Questioning assumptions with John Cage
By
David YangTo state the obvious, one person’s definition of “pleasing sounds” can be another’s fingernails against a blackboard.
NCMF cycling jerseys are for sale in-store at Riverside Cycle with all proceeds going to the festival. Thank you, Riverside owner Tom Reinke!
You can follow David LIVE along the route and watch his avatar crawling along the map.
Out the door by 6:30 - trouble sleeping because itching to get on the road. Travelling by bike is so real – one has to remain hyper-focused at all times. How empowering it feels to step from my front door and ride up to Newburyport. The act of motion is exhilarating.
I soon found myself riding through North-East Philly and neighborhoods with names like Northern Liberties, Fishtown, Port Richmond – many of them hard-working and blue-collar, but some, like Kensington, radiating desperation and ravaged by fentanyl and heroin. Four miles from my home and it feels like a completely different world.
Another 15 miles and I found myself in a no-man’s land of chemical plants and incinerators which abruptly changed to small towns like Bristol, PA, seemingly skipping the well-to-do suburbs I am familiar with west of the city. Bypassing Trenton, I crossed the Delaware at the exact spot where General Washington crossed on December 25th, 1776.
As I began the climb to Hopewell, NJ, the rain began in earnest and, like a wet mutt, I dragged my squishy self into Mona’s house by 10:30 am. It was a good but wet start.
Along the ride, I found my mind wandering back to 2007 when we performed Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 15. The group was David Ehrlich and Nurit Pacht (violins), me on viola, and Caroline Stinson (cello).
Shostakovich’s last quartet consists of six consecutive slow movements (!) and is acknowledged as a requiem he wrote for himself. (He died soon after its completion.) The festival was barely five years old and many were openly skeptical whether such a dark work would fly. In the end, the quality of the music and raw honesty of the sentiment hit the audience like a sledgehammer. It felt like an eternity before people started to applaud, but when it came, people sprang to their feet. A few were crying.
I think people are sometimes drawn to sad music because it creates a safe space to grieve. We feel empathy for and from the composer. Someone else has experienced what we’ve felt, and maybe that helps us feel a little less alone in the world.
David Yang, Artistic Director
By
David YangTo state the obvious, one person’s definition of “pleasing sounds” can be another’s fingernails against a blackboard.
By
David YangNot unlike preparing for a concert, this 571 mile ride has provided a kind of focused structure over the past six months, imposing its own kind of discipline.
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