Saturday, September 5, 2015

a short lament

Sooo I wrote an English Dance tune this morning... now I have to scour my MP3 collection and search the internet and inquire of dancing folk to find out where I've heard it before. :} It's kinda' sad, being so entirely unoriginal that the best I can hope for is to inadvertently copy someone else's genius...

...have other tune writers had this problem?!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Zoe,
I'm Tessa Whittington, from the Belleville and St. Charles dances? You probably know me by sight, but I don't know if we've ever officially met. Anyway, I stumbled across your blog earlier, and was looking over it and your other public blog, Zopers. I found a post about meringue mushrooms and wouldn't you know, I remember eating some delicious meringue mushrooms of a suspicious similarity at a ball one or two years ago. Would you by any chance be the one who brought them? If so, thank you, they were delicious. :D
This is probably an odd comment, but my sister and I were tickled to find this and I couldn't resist asking. :)
-Tessa

Zoë said...

Good evening, Tessa -
Lovely to hear from you! You're right, I'm not sure that we've ever formally introduced ourselves - indeed, one of the amusing-yet-awkward things that often comes to my mind at such events is "I know OF that person, do they know me, do we say hello, how's this supposed to go?!" ;]

Ah yes, I was the one who brought the basket of mushrooms. Very "party-ish" food, to my mind. ;] Ha ha, thank you kindly! And thou'rt most welcome. :)

It's such fun to make connections between things when looking through blogs and profiles, isn't it? Sure, most people would consider the resulting comments a trifle odd... no matter, I for one am fond of them. :)

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the internet!
~Zoë

Anonymous said...

Hello, again!
Aha, I knew it! :D I remember getting to the end of the food line and getting so excited over such a delightfully Hobbit-ish snack! My sister and I will have to try out the recipe sometime!
I didn't know you were a fan of the Lord of the Rings! So being a LotR enthusiast myself, I must ask; have you read the books(I'm assuming so) and which is your favorite? Have you seen the movies? :) And of course! who is your favorite character?
I look forward to seeing you at the next dance! :) Which will be soon, I hope!
-Tessa

Zoë said...

Yes yes YES!!! Lord of the Rings is epic awesomeness at its height. :]
Yes, I've read the Trilogy, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion - granted, it's been awhile since those first readings, and I intend to start the Trilogy for a second perusal in February. And yes, I've seen all six of the available Middle-earth movies. They're magnificent. :]
As to favorites - I'm partial to the story of Beren and Luthien in The Silmarillion, "Riddles in the Dark" in The Hobbit, and... well, I'll have a more intelligent reply regarding favorite books/portions of the Lord of the Rings a few months hence. :)
My favorite movie is probably The Fellowship of the Ring... though I love all three of the Trilogy's films.
Favorite character: Aragorn. All the way. :] That being said, Legolas is amazing, Arwen is beautiful, Saruman is fascinating, Pippin is hilarious... et cetera, et cetera. So many grand characters in Tolkien's tales... I have a deep fondness for a great many of them. :]
What about you? And which type of being do you like best - Men, Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, Istari, Ents, et cetera?
You've come upon one of my favorite topics - this conversation could last quite awhile! ;)
A pleasant evening to thee!
~Zoë

Anonymous said...

Oh, don't worry, this is one of my favorite things to talk over as well! I always enjoy finding someone else who likes it as much as I do.
Well, Elves are my favorite beings; and then the Hobbits. Who can help but love them, and being a country-lover and home-body as I am, I sympathize and agree with them on many things. :) Plus, they're adorable and hilarious. :D
Legolas is my favorite character! Of course, Aragorn is simply awesome, but I never think about which I like better if I can help it, because then I'm undecided. But Legolas was my favorite when I first started reading The Fellowship, and my favorite he shall remain. My favorite Hobbit(because I must tell you my favorite for each type of people) is Sam, because who can't love good old Samwise? :) I also love Faramir.
And that leads me to my favorite passages of the books; Faramir and Eowyn's meeting, and the part in which they declare their love. :) I just love them together.
Other parts that I really love are the first chapter of The Fellowship,(Bilbo's 111th party in particular) Riddles in the Dark, and the Flight to the Ford. I really don't know whether I like Glorfindel or Arwen better at that part. I do like Beren and Luthien's story as well. So sweet. :)
It seems you are a very musical person; what do you think of the Lord of the Rings' soundtracks? Or the Hobbits'?
I await your reply! :)
-Tessa

Zoë said...

Elves are my favorite beings as well. They have such a natural elegance to them.
Ahhh, YES! I liked Legolas a lot when first reading the books, and still more so after watching the Trilogy.
And Faramir & Eowyn... ahhh, I love that part. It's so beautiful. :]

As to the soundtracks - how do I even begin to describe them?! Howard Shore did an excellent job in setting the tone for scenes, locations, peoples, and characters... his musical themes are amazing. I'm particularly fond of the theme for Rivendell (granted, I'm partial to the location itself, so I may be a trifle biased here!) - it's so full of mysterious beauty and ethereal depth. Like the Elves who dwell there. :] The theme for Saruman/Orthanc/the Uruk-hai is intriguing - it's one of only three pieces I've ever heard in 5/4 timing, and fully arrests my attention every time I hear it. "Concerning Hobbits"/the Shire theme exemplifies a skillfully captured environment conveyed through music... the simple merriment, the sunlit home life of the Shire... it's incredible. (This musical theme was unfortunately cut down to a sound byte and repeated far too frequently in the Hobbit movies, especially in the first, to the point where I actually wearied of those few notes... but in proper context, the Shire theme is among my favorites.)
What do you think of the Middle-earth soundtracks? And which of the six credit songs do you like best?

Anonymous said...

Hello Zoe!
I am so sorry that I never responded to you. Things have gotten quite hectic around here, with the birth of my baby brother being the latest.
Anyhow, when I saw an email from Mrs. Carol Stearns about a dance, I of course clicked on it and scrolled down to see your name. That made me remember our conversation, and I rushed to see your last comment. If you don't mind, I will answer it now. :)
Concerning Hobbits! :D Since the first time I saw the green-ness of the Shire, and heard those beautiful melodies, I have loved them. That song has always been the first thing I think of when I hear 'Lord of the Rings'. I do agree, it's been a bit overused in the Hobbit. I suppose it's Bilbo's theme, which means it must be played ALL the time, but it is nice to hear "something of home" in the midst of all those dwarvish themes. :)
I love all the soundtracks, they really are amazing. The Fellowship of the Ring has been my favorite since the beginning. :)
Hm....the credit songs! What a choice. I See Fire is my favorite, and then probably Into the West. The Last Goodbye is a real tear-jerker, though. The music video brings me to tears every time. :) Which of them is your favorite?
I look forward to seeing you at the dance this Friday, and hope to engage in actual face-to-face conversation with you. :)
Good evening!
-Tessa

Zoë said...

Good evening to thee, Tessa!
It turns out that your comment DID come through, I just didn't notice it because, with comment moderation enabled, Blogger didn't notify me. Sorry 'bout that!
The birth of your baby brother?! I did not know that your mom was expecting! Congratulations! :D
Ah, yes... ^_^ ...there's something so blissfully reassuring about the Shire theme... and, of course, the Shire itself.
Howard Shore has done his job excellently. It's amazing to think that one man so greatly contributed to the making of a world - or at least to how many of us see the world originally created by Tolkien. My view of Middle-earth simply wouldn't be the same without Howard Shore's incredible musical themes and epic scores.
I'm partial to The Last Goodbye, myself, though I See Fire is a very close second. I love the imagery of Into the West, but am not particularly fond of the vocals... I rather prefer this cover of the song: https://youtu.be/zFKknGLIlSc
Thank you so much for coming to the dance tonight! It was lovely to see you! :D