Category Archives: The Coffee Table

A place for relaxation.

A song of suffering

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Michaela

At the same time Beethoven was at the pinnacle of his creative powers, despite his deafness and failing health, another composer faced disease, poverty and death in the imperial city of Vienna: Franz Schubert (b 1797 d 1828) 1823 was … Continue reading →

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Let nothing upset you…

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Michaela

God alone is enough Let nothing upset you let nothing startle you. All things pass; God does not change. Patience wins all it seeks. Whoever has God lacks nothing: God alone is enough St. Theresa of Avila (b 1515 d. … Continue reading →

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The martyr’s crown

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Michaela

Fidelio is Beethoven’s only opera and he wrote it under considerable  difficulties. In a letter he mentioned that this opera will surely win him a “martyr crown”. Beethoven has been such a teacher on this journey. From the windows of … Continue reading →

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A mass for the spirit

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Michaela

A prayer coming out of absolute of stillness The ‘Missa solemnis’ is considered to be one of Beethoven’s most profound creations. Composed only a few years before his death, approximately around the time of the 9th symphony, Beethoven himself considered … Continue reading →

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Enlightened moments

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Michaela

Ready for the masterpiece. Daniel Barenboim rehearsing Beethoven’s 9th symphony.  

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The wisdom of Rumi

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Michaela

This is for a friend of mine….. You sit here for days saying, “This is strange business.” You’re the strange business. You have the energy of the sun in you, but you keep knotting it up at the base of … Continue reading →

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Music of the spheres

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Michaela

Alan Lem plays Tibetan Singing Bowls. Enjoy

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The observer

Posted on September 4, 2010 by Michaela

Goldfish and Palette Matisse described the abstract zone at the right of this composition as containing “a person who has a palette in his hand and who is observing.” Most likely, it is the artist himself. The surrealist poet André … Continue reading →

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I am lost to the world

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Michaela

During the summers of 1901 and 1902, Gustav Mahler set to music five poems by the German Romantic poet Friedrich Rückert. Mahler identified strongly with the poem, saying that it expressed his very self.

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Plant life II

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Michaela

Martina’s painting and wisdom: ‘In Tai Chi practise we stand like trees & there’s a breeze I feel between my hands that may be what a tree “feels” in the wind ? A tree doesn’t “need” to grow in the … Continue reading →

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