[Allen Tice]

Fliss, I'm sorry to learn that you are chronically ill. It makes a difference in what you need. Be as well as you can.

[Martin Elster]

I'm sorry too. I was going to say that sooner, but Allen beat me to it.

[F.F. Teague]

Thanks, chaps. I've had psoriatic arthritis and other things for over thirty years, so I'm used to all that. I need to keep busy, and I've been able to return to full-time employment, which is great :-)

Thanks also to Jayne for enjoying the thread. I'll peep into Deep Drills again soon. Your sonnet sounds interesting; I'd like to read it sometime.

Martin, I think it might be possible to eat/drink/wear notes and coinage, but I take your point, lol.

Truths are slippery things. My mascot Word-Bird and I prefer 'human beings' to 'men' :>)

You're singing! That's excellent. Are you a composer as well as a poet?

Here is a quick read for Neptune:


Arrayed in beaut'ous broody blue,
I seem mysterious to you,
oh Earthlings of the probes and prods
intent on knowledge, nosy sods.

By all means fly by, sneak a peek –
come every month, or every week;
you'll never land upon my shores –
there'll be no walky-talky tours.

And I am glad. Yes, glad, I say;
I'm happy just to spin my way
around the Sun and play my tunes,
accompanied by bands of moons.

[Brian Allgar]

I'm very sorry to hear that, Fliss.

[Brian Allgar]

There is, of course, Holst's splendid 'Planets' suite, from which the lovely tune in the central section of Jupiter was used as the much-maligned hymn 'I vow to thee, my country'. I say 'much-maligned' because the opening words have led to accusations of jingoism, which I think are unjust. The last two lines in particular are quite touching, and nothing to do with patriotism:

"And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace."

Anyway, I don’t see why Jupiter shouldn’t have his own little song to the same tune:

I am Jupiter, the greatest world, fifth planet from the Sun,
And my days are just a constant round of jollity and fun.
But my neighbour, surly Saturn, can’t appreciate my larks;
Though I’m bigger than him, he keeps making snide remarks.
Yes, the little blighter sneers at me, and mumbles wounding things,
Such as “Size don’t ’ardly matter, mate, what counts is ’aving rings!”

[Martin Elster]

Yes, Fliss, "human beings" is definitely better than "men." I'm surprised that Harari didn't do that.

I enjoyed your Neptune. And Brian's Jupiter is clever. I was actually going to mention The Planets. That's one of my favorite pieces and I've played it numerous times with the orchestra. Yes, I used to compose quite a bit and have had several pieces published. Lately, it's poetry.

Brian, I've never heard the words to "I vow to thee, my country," but that melody is marvelous. It's OK to love one's country, but not OK to hate other countries. A "country" is really a fiction made up by us humans. It works, however, to get thousands or millions of people (most of them total strangers to each other) to cooperate. But global cooperation is now needed to combat climate change, deal with or manage AI, biotech, and prevent nuclear war.

[Martin Elster]

Fliss, do you play an instrument? Write songs? I'm curious since you mentioned singing and swinging, and Ornette Coleman.

[F.F. Teague]

Thanks, Brian. And thanks v. much for your poem. I've been listening to Holst's suite while proofreading references for work. I like 'Mars' and 'Jupiter' best. The song you provide for Jupiter is excellent; I love 'blighter' and ''aving rings' :-)

Thanks, Martin, for enjoying Neptune. The Planets is pretty cool; which one is your favourite? It must have been exciting to play with the orchestra, especially Mars.

I'm unable to play any instruments now, due to the progression of arthritis. During school days I played descant recorder (Grade 6), piano (Grade 7), clarinet (Grade 8). By 'Coleman', I meant Coleman Glenn, who has recently posted a swing-inspired piece on the Met board here. I write lyrics and I've started using Flat, although I'm a bit rusty with composition (I have A-level Music, but nothing higher than that).

Much inspired by these musical musings, I think I might start a new music-themed prompt thread now, but this one can keep running, of course :-)

Best wishes,
Fliss

[Martin Elster]

Hi Fliss,

That's a pretty good assortment of instruments you played. I'm sorry your condition has interfered with your ability to play them now. I'll check out Coleman's poem. Thanks for letting me know about it.

I like all seven of the movements of The Planets. I have played snare drum, xylophone, glockenspiel, chimes, and other percussion instruments in that piece. Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus are the most exciting and have the most fun and challenging parts for those instruments. But I also love Saturn for its suspensefully melancholy feeling in the first half followed by an ecstatic and blissful sort of calm in the second half.

I used the Finale music-writing program for many years. But I prefer writing by hand. The program took a lot of time to learn and it was way too time-consuming to write music with (in the time it took me to notate a single measure, I could have written literally one or two whole pages by hand on music paper!) so, eventually, I got tired of it. Also, I haven’t upgraded my software, so can’t open any of my many music files. I might have to bite the bullet and pay to upgrade.

I didn’t know about Flat. Thanks for mentioning it. It’s great that you write lyrics! If you start that music-themed thread, I may participate.

Mercury

I have a tail. It’s like a comet’s. Oh,
you didn’t know? It’s made of sodium.
Sol’s light and micrometeoroids succumb
to my allure. They bump me and I blow

those salty atoms from my shattered rocks
into my exosphere—as incorporeal
as the auroras high above your boreal
forests—or into space in coats and socks

(it’s cold out there!) But sodium feels friendless,
so many elements make up my tail
which, though it’s rather nebulous and pale,
is a hundred times Earth’s width—practically endless.

Look up and see its splendor, orange-yellow.
With long exposures free of buildings, trees,
and hills around, my striking trail will please
your camera. I’m a photogenic fellow!

Both Venus and your moon have tails—that’s right—
but not as grand or lovely as is mine!
Planets with tails of sodium that shine?
What other oddities lurk in the night?

[F.F. Teague]

Thanks, Martin. Yes, take a look at Coleman's poem; it's good :-)

I wish I could play percussion. One summer at Dartington I made a friend in a percussionist, Jess, and I remember watching her and thinking her section seemed a lot more exciting than woodwind. I think I'll have to listen to Saturn again.

I haven't heard of Finale. I've used MuseScore, and I tried Sibelius a long time ago; I think Dad might still use it, not sure. I recommend Flat; I find it quite quick, but I expect you write quickly by hand. I see you've found the music thread; excellent.

I enjoyed your poem about Mercury. 'No, I didn't know,' I respond to the question. I like 'photogenic fellow'; it reminds me of my latest guinea pig model, lol. I don't know what other oddities are lurking out there. There must be loads of stuff we haven't discovered yet and probably never will :-)