| ஒத்திசைவு | प्रत्याह्वय | resonance |

When such soul uplifting  music exists, life is much more bearable,even when viewed from the dank dungeons of stark social realities that one finds oneself enmeshed in.

Yes.

In spite of what Douglas Hofstadter has to say about music (on as to why we love it), groups like Pink Floyd seem to have been able to make some good music that is likely to live far  beyond that of the bands or their members.

One such fantastic  piece of music  happens to be ‘Atom Heart Mother (suite)’ – which in my opinion is much underrated – even by its own makers, with the probable exception of that prolific collector of wrenches – Ron Geesin, the composer who wrote this suite with interspersed contributions from the band members.

Apparently, the costs of carrying a huge number of folks just  for the sake of rendering this suite alone, seemed too costly to the band, whatever. This seems to have resulted in the band/its members NOT showcasing this suite live at all. Anyway…

Looong back, in the hazy mists of my wasted  youth, I remember to have seen the Hamburg rendering (of 1971/72?) of the suite on our friendly neighborhood Doordarshan (which then was the only TV channel that was available, wish it had remained  like that) – and I recollect having seen the choir and bass elements of a typical chamber, apart from the members of the band, sans Syd Barrett, of course. This was probably in the year ’79 – but am not too sure.

A few weeks back, I chanced upon this film strip at daily motion. It was really heart warming to see this video – of an almost grammatically correct rendering of the suite which continues to enthrall me these days. Magic courtesy: The students of Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.

Updated link, of 30+ minutes of heaven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72McX3mMdIA

The musical and theatrical improvisations of the students are very thoughtful and apt, right from the pouring of milk from a bottle (with black patterns like that of the HF cow that finds a curious place in the artwork of the album), to the stunning cello rendering to the strato-fendercaster reaching newer crescendos to the fine dancing by three girl students (at the beginning of their synchronized performance for ‘Mind Your Throats, Please’ – I thought they looked cutely plump and delightfully edible,  but then, they may not deliver in terms of movements or grace; however, I was proved completely wrong, and they were very good). Choreography was quite interesting too, as also the imaginative movements in stunning synchronization with the musical pieces.

Sometimes the cello’s tempo was an issue (the pressure on the young cellist was palpable) as also some misses (very very minor) of the trombones – but overall, the effect was magical. It is  magical even after many delightful views! Amazing, what else! Hence, eminently recommended. QED.

Thanks to young Manish, one of my favorite and bloody bright  lads, I have to come to know about keepvid.com wherein you can paste in the dailymotion url, download the good quality mp4 file (at some 120 MB or so), sit back and enjoy!

Yes. Life is actually worth  living!

JournalEntry: September 8, 2008.