepted stereotypes. Here's a 19-year old young woman, who stands for what she believes in, who's pressured to recant her position by a powerful hypocrisy that allows her no room in the world, and who suffers immeasurable cruelty for her persistence and innocence. That alone far overshadows even the religious and patriotic militant side to her life that precedes the trial. Hers is a suffering empathized virtually by everyone.

Thence, Joan's story especially as told by Bresson maintains a broad appeal as much to the faithful as to the secular and to the atheist. Read whichever way, there's not doubt about the religio-political officials as the heavies of the story. From the standpoint of individual judgment, conscience, self-esteem, human dignity, and basic liberties, among the necessary components of our ethical existence, the content of Joan's beliefs, whether "right or wrong", whether  "true or false" in our eyes, take a far less significant position than her honest insistence on the truth of what she believes in. Hence, surface differences disappear, and her story emerges to share in essence with those of Socrates, Giordano Bruno, Galileo, Spinoza, Robert Bolt's vision of Sir Thomas More, and every other thinker and visionary who was once pressed to deny their conscience, and who became a victim of ideological, religious, and political persecution. And there lies the secret of Joan's ageless spirit.

(*) The film is currently made available on Hulu by the Criterion Collection.
(**) The title of the book referenced may be translated as "The Wind Blows Wherever It Wishes" (1st ed.), Ahmadi, Dr. Babak; Persian, Tehran, ca. 1987.

© 2015, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

The Raccoon On the Street: A Poem by Payman Akhalghi (2015)

Sunset at Santa Monica Pier, No.2
April 26, 2015, 19:45
© 2015, Original and Digitally Modified
Versions by  Payman Akhlaghi.

The Raccoon On the Street
A Poem by Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 1)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on May the 7th, 2015, under The Raccoon On the Street: A Poem by Payman Akhlaghi.

The moonlight flows
On the pitched roads,
When a hunched silhouette,
Tugging his thick fluffy tail,
Scuttles the sidewalk,
Pauses to examine the risks,
Scurries, ever cautious,
Across the four-lane void
Of Western at the 6th.

The lonely raccoon on the street,
Wanders the dormant wilderness
Of a quiet urban night.
How well he acquired
The ways of the city!
How well he knows
His way about the town!
Has he seen the forest,
What lay on the outside
Of the bustling metropolis?

The lonely raccoon,
Though familiar,
Ever the stranger,
Knows comfort not, but he
Knows fear, for he stares,
Knows hunger, for he scours,
Knows hope, for he lives.

Far from the sung of
The uncertain woods,
He has adopted
The smog and the trash,
The cement and the honks,
The poles and the trees,
As home away from home,
Tying all hopes, fate, trust,
To the scattered kindness
Of random strangers,
To the gentle caress of
The cool midnight breeze...

© 2015, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Polymeters & Polyrhythms: An Analytic Musical Approach; 2015, Payman Akhlaghi

Polymeters & Polyrhythms: An Analytic Musical Approach
An Original Post by Payman Akhlaghi
© 2015, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) The present post is meant as an illustrated work in progress. New ratios will be prepared and added over time. They constitute the core of a lecture presentation.
(*) The first three images were published for the first time at the following sites:
Facebook.com/PAComposer, and  My Public Page on Facebook.

4:3 & 3:4
Click on image for larger view.

5:6
Click on image for larger view.

7:6
Click on image for larger view.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Karol Szymanowski, Love Songs, and Hafez; A Note on Music by Payman Akhlaghi (2015)

Szymanowski, Love Songs, and Hafez 
A Note on Music by Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 3)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on January 19th, 2015, under Memo on Music: Szymanowski, Love Songs, and Hafez.

For long, I have heard about Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937), the Polish composer of the first order, far more than I have heard him. Polish-born American pianist Arthur Rubinstein in his biography referred to him as one of his favorite composers. One of my own professors considers him "Scriabin, Part 2". I understand that for his compatriots, he's been the true heir to Chopin at least in historical, nationalistic and cultural terms. I still wish to find the opportunity and give him my undivided attention. For now, I won't miss chance encounters.

The other night (01.17.2015), thanks to Mr. Alan Chapman of KUSC, I learned of Szymanowski's Op. 31, "Songs of a Fairy Tale Princess", the three of which were orchestrated by the composer himself. In their melodic, harmonic and timbral sensitivity, they struck me as the precursors of Lutoslawski's "Chantefleurs et Chantefables", also Polish, which I had the pleasure of hearing live a few years ago. Following up, I learned that Szymanowski's song cycles Opp. 24 and 26 were musical settings of "Love Poems of Hafiz", as much of them as had arrived in Polish, apparently from a German translation based on Arabic texts. I decided that my hitherto scant knowledge of his music shouldn't hold me back from at the least introducing them on my personal page. I don't know the words, but starting with the orchestral versions of Op. 26, they sound remarkable, evocative, and beautiful. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do.
-- Payman Akhlaghi

References:
(*) Szymanowski, Love Songs of Hafiz, Op. 26, for Voice and Orchestra
- Part 1 of 2:
- Part 2 of 2:
(*) Szymanowski, Love Songs of Hafiz Op. 24, for voice and piano:
(*) Szymanowski, Songs of a Fairy-tale Princess, Op. 31, Nos. 1-3, orchestrated by the composer:

P.S. 01.20.2015.
I learned from Wikipedia, Works of Szymanowski, that Op. 26, for voice and orchestra, Nos. 6-7-8, are orchestral settings of 3 from Op. 24, which had been for voice and piano. The orchestral links above to Op. 26, however, start out with No.1 of Op. 24, "Desires" (normally, No. 6 of Op. 26), and end with No. 1 of 26, "The Tomb of Hafez", which does make more sense to me. So far, I have seen a partial score of the Op. 26 on IMSLP, the piano reduction, which bears a Posthumous (after death) notice. It's rather confusing; and the performers might have swapped things around, for the recording, in good taste. Just enjoy the music. -- P.A.

-- © 2015, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Two Snippets on Film: Rossellini's "Stromboli" and Wenders's "Alice in the Cities"; Reviews by Payman Akhalghi (2015)

Rossellini's "Stromboli" and Wenders's "Alice in the Cities"
A Note on Cinema by Payman Akhalghi (Draft 7; Revised)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on January 18th, 2015, under Memo on Cinema: Rossellini's "Stromboli" and Wenders's "Alice in the Cities.

1) "Stromboli: Terra di Dio" (1950, 94 mins, Italian), directed by Roberto Rossellini, with music by his brother Renzo, and featuring his wife, Ingrid Bergman, whose skill and presence combines with, and rises above, an attractive, ubiquitous, but at times overbearing orchestral score. That is not to undermine the music, which from the opening frames sets an epic tone for the drama, even for its private side, and often succeeds in delineating the psychological turmoils of an expressive face in her silence and loneliness. The music of Stromboli thus acts as a character in itself, asserting its presence operatically, sometimes as the narrator, at other times as the narrative of a soul, but mostly as the voice of an ever-present colossal background, the earth, the ocean, the mountains, a volcano about to erupt, an awesome nature at large, and the harsh destiny that ensues.

The last 35 mins of the film, composed of three major sequences, a massive fishing episode, a volcanic eruption, and an escape alone through a smoking mountain, is riveting, It reminds me of "Man of Aran", charged with a convincing drama about the traps of unhappy marriage and cultural contrasts, combined with a touch of spirituality or religion in the face of nature's massive wrath, or rather, under the burdens of life. Be warned that animals are actually harmed during the fishing sequence shot in a documentary style.

2) "Alice in the Cities" (1974, about 110 mins, German) is directed by Wim Wenders. It's a rare study and an alarming appreciation of the fragile fate of children in modern urban life of the 70's. It's also a refreshing example of an almost paternal and utterly decent love and protection afforded to a child by a non-father. The film goes to show that about 10 years before "Wings of Desire", the director had already much mastered his craft, and had surely found his favorite topic: a dramatic narrative as much served by rapidly changing locations as it's serving them, in this case, American landscape, New York, Amsterdam, and several cities in Germany. Knowing that Wings of Desire originated as a film about the city of Berlin, I wonder if the trip itself was not the main reason for this earlier film, as well. In retrospect, I'm inclined to think that "Paris, Texas" of 1984 somewhat appears as a sequel to Alice.

(*) "Stromboli" is distributed by the Criterion Collection. Both films currently available on Hulu.

© 2015, Payman Akhlaghi. This is an original memo. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Film Review: Jean Renoir's "Boudu Saved From Drowning" (1932); An Essay by Payman Akhlaghi (2015)

Memo on Cinema: "Boudu Saved From Drowning" (Jean Renoir, 1932)
An Essay By Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 3)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on January 15th, 2015, under Memo on Cinema: "Boudu Saved From Drowning" (Jean Renoir, 1932).

Jean Renoir was a master of character study and human nature, but in particular, an expert in the finest nuances of the aristocracy and the rising bourgeoisie, their contradictions, mores, and morals -- as a single viewing of his 1932 film "Boudu Saved From Drowning"  would attest. (Boudu sauvé des eaux; French; ca. 85 mins.) The precision of his behavioral observations and the succinctness of his language could rival those of Hitchcock and Fritz Lang; the fluidity of his character development and final rendition might at times surpass them both.

Five years before "The Grand Illusion" and seven years before "Rules of the Game", "Boudu..." bears for me many elements of Renoir's mature style: a smoothly developing script, in this case adapted from a play; a delicate balance between the words and images, with traces of both the theater and the silent film vocabulary; the seeds of his later "montage within the frame" via the performance, with minimal or no camera movements; experiments with montage and perspective(§);  the casual lingering of the words and action into a fade out to end a scene, a unique touch of this director; subtlety and sophistication of the humor; a rather straightforward sexuality depicted with self-restraint; and a fine ear for the music, mostly diegetic (source music) -- whether it's an orchestral song to set the tone of the film over the opening credits (non-diegetic), or a solo flute played by a neighbor, a piano played by amateur fingers, a street organ played on the pavement, a marching band gathered on the street, or an ensemble in the park, playing an arrangement of the Blue Danube Waltz toward the end of the film.(±)

Thematically, the farce develops out of a psychological study of a small middle-class family cell, whose feeble order is disturbed when they save and adopt a desperate homeless man with badly underdeveloped mind and manners. It's clear, however, that the setting is meant as a microcosm of the contemporary society at large. And yet, a short enigmatic prelude introduced by the card "Boudu" offers more interpretive possibilities, as it blurs established class and persona distinctions to reveal the underlying natures of the personalities that are likely hidden to themselves.

The prelude is a theatrical silent scene of love between Lestingois and his maid, dressed in a mythological costumes -- a Faun and a Nymph -- which then dissolves into a confession of the love affair between the married shopkeeper and the maid, in their modern settings. The strong association of the mythological element with the sound of flute -- a probable reference to Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" -- is consistently reminded throughout the film as a neighbor practices his instrument at various hours. It's safe to presume that Boudu -- likely short for "bon dieu!", i.e. "good God!" -- notwithstanding their many differences, is offered as the untamed, unrefined, uncultured aspect of Lestingois, that is, his suppressed libidinous Id, which for awhile comes to the surface of his conscious life and personality to stir and reinvigorate a long settled ennui. At the same time, on the macro level, the solidity of the line drawn between the bourgeoisie and lower classes is brought into question.

Through the laughs, sympathetic sighs, and its many surprises, we may ask whether human nature is indeed more malleable or flexible than suggested by the surface of the story; or that Renoir and his playwright René Fauchois are right in their elitist aristocratic judgment of the classes, and personas; that a "bum" with fine clothes and a bulk of money is still a "bum" -- or that at the least, his old habits may die hard; that the bourgeoisie of the time, as genuinely kind and cultured as they come in the film, suffered from a hypocrisy rooted in values, norms and habits which contradicted the human nature, and at any rate, their social setting. Whatever our answers, they won't take away from the convincing and coherent drama at hand; from its deep optimism about, human goodness, innocence, and naivete; and from its appreciation of the more fundamental elements of human condition.

(§) I cite two salient examples of such early experiments with montage. Lestingois first spots Boudu about to commit suicide via a telescope he usually holds to peep on women from the window of his house. The camera pans and follows Boudu from afar until he jumps off of the bridge. The sense of distance from the action intensifies Lesingois's desire to help and foments the ensuing bond between the two men more convincingly.

Second, a carefully planned scene warrants attention (ca. min. 38), when a track shot follows the maid from the breakfast table toward the kitchen. We follow her afar from the other wing of the house, and we approach her through an opposing window across the patio. The camera then jumps to behind her, as she calls out to a neighbor on the ground for a match box. Instead of a now customary subjective view shot, we jump downstairs to see the elderly neighbor through a window, looking up at the maid, but in the wrong direction, left to right. Thus, an otherwise most clear definition of the spatial relations of the house is summarily disrupted; and this author finds the disorientation too curious and interesting to dismiss it as a mere slip by the master filmmaker.

(±) The music is credited as follows:
Générique, Danube bleu, Fin: Rafaël; Flute: J. Bouze; Orphéon: Edouard Dumoulin.

(*) "Boudu Saved From Drowning" is released by the Criterion Collection, and it's currently available on Hulu.
(*) Some dates, names and titles were checked against IMDB and Wikipedia.
(*) The author is a musician by inclination and education.
(*) The above was an original commentary.
(*) On my weblog:
http://pardessrimonim.blogspot.com/2015/01/film-review-jean-renoirs-boudu-saved.html

© 2015, Payman Akhalghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Freedom of Expression, Means and Context; A Short Essay by Payman Akhlaghi (2015)

Memo: Freedom of Expression, Means and Context
An Essay by Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 1)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on 01.09.2015 under Memo: Freedom of Expression, Means and Context.

Freedom of expression is not only about being free to express myself, but also about the means of expression, the subjective truth of the expression, the context of expression, and to the extent possible, the foreseeable contingencies of its interpretation. It's about saying -- writing, drawing, singing, making, presenting, posting, commenting, behaving, etc. -- what and how I wish to, freely, honestly, clearly, with my audience in mind, and without hindering the freedom of others to do the same.

As such, freedom of expression starts with life and continues to reinforce its flourishing. Freedom of expression would be self-negating if your expression prevents his or her fair chance of expressing themselves. Censor on the one hand, and violent response on the other, in their various forms and degrees, are the two extremes of violations of the freedom of expression. Censor can find many forms: a crowd mobilized to intimidate, ostracize, and silence a voice; a regulation, almost invariably arbitrary, to strain the freedoms of authors, artists, thinkers, scientists, scholars, or any other civil person for that matter, in freely expressing themselves in their non-aggressive means; imposing the wills of a tyrannical oppression; aggressive and intrusive means of expression that would deprive others of their chances to express themselves, or to exercise their right to refuse; bullying; vandalism; and that extreme and primitive form of response, that is, acts of violence and savagery against the persons expressing themselves. The list continues.

Freedom of expression is about carrying out a civil conversation on both the small and large scales without resorting to fists and clubs to settle the arguments. To that end, you don't need to agree with what's being said; but you can neither censor, nor intimidate, nor bring harm to others, because of your disagreement. And as the countless lonely voices through history have proven time after time, this is one place where "the wisdom of the crowd" does not apply, for too often it has been that very single voice that would prove to be right, though often after a long while.

(*) I was ruminating, and enumerating, the above points especially for the past few days, when I came across the following timely, erudite, comprehensive, and fairly argued recent column by Mr. Albert Brooks of NY Times. I naturally share several of his convictions; and reading it further helped focus this essay, particularly in regards to the element of context.
"I Am Not Charlie Hebdo", Albert Brooks, 01.08.2015, nytimes.com.


© 2015, Payman Akhalghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

On Film, Humor and Freedom of Expression: "Zéro de Conduite" (1933); An Original Memo by Payman Akhalghi (2015)

Memo on Cinema: "Zéro de Conduite"
(Zero for Conduct, French, 1933)
On Film, Humor and Freedom of Expression
By Payman Akhalghi (Draft 1)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on January 7th, 2015, under Memo on Cinema: "Zéro de Conduite" (French, 1933).

Hannah Arendt said it best that, the surest way to undermine authority was laughter,[1] -- and who would know that better than the tyrant himself?

Thanks to Claudia Gorbman [2], I learned of a short 1933 French film, which I managed to see a few nights ago. Briefly put, "Zero for Conduct", directed by Jean Vigo, with music by Maurice Jaubert, is about a boarding school, its strict discipline, and the young students' growing defiance of it. It's a succinct and deeply poetic study of the impact of power and our natural desire for freedom that was made right between the two world wars. It's a microcosm of some larger social processes -- strict environments, rebellion, anarchy, tolerance, change -- and yet, in its method, and in its totality, about the joys of life, sympathy, and the power of humor. At the end, it's about childhood, and about the children in all of us. It's a delicious gem of the early cinema, a small film about the big picture.

The film was focused on extensively for its music by Ms. Gorbman in her book. I share it however for both the film, and the music.

Zéro de Conduite: Jeunes Diables au Collège

(Zero for Conduct: Little Devils at School)

(French, 1933, ca. 41 mins)

Directed by Jean Vigo; Music by Maurice Jaubert 

[1] "To remain in authority requires respect for the person or the office. The greatest enemy of authority, therefore, is contempt, and the surest way to undermine it is laughter." -- Hannah Arendt, "On Violence", 1969.

[2] "Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music", Claudia Gorbman, 1987. I specially thank Prof. Robert Fink of UCLA for introducing me to the book, which further informed my doctorate studies. [Currently ABD] The book has remained surprisingly out of print. (Sic!)

(*) Two of my earlier original posts on humor and freedom of expression:

- Song of Songs vs. Marriage of Figaro: An Original Essay by Payman Akhalghi.
- Freedom of Expression in Films: A short list with my original commentary, on Facebook.

© 2015, Payman Akhalghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Beethoven Virus (2008): Classical Music in TV Dramas; TV Film Review by Payman Akhalghi (2015)

"Beethoven Virus" (2008): Classical Music in TV Dramas
Film & TV Review by Payman Akhalghi (Draft 1)

(*) First published as a FotoNote at Facebook.com/PAComposer on January 5th, 2015, under "Memo: "Beethoven Virus" & Classical Music in TV Dramas

It's a delight to come across a popular TV production wherein human decency, sophisticated arguments, beautiful sentiments, culture, and striving for excellence, are intrinsic to its themes, and are consistently interwoven into its fabric. It would be a rare delight if this production were a series that revolved around a group of classical musicians, their personal, professional and social lives, who tried their best to make and share music in a small aspiring city. "Beethoven Virus", a 2008 South Korean melodrama in 18 episodes, is often such a rare delight, even as this author does not know the language and had to rely on the subtitles.(*)

The many merits of "Beethoven Virus" may easily convince the viewer overlook its many typecasts and overworked dramatic formulae, rather typical of the genre at large. The musical information is precise, down to the detail, suggesting serious "insider" involvement at the core of the production. The soundtrack is satisfying, the more so, because of the evident budgetary limitations. Despite all odds, the main theme of the series, with its touching romantic spirit, succeeds to withstand the many excellent classical excerpts.

The cast is often young, attractive, and clearly skilled in music. A love of high culture permeates its often modest air. At its best moments, emotional tension systemically avoids degrading into banal resolutions, and the anguish that the central characters endure in their relations, deemed and understood as the inevitable price of their truth, comes across as convincing. The myths and spirits of classical figures, from composers Beethoven and Mozart, to conductors Kleiber and Celibidache, have informed many facets of the drama, characters, their persona, attitudes and behavior. Yet, in its affection for art music, but also in its desire to reach the larger population, through the everyday language and the humane touch of its characters, with their virtues and modest vices, in their strengths and weaknesses, the series has further the viable potential to indeed encourage its audience to appreciate, support, even pursue high music.

To conclude, as a popular TV series, "Beethoven Virus" surely deserves to benefit from the impeccable technical sophistication of a Hollywood production in an English adaptation, which I am inclined to believe will prove more plausible than it might appear at this moment.

(*) The series distributed by MBC, is currently offered on Hulu.com.
(*) Photo: The promotional cover of the DVD, available on the Internet.

© 2015, Original Review by Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Impossible Alchemy, a Love Poem by Payman Akhlaghi (2013, English, Persian); کیمیای ناممکن، شعری از پیمان اخلاقی

Impossible Alchemy
A Poem by Payman Akhlaghi
(نسخۀ فارسی در پایین)
(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on December 7th, 2013, under Impossible Alchemy.

Impossible alchemy,
This eruption of laughter,
Rising from the fear,
The reviving gleam that buds
At the tip of despair's twig,
The tender sigh that blooms
Amidst dire anguish.

Impossible alchemy,
This metamorphosis of
A hardened slab into shimmering light,
Stridency into oneiric harmonies,
The tempest into a calm sea,
Futile timidity into noble might.

Forget the chemistry!

Impossible alchemy,
This flood of a molten heart,
This drift of a dormant mind,
The secrets to which, tonight,
You only hold,
In a wave,
In a word,
In a wink.

© 2013, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

"کیمیای ناممکن"
 -- شعری از پیمان اخلاقی --
(برگردان فارسی از نویسنده)

کیمیای ناممکن است
این فوران خنده که از دل ترس می خیزد،
برق نوری زندگی بخش
که بر تکشاخۀ نومیدی می دمد،
آه لطیفی که در بستر رنج شکوفه می کند.

کیمیایی ناممکن است
این دگرسانیِ
تخته سنگی به تابش نور،
آوایی گوشخراش به هماهنگی های رؤیاوار،
طوفانی به آرامش اقیانوس،
شرم بی حاصل به نیرویی شریف و پایدار.

شیمی را فراموش کن!

کیمیای ناممکن است
این سَیَلانِ ذهنِ خواب رفته،
این طغیان دلی ذوب شده،
کیمیایی که رازش را، امشب
تنها تو می دانی
در یک واژه،
یک موج دست،
یک چشمک،
یک نگاه...

© 2013، پیمان اخلاقی. همۀ حقوق برای مؤلف محفوظ است.

© 2013, Payman Akhlaghi. English and Persian. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

John Ford, Stagecoach & Non-Ideological Montage; Original Essay by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

Ford's Stagecoach & Non-Ideological Montage
An Essay by Payman Akhalghi (Draft 4; Fully Revised)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on August 19th, 2014, Revision 4 on the 24th, under Memo on Cinema: Ford's Stagecoach & Non-Ideological Montage. 

I just revisited John Ford's "Stagecoach" of 1939, ca. 90'. It's not only a tightly made Western, but a sophisticated drama, with metaphorically expressed socio-political commentaries inherent to the fabric of its story. Seventy-five years later, it's remained surprisingly "modern", nearly perfect, intellectual, artful, and entertaining, at times didactic, but typically tactful, only on occasion too ostensible about its "message". Vivid characters with tangible and contrasting intentions reach far beyond generic stereotypes. This time, I found its sense of visual form and style impeccable. The framing of every shot, and the composition of lines, objects, and movements therein; the manipulation of background to highlight, reinforce, or agitate the foreground by agreeing harmonies or contrasting dissonances; interpretative applications of the depth of field; attractive camera angles and dramatic points of view; everything is closely controlled underneath a a rounded look an easy flow. Should the chance rise, I could analyze some sequences down to the frame.

One could spend a full hour or two talking on only the last 30 minutes of the film. Start out with careful build-up to the 7-minute ambush and battle sequence, mostly across the desert, ca. minute 70-ff. Examine its camera work and lighting, meticulously shaped dramatic curve, thespian and acrobatic skills, complex human and animal choreography, and especially for me, its skillful symphonic score in sync with the already perfect rhythm of the scene. Time some shots, anticipate some cues, and you might realize too how musically this sequence is constructed from the foundation, what an extravagant ballet it is. Furthermore, note how trauma, otherwise all too present, is often suggested, subdued, seldom literal, altogether, never allowed to traumatize the audience, or distract from the narrative.

Then speak of the climatic shoot-out between Ringo (John Wayne) and his three archenemies. In contrast to the previous sequence, the build up draws on tense silence or ironic use of ragtime piano coming from the bars, reserving synced underscoring with chromatic suspense for the last few steps before the final confrontation. See the sudden aversion of the camera, at the moment of carnage, away and to Dallas (Claire Trevor). Listen to the 5 shots fired, whereas you know Ringo had only three bullets left with him. Did he survive the unfair duel?

Else, focus on the director's rich vocabulary and broad range of montage techniques. Note his intuitive sense of visual-dramatic rhythm unique to each sequence. As the moment calls, he may generate momentum by numerous cuts, or by allowing the action to develop in longer takes. He may risk an extreme track-in to highlight his protagonist's static entrance, or elsewhere, let the carefully choreographed action do the edit within the frame. When it comes to montage, he remains erudite, versatile, natural, flexible, creative, non-ideological, yet polished, with a conservative veneer. Unlike a Chaplin or Renoir, with their decided preference for montage inside the frame; or an Eisenstein, or even Hitchcock in general, with a decided inclination toward shorter stable takes; Ford's mis-en-scène remains fluid, diverse, eclectic, in the service of the scene, without tying his innovative imagination down with presets. "Stagecoach" breathes naturally, at times slow, fast, deep, panting, gasping, sighing in relief. It breathes with the drama, in image and sound, from the perspective of an invisible narrator, and with regards to the point of view of a very human audience.

Examples abound. Spending the night at a roadside tavern, Ringo seriously eyes Dallas, from behind, as she graciously leaves a corridor through a carefully lit and placed door frame. He is briefly interrupted in the hallway by the owner of the tavern, who's worried about Ringo's fate. He walks on and joins Dallas outside, next to the fence, to talk her into marrying him. The sequence is developed patiently, feeling as a respite during the long and turbulent journey, broken into very few long takes, narrated by a lyrical music.

Later on, toward the conclusion of the battle scene, Hatcliffe (John Carradine), out of ammunition, decides without a word to use his last bullet to "save" the young and beautiful Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt), a lady under his protection, from falling into savage hands. From a close up of the gun being prepared, the camera pans to the right to show the fragile woman broken into prayers under stress. The gun approaches her skull from the left, while she remains unaware of her imminent fate. But then it drops at the sound of a bullet, suggesting that Hatcliffe was hit. A positive change in the underscore, the emergence of "source music" bugles, the smile appearing on Lucy's face, these herald that the passengers are finally saved. They all take place in a single long take, a first-rate cinematic moment, in a somewhat less likely place -- a successful work of entertainment.

Shortly afterwards, when a mob takes away a resented banker in the close up, Dallas emerges from within the crowd and walks toward Ringo next to the stagecoach; once more, all in a single take. Next, as they walk away, the director shows a masterstroke of mis-en-scène and montage. To date, filmmakers are warned to avoid the confusion caused by jumping, especially rapidly, aimlessly, in successive shots, and without a logic, over the so-called "imaginary line", within a continuous sequence. Without being fanatical about this elementary but useful principle, you might still be utterly surprised, as I was, how the director effortlessly hops over "the line", when Ringo and Dallas walk away from the stagecoach and the three men next to it: the two leave the shot toward the left; we track them walking from left to the right; cut back to the three men, their eyes perfectly choreographed to zoom attention on the left; cut back to the loving couple walking from the left to the right. The successive changes of direction lead to no confusion. I think it works without a glitch, first, for the director draws upon two different points of view; and second, for his intuitive sense of a space and orientation that is guided and controlled by the elements of the scene, namely, the street and the pavement.  It's well thought out, innovative, a first-rate example of advanced montage without pretension.

Much has been contributed technically by the remarkable continuity observed between the Exterior shots and their Interior counterparts, with their ubiquity of back projections. The process-shots are admirably successful for their time; and Bert Glennon's cinematography, stylish, beautiful, and fluent, altogether suggests the possibility of the artist's deep foundation in photography. More astonishing, however, are the stunt works that perpetuate the battle scene, which to my recollection remain among the most accomplished feats for any cinematic period. To gain a sense of scale, keep in mind that "Ben-Hur", with its breathtaking chariot race, was not about to appear for another 20 years.

The music direction is credited to Boris Morros, with several others credited with adapting American folk tunes for the soundtrack. Many scenes, most prominently the battle sequence, bear underscoring too original to be considered mere "adaptations"; and altogether, the music accompanies and reinforces the narrative quite beautifully. That warrants due credit be allocated to each composer for their unique contribution to this excellent film score -- a task that would call for minute records and other accurate outside information, and which would lie outside the scope of this essay, in the purview of film and music historians. I am not sure that would be an easy task. After all, in the studio system, such divisions of labor and collaborations were common place in the music department, among hired musicians par excellence, who were not expected to receive (prominent) due recognition.

All things considered, however, this remains unmistakably a director's film. This time, particularly taking into account Ford's "My Darling, Clementine", as well as "The Grapes of Wrath", I admit to better realize why the younger generation of French directors -- I think including Truffaut -- were long ago reported for their great admiration for John Ford, whom they could properly cite as an "auteur" of the cinema, without hesitation.

(*) The author is a musician by inclination and education.
(*) The excellent restoration by Criterion Collection is available on DVD, and currently, on Hulu.com .
(*) wikipedia.org and imdb.com were briefly consulted for basic data, such as titles, dates, and names.
(*) The above was an original note.

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Score Visualization for Instrumentalists; Memo by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

Score Visualization for Instrumentalists
From a Performance Perspective
An Original Memo by Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 1)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on November 28th, 2014, under Score Visualization for Instrumentalists, and also on author's public page, ComposerPA (Payman Akhlaghi).

Pianists in particular can benefit much from "visualizing scores" away from their instrument. It's a very efficient way to improve sight-reading, to learn new music accurately, and to improve your inner hearing skills.

Hold a score in hand. Study it at your own pace, as slowly as you may need. Try to hear as many notes and chords as you can by your inner ear, say, using one of several "solfeggio" methods.* Analyze passages and recognize the patterns -- rhythms, intervals, chords, scales, etc. --and the larger forms. Imagine your hands and fingers as they rest and the keys, and move about the keyboard. If advanced, imagine your foot work on the pedal. Now go through the passage again, in your mind, in "real time". When possible, move the fingers on a desktop before you. Once confident, try the passage at the piano from memory. Notice how easier it feels to practice and play this new music. Notice how much sooner than before you master the music.

Start out with very small bites, say, one measure or a short phrase at the most. As you make progress, increase the size of the portion. Keep at it. Soon enough, you'd be surprised by the results. Yo may share your success here with me. Good luck.

Notes:

* Solfeggio, Solfège, Solmization: Sight-singing using numbers or syllables (solmization) assigned to the degrees of the scale (e.g. the Movable Do); or preferably for more chromatic music, using syllables fixed to pitch classes (the Fixed Do).

** Karl Leimer and Walter Gieseking dedicated a large section to "visualization" in their highly recommended book, as it was a cornerstone of Leimer's teaching method. See "Piano Technique", 1932, Republished by Dover, 1972.

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

"Song of Songs vs. Marriage of Figaro"; Short Essay by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

The Song of Songs vs. The Marriage of Figaro
Continuing Series on Shir ha-Shirim
A Short Essay By Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 6)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer  on November 16th, 2014, under "Song of Songs vs. Marriage of Figaro" .

I have been convinced for long that the outline of "The Song of Songs", "Shir ha-Shirim", as poetically ambiguous as it might be in its current form, consists of the story of a maiden taken to the chambers of a king, perhaps as a slave, while she yearns for her beloved, a free-spirited young man, say, a shepherd, who roams the meadows and skips over the mountains, somewhat metaphorically -- while it also allows perhaps poetically for him to be identifiable at the same time with (aspects of) the King.

A line of thought might be pursued on the interplays of power and desire, wealth and love, possession and deprivation, in sharply stratified societies. Thus, a case could be made for this literary work as a cry of love coming to us from ancient times, and that of a woman, the cry of fragile loving souls of those who suffered the conditions of servitude, in monarchies, feudal societies, or other despotic systems. I further propose the idea in a preliminary form, that especially to Beaumarchais, and possibly to later Da Ponte, the 18th century playwright and the librettist of "Marriage of Figaro", respectively, the relevance of this plot in essence to modern times was not lost.

At this point, and pending in-depth research, I offer the following introduction to this theme, which so far I may regard as original. To begin, let's consider the names of the title characters in the play and the opera:

1) Figaro, formerly "the barber of Seville", currently the Count's valet and butler. (*)
 - I find the following explanation interesting and appealing: Figaro, from "fils Caron", a nickname of the playwright, meaning "son of Caron", where "caron" I choose to consider from the Welsh "caru", "to love". That is, "Son of Love", "Beloved Son". [1,2]
- I further consider the Latin root "figare", that is, "to fix"; and acknowledging my want of linguistic knowledge, I propose that the character's job as to "fix or do things", whether as a "barber" or the later "valet", i.e. "the handyman", or more generally, "the man of labor", is reflected in the name. I consider both of the above senses jointly. [3]

2) Suzanne (play), Susanna (opera, Italian). (*)
* Derived unequivocally from the Hebrew "Shoshan" (lily) and "ShoshanAh" (rose), both appearing repeatedly in the Song of Songs. Chapter 2 opens with:
"I am the lily (chavatzelet) of Sharon, the rose of the valleys."
"Like the rose (shoshanah) among the thorny flowers (thistles), so is my beloved among the maidens."

3) Countess Rosine / Rosina: (*)
Diminutive of "rose"; equivalent to "Shoshanah" in Hebrew. Note that in the first play before "Marriage...", that is, "The Barber of Seville", Rosine is the fair lady locked up by a doctor, who by Figaro's intervention, finally marries the Count. (**)

4) Count Almaviva. (*)
From "alma" ("soul", Italian, Spanish) and "viva", (alive, lively); that is, "lively soul".

5) Chérubine / Cherubino. (*)
Diminutive of Cherub, "little angel".

Considering the above names, and plots, I speculate that Beaumarchais developed the first of the plays, "Barber...", more linearly along the love triangle of the "Song of Songs", and offered a more literal transposition of the plot, based on then standard contemporary translation and accepted narrative of the book -- that is, with the Doctor acting as the King and his guards, and the Count being the Lover (our Free-Spirited Shepherd, yet also the King Solomon) who finally reaches his love, Rosina" (Shoshanah). Whilst in "Marriage...", with a seemingly more subtle treatment of the theme, it's Figaro (now our Shepherd) whose love of Susanna (Shoshanah) is threatened by the Count (King's) power to possess. Still, a more literal representation of the "hapless lover" is further nested in the storyline as Cherubino, who's ordered away by the Count to serve in his army as punishment for his romantic adventures which are interfering with the Count's. Notwithstanding the immense differences in period, tone, style, spirit, etc., the parallels between the plots of the plays and the "Song..." do not seem coincidental. (I postpone to detail my own contrasting reading of the plot of "Song..." to another occasion.)

The line of research may further continue to find parallels in the details of the lyrics; which would require a separate essay.

(*) See Wikipedia.org under Marriage of Figaro, opera and play, characters.
(**) See Wikipedia.org under "Barber of Seville".
[1] Behind the Name "Figaro": http://www.behindthename.com/name/figaro
[2] Behind the Name, "Caron": http://www.behindthename.com/name/caron
[3] See "figare" on Google Translator.

© 2014, Series by Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Third Person; Short Independent Film Review by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

"Third Person" (2014), A Short Film Review
Review by Payman Akhlaghi (2014, Draft 5)

(*) First published on June 26th, 2014 on Faceboom.com/PAComposer under "A Short Review of "Third Person" (2014).

"Third Person", written and directed by Paul Haggis, begins -- and ends -- with a man writing at a desk, who hears the echo of a child from the behind, "Watch me". An unmistakable air of tragic love, loss, grief, remorse, and loneliness has filled the quiet of the hotel room. With little pause, the scene gives way to a tapestry of sophisticated variations on a singular theme: the love for, and the loss of, a child.

Whether the seed idea is thought of as an actual event in the life of the author, or it's meant to be a mere figment of his imagination,it's diffracted, reassembled and evolved into three salient character complexes each reflecting an aspect of it: the author, his wife, his young lover, and her lover-dad; an American businessman, his estranged wife, a Roma woman, her thuggish man; a young distracted woman, her boy taken away from her, her ex-husband, and her ex's new woman. Each relationship pair suffers in one way or another the very present absence of a child. Besides their essential thematic relation, the three complexes have enough overlap -- locations, incidents -- combined with convergent arcs to produce necessary cohesion and avoid an episodic feel.

The ensemble cast, including Liam Neeson, Olivia Wilde, Adrien Brody, Moran Atias, Mila Kunis, and James Franco, bring as much contrast and intensity that the story could afford to their respective roles. The music by Dario Marianelli, performed by the Symphony Orchestra of Belgium, with himself at the piano, mirrors and underscores the organic crescendo of the screenplay with a quasi-minimalistic circularity, an increasingly layered orchestration, and a lively texture. The cinematography and edit hide their evident skills masterfully in the service of the narrative.

The thrust of this creative delight of a film, however, may be seen as its utter trust in the humanity of its characters, even those with the worst of flaws. The empathic attachment builds successfully toward a witty ending, as each characters fades out of the life of the author, one by one, away from each other, emphasizing their fictional existence in the actual plain of the world of the author.

(*) This is an original note by Payman Akhlaghi, a musician by inclination and education.

(*) IMDB.com was briefly consulted for artists' credits.

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

On The Gun Issue: Some Preliminary Practical Thoughts; An Opinion by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

Opinion: The Gun Issue; Some Preliminary Practical Thoughts
An Original Essay By Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 4)
NB: The following is a layman's view.

(*) Originally published on June 12, 2014, at Facebook.com/PAComposer under Opinion: The Gun Issue; Some Preliminary Practical Thoughts. 

We've been right on dreaming of a country, and a world, free of gun violence. We've been right on asking for sensible laws on access to guns. We've been wrong so far on the categories of the criteria for any such limiting regulations.

Conspicuously, the current anti-gun position aims to limit access to guns based on psychological competence. But instead, to decide on the right of access -- or rather, the privilege of access-- it's more reasonable to first concentrate on the "necessity to own"; second, the "merit to own", i.e. the ethics of ownership; third, the predictable "intent of use"; fourth, "aptitude to operate"; fourth, evolving "competence for operation"; fifth, the permitted "boundaries of the types of protective devices" to be available at all; sixth, the "minimum prescription" needed for the type of permitted intent; seventh,"verifiable preparation for proper use"; eighth, chronic "monitoring".

A need-based approach to gun ownership will have to consider the following factors, among many:
1) Population density of the area of ownership;
2) The natural hazards of the environment;
3) Maximum potential degree and efficiency of protection delegated to the officials;
4) The demographics of the area;
5) The stated and predictable intent of use;
6) The potential applications of the devices;
5) Any peaceful intents to own, other than protection.

A need-based approach to access will assign priority to "protective needs", and confine any "recreational intents" to sports arenas, and any "professional intents" such as various forms of research to the physical boundaries of the respective institutions. In basic terms, it would mean to ban gun ownership perhaps for all people but the peace officers in most urban areas; allow extremely restricted access in very low density suburban areas; appreciate the increased need to access in rural areas; confine access for fun or research, or other such secondary and peaceful intents, to within proper facilities.

To ban and/or restrict gun access to such degree will reduce violence first, by the evident decrease in availability; second by the extreme widespread increase in communal and internalized responsibility; third, by rising the bar on the expectation of civility and non-violence in the overall culture; fourth, by bringing down substantively the expectation of violence, its degrees and forms, even within criminal communities; fifth, by reinforcing and enhancing a culture of life and dignity. If so, "gun" would become a taboo concept, and even at times of aggression, the last word or thing to pop up in the minds of people.

To seek limiting regulations based on "psychological profiling" is a misdirected attempt. Even if successful, it's bound almost certainly to generate arbitrary discrimination against large categories of innocent people; whereas an innocent harmless person, merely labeled with one of the many ever-changing psychological classifications in circulation, ought to have as much right to her life as the crowds of "sane" people who might plan and pilfer her farm in the daylight. Contrary to our best of intents, such laws might turn into de facto acts of lynching by consensus and with impunity before our own baffled eyes. To my knowledge, violent crimes have not been necessarily committed by people diagnosable with a variety of serious psychological labels; but I can easily imagine that many victims of such heinous crimes have indeed been carrying such stigmas.

Psychology today is an admirable field, precisely because of its many dedicated,  intelligent, and humble professionals, engaged in heated debates, trying to overcome its badly flawed history, to compensate for the biases afflicting its methodologies and methods, to deal with its imprecise nature relative to many other sciences, and to try to arrive at ever-elusive consensus on narrow topics. Psychology would thus serve best in general if applied with humility and modesty. As such, it would certainly become a consideration in the current discourse on gun ownership, but hardly the first, let alone the sole, criteria in our considerations.

Needless to say, for any of this to start, America has to interpret the "right to carry arms" as "the privilege to carry arms". That would require a separate essay by legal experts.

NOTES: 
(*) The author is a musician, by inclination and education.
(*) The author has had a strong and consistent position against in particular physical violence.
(*) The author has not owned, does not own, and does not plan to own, guns. However, after many years of contemplation, observation, and conversation with erudite friends, he has tried to see the other side of the story, as well.
(*) Naturally, the author reserves his rights and privileges as a human being, and as a citizen. Nothing in this essay was meant to limit any such rights and/or privileges.
(*) This essay and the footnotes are some works in progress; as such, the stated points and conclusions may be changed in the face of emerging facts and understandings.

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Flight of the Bumblebee and Musical Imagination; A Short Introduction by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

Flight of the Bumblebee and Musical Imagination

A Short Introduction by Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 1)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on May 15, 2014, under "Flight of the Bumblebee and Musical Imagination".

As I listen to this this famous and successful musical painting, I can imagine the flight of a bee, fast approaching you, whizzing occasionally by your ears, you chasing it a bit with a fly swatter, but missing it, as it flies away and disappears. As Wikipedia explains, the original orchestral version [1,2] comes from an opera by Rimsky-Korsakov, "Tsar Sultan", and it closes an Act when a character is transformed by a spell into a bee.[3] Ever since its appearance, it's been arranged and performed as a solo piece by virtuoso instrumentalists. The best-known adaptation of it in the repertoire is the Rachmaninov piano version, which I share below in a classic recording by Horowitz. [4] However, thanks to the young pianist Yuja Wang, another exciting and seemingly impossible virtuoso adaptation of the work has resurfaced,[5] which was done by the mid-century Lisztian pianist, Cziffra. A kind user has provided a recording of the piece by Cziffra himself, alongside a slideshow of the score.[6] (The score maybe obtained elsewhere online to study, but I can't be sure if it's in the Public Domain.) Cziffra has never failed to amaze me, as I wrote about another of his performances in a recent Memo [7]; and this is no exception.

Besides its adaptation to many acoustic instruments, as a simple search in YouTube suggests, the piece has also stimulated some captivating electronic versions. Jean-Jacques Perry's version from the "Moog Indigo" album is full of creative moments that capture the 1970's epoch.[8] If memory serves me well, an (edited) version of this adaptation was used for the opening titles of the Persian-dubbed cartoon series, "Hutch the Honey Bee", which my generation grew up with as kids.

The composition's virtuoso potentials could also mislead many young and gifted performers to attempt it at faster and faster speeds, as a showcase of rapid dexterity, to the detriment of the music. As Horowitz and Cziffra demonstrate, virtuoso playing often includes speed, but it's about many other things besides speed. Whatever tempo you choose, it should first serve the music, the meaning of the composition, and the musical imagination. This is a principle that Wynton Marsalis well understands in his jaw dropping and clear adaptation of the Bumbleebee to trumpet.[9]

[1] A recording of the extended original orchestral version.

[2] Score of the shorter orchestral version.

[3] Wikipedia entry on Flight of the Bumbleebee.

[4] Horowitz plays Bumblebee in the arrangement by Rachmaninov.

[5] Yuja Wang performs Bumblebee adapted by Cziffra.

[6] Cziffra playing his own adaptation, with score.

[7] A Memo by Payman Akhalghi on virtuoso pianist, Cziffra.

[8] Jean-Jacques Perry (and Kingsley?) adaptation via synthesizers.

[9] Wynton Maraslis plays Bumblebee on Trumpet.

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

"The Familiar Stranger: A Page From My Life"; by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

A Page From My Life: The Familiar Stranger
By Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 4)

(*) First published on Monday, April 28th, 2014, at Facebook.com/PAComposer, under The Familiar Stranger...

I took the bus today, the third time in years, the first time mostly for the sake of it. I felt strangely related, reconnected, if not necessarily reunited, with my environment, an experience that I had missed through the past many years of driving in Los Angeles. Yet, somehow, the ride also made me feel like a tourist. I saw things, on that very familiar crowded road, on those very familiar streets, that I had not noticed before. In a way, I was taking a vacation for an afternoon to a place where everyone in the world goes to spend their holidays: my very city.

Of course, I could not have been just a tourist. If anything, the sheer contrast of the ride underscored how much I had grown into an extension of the city, even as an outsider, if not a stranger. I could see this in the way I was driven to ask the drivers some basic questions, which I could have indeed answered by myself from the posted signs and brochures; and the shame of it afterwards. The dependence of a wandering tourist had momentarily silenced the confidence of the resident.

I notice that such existential juxtapositions have been a common element of my life so far, as a Jew growing up in Iran, as an Iranian Jew developing in America, as an Iranian American Jew living in LA. Whether I'll ever lose that multiplicity of identities, it seems to afford me readily a more unique perspective on society and the world. Perhaps, it was always the same for many a Jew before me, those eternal outsiders within, with a burning desire to belong, whose dual status was revealed in their comprehensive thoughts and cosmopolitan stands.

Sunday, April 27th, 2014, Los Angeles

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

The Pensive Cutout; Short Fiction by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

The Pensive Cutout
Short Fiction by Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 5)

(*) First published on April 18, 2014 at Facebook.com/PAComposer under The Pensive Cutout (Fiction).

I clutched the cup of cappuccino, sat in the patio of the coffee shop, and opened a large volume to an entry about tropical butterflies. Those wings. Those colors. Those streaming dreams. One red butterfly with large black dots shook its antennae, flapped its wings, flew out of the photograph, sat on my shoulder, and whispered into my ears, "Oh, man, why an encyclopedia? Next time, try some magic." Then she flew back into the book, chose another photograph, and sat therein still. A shiver ran through my body. It felt as if I was about to shoot sticky spider threads out of my wrists. It felt as if I was about to spew some octopus ink, or howl and shriek in fear and agony. But instead, I grew some long whiskers, and a paired set of claws. I woke up to the sound of the morning alarm, panting, soaked in perspiration.

I took a blow dryer to myself, shaved some tiny shreds hanging from my armpit, taped and painted over a small cut in my right thigh, straightened my left leg, put on a white shirt and a black tie, forwent the coffee, and pondered the long day ahead, to stand still for hours, to smile at every customer. I opened the window, bored and confused, and I let the wind carry me to my job, near the top of the escalator, inside the department store.

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Manipulating Time, Emotions and Impressions via Montage; A Short Essay by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

Manipulating Time, Emotions and Impressions via Montage

A Short Essay by Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 2)

(*) First published on March 10th, 2014 at Facebook.com/PAComposer, under Manipulating Time, Emotions...

I was thinking today of Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 classic silent "Battleship Potemkin", particularly, the Odessa Steps sequence from the film. Interestingly, I learned from Wikipedia [1] that historically, the events dramatized in this most famous scene did not actually take place on this staircase; even though the crowd were in fact reportedly shot at, perhaps elsewhere in the city at the time of the events. Notwithstanding this diversion from historical facts, and the mythologizing ideological halo surrounding the project, the scene leaves us with an impression of experienced humanity and the illusion of historical veracity, complete with the "perceived sound" of the guns firing and the people screaming in this very silent film.

[NB: The music on this version is an excerpt of work(s) by Shostakovich.]

The influence of the Odessa Stairs sequence on the theory and practice of cinema afterwards, and on montage in particular, has been far reaching; and deservedly so. Note the rich and contrasting vocabulary of the camera angles, frame sizes, and camera positions. Note the director's control over the precise timing of each shot. Note how he exploits the point-of-view shots, the reaction shots, the cross-cuts (parallel edit), the inserts of objects and faces, and the tracking shots, to maintain and maximize the tension and momentum in this long sequence. Note how the perception of time is compressed and/or extended, throughout, especially as the stroller carrying a child speeds down the stairs. Note how he manages to communicate the sound of the gun fires, or the screaming of a mother, by the timely placement of the extreme close-ups, in this very silent film.[3,4]

Among the diverse list of subsequent films influenced by the Potemkin [2], I would like to cite a most direct homage paid by Brian De Palma in 1987, i.e. the stairway shoot-out sequence from "The Untouchables", featuring Kevin Costner and Andy Garci. Note how De Palma finds it necessary to draw upon slow-motion to better magnify the perception of time: perhaps to avoid jamming his "screen time" and allow each shot to be absorbed; perhaps because the "real time" of the sequence is much shorter than the Odessa sequence; and perhaps because what has preoccupied him the most is a smooth prolongation of the real-time into an stretched-out screen-time, as opposed to its compression.

P.S. As I recall, I first learned about the significance of montage in this Eisenstein classic, as a young teenager, from a series on cinema offered on the Iranian TV, produced by E Makki, with a special guest appearance by editor Dr. A Zabeti-Jahromi. Such TV series may go a long way in educating the public on the arts, in this case, on cinema.

Footnotes:

[1, 2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleship_Potemkin

(*) You may see Wikipedia under "Potemkin Stairs" and the "Potemkin Mutiny" for more historical and geographical information.

(*) The following two sites provide a quick reference for some common cinematic terms:

[3] http://www.springhurst.org/cinemagic/glossary_terms.htm

[4] http://spot.pcc.edu/~mdembrow/glossary.htm

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

And Moses Was a Most Modest Man; An Essay on Life and Judaism by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

And Moses Was a Most Modest Man
An Essay on Life and Judaism by Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 2)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on February 12th, 2014, under And Moses Was a Most Modest Man.

* This is Not a religious commentary.
* The following is not meant at all to approve of violence.

I'm contemplating the story of Moses in Exodus in regards to the nuances of his reactions toward oppression. From 2:12 to 2:17, within 5 concise verses,[1] we're told that the child grew up, came to meet his people, and saved one of them from harsh treatment by striking the oppressor and burying the body. Yet when two Hebrews were fighting one another, he spoke to them with no physical intervention, and he advised them to stop quarreling their kind. His appeal was rejected, and instead, he was threatened with revealing his secret. He runs away from the wrath of Pharaoh, ends up saving the daughters of the Priest of Midian from a gang of thugs, and helps them water their sheep.

His responses seem to be unique to each situation. In the first incident, no one else is around, so he stands up for the weak all by himself. In the second incident, two oppressed people are involved, so he can't easily take sides; instead, he resorts to mediation through conciliatory dialogue. But when women are forced aside, he steps forward to protect them even as an individual against a crowd. All three situations involve acts of altruism, devoid of self-interest; yet we should be happy that, as I've heard, Jewish commentators have rightfully objected to the extreme violence of the first incident.[2] However, the face-to-face and spontaneous nature of that act of defense, leads us to understand it in terms of what Hannah Arendt might have sympathized with in her contemplation On Violence.[3] [Cf. below for a quotation.]

We read elsewhere in the Pentateuch that "the man Moses was very modest (humble), more so than all other people on the face of the earth." (Numbers, 12:3) [4] Notwithstanding the evident discrepancies between the various sections of the Pentateuch, this description has no contradiction with Exodus 2:12ff. Here's a decent if flawed character, a man of few words, curious, honest, wary of hypocrisy, as shy as he is straightforward when it's time to claim the rights of the oppressed. He's motivated to act when lives are at risk and principles are at stake, and he resorts to violence only when all other options fail the circumstances at hand.

Moses is also an eternal outsider. In Egypt, though growing up in the court of Pharaoh, he remains conscious of his Hebrew identity. But later on, among the Midianites, he is seen as an Egyptian. The author of the story is very clear on this issue: Moses names his first son Gershom, in reference to the word "ger", i.e. an alien, a stranger, in the land of Midian. More generally, his solitude among the crowd remains one of the running themes of the entire book, to the very end of his leadership, when he disappears to die alone in the mountains.

[1] Exodus 2:12-15, Hebrew with a basic English translation:
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0202.htm

[2] Lectures by Chacham Ouriel Davidi, Tehran, Iran, 1980's.

[3] Hannah Arendt, On Violence, 1969. Here I refer to her offering an understanding of a violent act by an individual esp. when self-defense is evoked, despite her overall objection to violence, especially by the authority and state.

[3] Hannah Arendt, "On Violence", 1969.

NB: Here I refer to her offering an understanding of a violent act by an individual esp. when (as I understand) self-defense warrants it, despite her overall objection to violence, especially by those in power, authority, and state.

The following is a passage relevant to this argument. Note that I think she seems biased by the long-standing association of "masculinity and violence". An assertive state, for instance, could be quite masculine yet non-violent, and self-control can be viewed by, say, a culture as even more masculine than acting out of rage. Nevertheless, note how she understands a complex situation in her eloquent words:

"To act with deliberate speed goes against the grain of rage and violence, but this does not make them irrational. On the contrary, in private as well as public life there are situations in which the very swiftness of a violent act may be the only appropriate remedy. The point is not that this permits us to let off steam—which indeed can be equally well done by pounding the table or slamming the door. The point is that under certain circumstances. violence—acting without argument or speech and without counting the consequences—is the only way to set the scales of justice right again. (Billy Budd, striking dead the man who bore false witness against him, is the classical example.) In this sense, rage and the violence that sometimes—not always—goes with it belong among the "natural" human emotions, and to cure man of them would mean nothing less than to dehumanize or emasculate him. That such acts, in which men take the law into their own hands for justice's sake, are in conflict with the constitutions of civilized communities is undeniable; but their antipolitical character, so manifest in Melville's great story, does not mean that they are inhuman or "merely" emotional."

[Arendt, Hannah (1970-03-11). On Violence (Harvest Book) (p. 64). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.]

[4] Numbers, 12:3, Hebrew with an English translation:
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0412.htm

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

Fame and Privacy; A Meditation on Life by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

Meditations on Life: Fame and Privacy
By: Payman Akhlaghi (2014, Draft 1)

(*) First published on Facebook.com/PAComposer on February 6th, 2014, under Meditations on Life: Fame and Privacy.

I once wrote, "Just because I've appeared in the public doesn't mean that I'm in the Public Domain." Imagine the strange experience of cameras and mobile phones being trained on you, everywhere you go, especially on one of your sick and battered days, or when you are holding the hand of your beloved walking down on an otherwise quiet street. Imagine a photo or a video clip of yourself, nothing more than a snap out of the context of your life, going viral without your consent. Do you feel comfortable?

Many of us may confuse for a moment the human being whom we run into on the street with what we've heard of him, his persona from afar at the podium, or his image on the screen. But to think that just because you've known Of a person would give you automatically the right to trespass their sphere of privacy, and to tarnish their reasonable trust in the environment, that's a mistake with serious consequences. A fortiori, to organize multitudes to chase and catch a glimpse of the famous or a scoop, it's been a demonstrably dangerous practice.

Neither the self-alienated crowd who objectifies a human being, nor the individual in the spotlight, deprived of many common layers of privacy, may have come equipped by default to handle fame. Years ago, an erudite person noted to me how child actors tended to grow depressed as they got older and missed the attention they once received. On the other hand, adult actors are known to have come in grips with some aggressive trespassers. Given the tragically dwindling health and habits of many talented young and adult individuals before the public eye, even because of it, it's about time to reinforce a serious discourse toward a more reasonable culture of fame. From the outset, we should aim to to help the individuals and the public see the human in themselves and in another, and that reasonable expectations of privacy in the public arena are respected and protected.

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.

How Large Is Six Million...; A Memo by Payman Akhlaghi (2014)

How Large Is Six Million...
A Memo By Payman Akhlaghi (Draft 1)

(*) First published at Facebook.com/PAComposer on February 5th, 2014, under How Large Is Six Million....

Imagine yourself sitting behind a desk in an office where people come to you every day to be interviewed. You are paid a handsome amount to find out about each person, whether it's a man or a woman, young or adult, their name, age, city of birth, parents and grandparents, children when it applies, occupation, joys and sorrows, regrets and future dreams. You are required to spend one minute with each interviewee, and you'll do this five hours a day, five days a week, back to back, without a break. If you can keep pace for 52 weeks per year, five days a week, 5 hours per day, without taking a week or a minute off, then you will need 76 years, 11 months, and one day to meet six million individuals and spend only one minute with each of them.

A few years ago, the students in an American school were guided to get a sense of "six million" by collecting one single item, and their dramatic and moving effort was captured in the documentary, Paper Clips (2004).

Or you may imagine yourself walking by a file of people who are standing up, facing eastward, shoulder to shoulder, on a straight line, no gaps in the file. Allowing 3 feet width per person, it will take 1 mile to fit 1760 people. A file of six million people would become 3409.09 miles long. That is almost 1000 miles Longer than the direct distance between Los Angeles and New York, which is only about 2448 miles.

Imagine the people, in your office. Imagine the people in the line. Imagine them saying goodbye, lying down, closing their eyes...

- Sites Consulted:
(*) For distance between cities: http://www.distancefromto.net/
(*) For unit conversions: google.com
(*) Imdb.com.

© 2014, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.

(*) Payman Akhlaghi is a composer, pianist and piano teacher based in Los Angeles. His repertoire covers Classical music, as well as Persian (Iranian) Music, Pop Music, and Film Music. For information on the lessons in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Encino, Brentwood, etc. please call: 310-208-2927. Thank you.