Poets should not be talked about too much. You can always read them, otherwise is silence preferable.
All the waters of the great valley, those of the clouds, the firn, the springs, the streams; those of the sawmills, the butcheries, the grey, the clear, all waters marry in a deep bed. Thus they lose their name. But they create a new one: the Rhône.
Born in the cries of the alpine springs do find those wild waters their peace in the murmur of the Rhône.
Later, near the mouth, the deep, cold water will run in an opaque smoothness. Nevertheless will the Rhône offer its cool escort, heir to its past mountainous violence, to the Léman.
Suddenly is the lake there, blue as a linen flower. Above, as white as a canvas, do float motionless clouds. During early spring days, when thunderstorms occur, when waters are high, then the wedding of the river and the lake is stormy.
Today, however, is everything quiet. There is neither wind nor waves. The Rhône sleeps in the depths. Only a light breeze - called a rebat in Vaudois dialect - caresses the melted pewter surface of the water, which trembles like beloved skin.
The breeze is a skilful watercolour painter. A first, brilliant stroke is applied to the horizon line. Then additional brushstrokes appear on the surface of the sea. Here the watercolour painter applies clear ink, there dark ink. Her brush borrows blue from the sky, finds grey and ochre in the mountains, grabs some soft green in the vineyard. Suddenly does she wipe it all out and starts again.
Léman's nuances are like music that is only composed in duration. Although the sky and the water offer us feelings of density and depth of field, attemps to express these feelings on paper are hopeless.
The colours of the world are like butterflies. Are they pinned down, do they die.
After André Guex. Mountaineer, sailor, secondary school teacher in Lausanne. 1904 - 1988. Look also at: Voiles et carènes, by him. Publisher: Editions 24-Heures, Lausanne, 1981.
Fete des Vignerons 1977 Vevey, Suisse Entree des pecheurs du lac:
Both pictures are from Ferndinand Hodler: le Léman depuis Chexbres, 1905. The first picture peers south-eastward at the break of dawn, second picture westward in the afternoon.
Translations of the previous text in German and Russian are available under the following link:
Besides ballooning, gliding is considered to be one of the most romantic arts of flying. No other flying machine shares as many traits with the bird as the sailplane.
Besides ballooning, gliding is considered to be one of the most romantic arts of flying. No other flying machine shares as many traits with the bird as the sailplane. Neither transporting freight, nor passengers, nor concealed weapons in its belly, the sailplane is designed without any other purpose than being magnificent at flying. Conceived to operate safely at up to 270 km an hour, weighing 450 kg for a typical wingspan of 20 m, it behaves like an elegant destrier in the hand of its pilot.
Compared to his motorized colleague, the glider pilot is either cheered as the poet of the clouds, or booed as a kind of 'sky saunterer'. He is the guy who nostalgically gazes outside the window during boring professional meetings, following the development of cumulus clouds over distant mountains.
Indeed, the successful glider pilot must have developed a kind of shamanic skill enabling him to read the sky. Flying is an energy consuming endeavour. Energy might be provided either by kerosene or gasoline for aircraft, or throughout biological processes for most of the birds. Together with Eagles, Condors and Vultures do glider pilots play in another league: they borrow the energy of their flight from the atmosphere.
Thus the necessity for the shamanic vision. Where pedestrians see landscapes, clouds and sunshine, the glider pilot reads convective cumulus, lee waves, convergence zones. Those wonderful birds bear this feeling since time immemorial.
Gliding is an inconspicuous sport. Once the pilot has released his sailplane from the tow aircraft, it almost disappears from the sight of the terrestrial observer. Only the attentive sky gazer might notice a cruciform silhouette circling high in the shadow of a cumulus, or tracing its route along a rocky crest in the Alps.
For the pilot, the landscape unfurls like a symphony. He speaks to the hills, to the plains, to the mountains. He perceives the deep green of the forests, the light green of cultures, the yellow of the corn, the red dots of the tiny village roofs. He crosses passes, lets his or her wing slide in front of walls of rocks, seracs and glaciers.
In the evening, while quietly gliding back to his home airfield, he contemplates the incredible change of mood in the vesperal atmosphere. Long shadows sculpt each feature of the terrain. Last light rays marry with the evanescent summer dust to produce gorgeous sunsets.
At that very moment, flying strait in the sedated air without any impulse on the commands, he/she notices that the lone movement in the whole flying machine is the beating of her or his own heart.
First picture: Twin Astir HB-1473 in the Berner Alps, 1997. Second picture: Spalinger S18 HB-411 belonging to Willy Schwarzenbach over the Jura mountains, 1973.
The spirits of wild beasts and winged birds, when they perish, when precious life has them in abundance, no one brings them to Hades' house. Vainly do they fly till the day, when another body plucks them from the breath of the winds. - Antic greek statment, far ahead of the christian epoch -.
The wingrowers' Festival
This festival is celebrated once a generation, - each 25 years - in Vevey, on the north-eastern shore of Lac Léman - Lake Geneva. The above picture shows the 1855 festival. Around four thousand musicians, dancers, performers, technicians, stewards, ... are involved in the success of the festivities. The festival is dedicated to the winegrowers (French Viticulteur, Swiss dialect: Vigneron. Swiss German: Weinbauer). The best winegrowers of the generation are selected in a comprehensive process that lasts for several years and is organized by a Vineyard Committee. This selection comprises about 10 men (at that time, as far as I remember, no women ...) who are honoured as the kings of the festival.
Audio elements
The audio elements following hereafter are few songs and melodies from the 1977 edition of the festival. I picked them among many others according to my own taste. Short explanations to them and to the festival are provided in the following document that should clicked upon to be opened.
Translations of the previous text in German and Russian are available under the following link:
The first of life's four branches:
Signs of tenderness:
Harvests of my childhood:
Harvest of the wheat:
Le ranz des vaches:
Le vin nouveau, the new wine:
La Montferrine:
La Ronde des flocons, the snowflake tour:
Le chant de l'homme, The song of mankind:
The wingrowers' Festival. Edition 1977
Listening to this music, written almost 50 years ago by the Composer Jean Balissat and the Librettist Henri Deblüe, I am flabbergasted by the dynamical mind-openedness and the debonnaire mood that prevailed then. People did really enjoy their life. Nowadays, listening to the electronic beats available at any place and any time through mobile devices, I cannot refrain myself to produce a deep-drawn sigh.
Philosophy of Freedom: The Sensitive Titan, The Creator and His Universe.
The following brief essay, initially written in Zürich in summer 2021 and refurbished in June 2024, is inspired by works published in German and accompanied by Youtube videos. It was concieved as an introduction to the classical music for my grand daughters, ... in a few years' time, inspired by their grand-father. It can also be taken as an amateur's attempt to introduce some philosophical notions through classical music. Is it necessary to mention that the above portrayed gentlemen are the Philosoph Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and the Composer Ludwig van Beethoven?
Eine Deutung nach Mark Sedgwick, Tracie Matysik, Renée Bergland, Lisz Hirn, Isaiah Berlin, Aquilino Morelle, Dirk Hoffmann, Suzan Blackmore, Roman Yampolskiy, James Lovelock, Emily Riehl, Martin Brandenburg, Jack Miles, Rolf Pfeifer, Josh Bongard, unter vielen anderen.
Aim
Liebe ist kein Thema des vorliegenden Aufsatzes. Dank oder wegen einer strengen calvinistischen Erziehung in der Westschweiz der sechziger Jahre habe ich eine Denkmethodik entwickelt, die mein Leben geprägt hat. Besprechungen mit neuen Freunden hier im Raum Hirzenbach-Schwamendingen-Wallisellen haben mich dazu geföhrt, diese Denkart ansatzweise zu schildern.
A translation from German to English is available here:
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