Already seemingly in mid summer

On the way back home from the city south of here, I went through by the ancient tomb named Bentenzuka, which I have posted about before.

It stood among rice paddies as it used to. It was very fine with some clouds flowing in the sky. The clouds were typical for that in summer. Rice seemed to grow well. Very quiet place.

Rice paddies were spreading like green carpet. Again, cumulonimbus clouds were accumulated on the horizon. It is a bit too early for us to see such clouds here. The summer solstice is close for now, though.

My sister has given me a postcard, which has told she and her spouse would have the golden golden wedding anniversary next year. They are planning a ceremony at their home. She also added it had been only 23 years ago when we celebrated our parents' golde wedding. Time still goes by quietly as well as steadily. When I cut the weeds in the garden with a long sickle, I remember my father used to do the same thing only 20 years ago. I feel as if I could hear the sickle making ticking sound he made hitting the ground.

In 3 weeks, we will have the 14th anniversary of father's passing. 

Garden in the rainy season and the detente process in the Korean Peninsula

It is still in the middle of the rainy season even though a bit cooler than usual. If this cool wind coming from Kamchatka and Alietian islands, it may damage crops especially in the northern part of our country. It is called as Yamase, which has worried farmers in the area. The forecast says it will get quite hot very soon. And Yamase won't last too long. Crops might not be damaged.

Hydrangea are coming out in the garden as they always do in this season. They bloom at several places in the garden. Again, they have been a gift by my father.

I have sown seeds of Marie gold harvested last fall at many places in the garden. They are budding now and may bloom very soon. They last until the fall. 

I am moving the strawberry plants from the former farm to a new place in the garden. The extended runners are pretty strong and would be settled down any places. Hopefully, they would bear so many fruits as they used to at the former place.

I am on a process of harvesting potatoes. Pretty good ones. I have given some of them to friends of mine, including the violinist friend who used to live in Germany for study of the instrument for a few years and has enjoyed potatoes over there. Possibly with a bit of lager as well.  

By the way, the US vs NK summit in Singapore left skepticism about its result. President Trump seems to deal with the dictator of NK for reputation for the election while the dictator needed to negotiate for acknowledgement of their regime and possibly for economical support. Denuclearization and the detente in of the Korean Peninsula won't be an easy process. However, this first stem toward it. There have been any other choices than this agreement however unreliable and unconfident it may be. 

I am so pleased to have the news mentioned above for my friends in Korea. For example, Lee HL2DC living near to the DMZ who told me he won't refuge anywhere even if another war started between N and S Korea. The people in the peninsula have experienced too much agony during and since the war there. It is the time for them to start for union of the same people again. I have a few more friends whom I have known through ham radio for the past decades. I would pray for further progress of detente process over there. It is a prayer for the real friends living there.

So far, I am not very active on the air. Something has changed in my mind. Even though I have craved for radio for years, I won't feel that way any longer. I don't know if it is a transient mood or a lasting change in my mind. Let's see. I would, however, spend an hour or so every few days. If you hear me somewhere, give me a buzz. 

Scores stored and unrealized for years

Having slept long last night, I woke up in the bright sun shine early this morning. The atmosphere was crisp and cool. What a nice day! As I always do in the morning, I went out to see how the vegetables were growing. Everything looked fine. Tomatoes might be ripened soon. I have watered some of them which required water. It will be the time to harvest potatoes very soon. Corns were growing steadily. Sweet corn will be on the table not too long from now.

Very soon, there will be an off line meeting for ensemble held in Tokyo, which I have joined for several times. The piece they will play is OP3-6 Violin Concerto, one of the concertos "L'estro Armonico" by Vivaldi. I am not very enthusiastic for that piece for myself but have ever played it years ago. It seemed there were one cellist participating it and I thought I would go there if things permit me.

I remembered I had the set of part scores of this piece. It must be somewhere in the boxes I stored all part scores I had owned. They were kept in the storage house built by my father some 25 years ago. It is comparted to 3 rooms. One of them are for keeping books, old letters, QSLs and the other things. I found it there.

There were a lot of scores packed in these 4 boxes, sorted after the composers or the genres. I used to buy and collect them from score shops when it was not possible for us to download freely scores from IMSLP. Until over 10 years ago.

Some of them were obtained back in my med student days. I used to walk down to a score shop named Academia near to our school in lunch time or after classes. I forgot time passing while looking for any good score there.  

It is surprising that there were a lot of important works of chamber music at least  in the classic and romantic age among the collection. For example, in the genre of piano quintet, those by Schumann, Brahms, Shostakovitch and Faure. Two piano quintets of Faure. 

Only very few have been realized for performance. Each opportunity I have played them with friends was really jewelry memory for me. One of them was playing the famous d minor piano concerto of Mozart, KV466, rearranged for quartet and a flute by Czerny, with a good friend of mine since the med school days and the other company. It was in Shinshyu more than 10 years ago. Her cadenza performance for this piece was really demonish, which astonished us all. 

I must say, however, the others, mayb 80 or 90% of all the scores, have not been realized at all. I have got each of them hoping I would play it in the future. But most of those dreams won't come true because of lack of my technique or of company to play with. It is not only the dreams in performance of cello but in the other areas of life which would remain unrealized throughout our life. Our life may be a chain of such events which has not come true. We have dreamed and yearned for those things a lot. They would left not done, though.

I find it more important for us to do what and how we try to realize them. The results are only results. The process of efforts is more precious and important. With such a view, I would go on practising some of the scores unrealized yet even if it won't come true. It is the life.

And I should also look for someone who takes over these scores in the near future. Hopefully, they would give someone more dreams of performing them. 

Opening to all over the world at the same time

Maybe, I have already written about this experience before. The band condition was really impressive last night, so that I could not help depicting that memory again, which I had half a century ago.

I was the club head of amateur radio in the college, when I was a late teen ager. Every summer, we were going somewhere for camping. That year, in the mid 60', we decided to go to a skirt of Mt. Fuji. About 10 members were going to a bangaloo we rented there. It was located in the middle of a big forrest of pine trees. Our equipment was a typical one for beginner station. TX88A, a transmitter, with an 807 for PA and 9R59, a single conversion superhetrodyne receiver, both of them were from Trio, the former name of Kenwood. A dipole for 40m was set between trees, which was barely over 10 meters high. 

While the others were walking outside, one or two members were operating radio throughout a day. It was early summer. At night, I found 20 meters was open literally to all over the world. With that tiny set up, we have worked stations from everywhere in the world. At that time, I had already worked some DX from home but was still impressed at that opening. First, I thought it would had been the path open at high altitude like there. Later, I knew it was a real firework like opening in the height of the solar cycle. What a brilliant experience for all of the teen age boys! 

I have given grinding training for CW reception to young members. A guy was having nightmare of CW at that time! Of course, it was not a training with violence but a long lasting, almost enduring, training for them. I hope it has helped them to enjoy this mode in their lives later.

Anyway, we were fascinated by this miracle of the nature. It was the days when we had no communication tool with abroad except for ham radio. That opening was a real window open to foreign countries. The young people with cell phone and the internet won't be impressed at that path now.  

Late at last night, before going to bed, I was listening 20 meters. Some DX were coming through. Calling CQ on 14018KHz, I was called by a few statessides. Not so loud but very easy to read on the quiet background. Allen N2KW was calling me with a special call W2FOC. Then, ZS9FOC Raoul and A45XR Chris followed him. The latter two were really loud here. It was typical for summer night path on 20 meters. All of them were in the 80th anniversary event of FOC. It has not let me talk to them for a long time. I only wished it had been without such event and we had been able to chat a bit more. However, no complaints are necessary for the condition. All I had to do was to enjoy it remembering good old days.

Move of strawberry plants

How long has it been since I planted a few sets of strawberry at a corner of our property. Possibly for nearly 10 years. They have proliferated there and look like weeds now. They say repeated cultivation on the same ground causes problems. I wondered why they could grow and bear fruits every spring. They have extended outward with runners. The size of the crop has increased year by year.

It seems this "bush" of strawberry has grown to its margin now. I decided to take new sets of them using their runners. 

I have set this runner rooting at 15 different sites. They will be planted at a larger  place in the garden this summer if they get rooted in these pots.

They may bear so many fruits that I could cook jam and serve them for dessert next year.

  

A memory of university orchestra days part 3

A photo of the jr. orchestra at a summer camp happened to come out of an old album stored in PC. It was at the dining room of the guesthouse in mid '70s. The people on the photo was only about one third of all the members.

The guy tuning his viola in the center of the photo was a kind of leader in the beginner's group. On the usual day, we often stayed at the club room in the university after classes. Late at night, a small ensemble was sometimes started with a few members there. This guy, capable of playing trombone, recorder and viola, was the main person in such an ensemble. It was a primitive ensemble by beginners but was still much fun. One of the pieces we often played then was the 1st contrapunctus of Art of Fugue by Bach. It was tough for us to go through fugue since there was few unisons between parts as you know. It was still interesting the fugue thema was taken over from an instrument to the other. This person composed music as well. 

We have organized a small ensemble within the orchestra and have often been to hospitals or the other facilities for a small concert. He has conducted it and/or arranged wellknown old songs for that ensemble. Before graduation from the school, he has given me his work, piano trios for soprano, cello and piano, featuring the poems by Saisei Muroo and Jukichi Yagi. Very beautiful and heavenly music. Unfortunately, I haven't performed them in any concert yet. I owe him much. I know he has worked as a psychiatrist in his life and maybe already in his retirement for now.

The girl on the right of the back row, a cellist, was a student majoring in piano at the music education faculty. She used to sing the aria "Er Barme Dich" from Matthew's Passion in the ensemble mentioned above. She was not necessarily the best alto singer those days. However premature her technique as a singer might be, her performance was compelling to us with her incandescent enthusiasm. It was performed in the hospital where my father used to work. She was really proficient at piano. Not only perfect in technique but also warm and always emotionally expressive. In the only concert of the orchestra which I took the role of the principal cellist, performing the 7th symphony of Beethoven, I asked her to sit the top side position. It was one of the most remarkable moments for me in the university orchestra days. I heard she had married to a pediatrician in her home town area several years after graduation.

Well, back to the jr orchestral memories, at the Christmas party of the orchestra in the end of that year, we have performed Pastrale of the Christmas Concerto by Corelli. A good choice. It made us feel keenly of the season. As quiet as snow falling night, soothing and pleasant. In a subway on the way back home, I was  accidentally on the same train with a couple of cellist girls and a violinist, who were all music education students. It was the time when we were finishing the prep course for medical study and were ready for getting out of the dorm. We would attend the main campus in Tokyo when we started professional studies. Our whole lives would undergo a big change then.

Anyway, the cellists seemed to be very interested in our life at the dorm and wanted to visit us there. In addition to them, that violinist said "Me, too". This violinist was really a good player who would play the role of concert misstress for a couple of years later on. In the same small ensemble within the orchestra, she has played the violin solo for "Er Barme Dich" together with the cellist girl as told above. Very decisive performance. Still full of deep vibrato which expressed her poetic turn of mind. I was a bit hesitating to have them at the dorm. With approval of the room mate, we have accepted them there.

In February or sometime in early spring, they have visited us. I wonder how we have treated them at that time. Have we served red tea with an electrical pot? I can't remember that. When I asked that violinist to play something, she started playing Chaconne by Vitali. It was so impressive when the grave double stop of the tune abruptly sounded gorgeous in our plain room. The music she played changed the atmosphere. Other than that, we have played some early quartet of Mozart together with a violist friend of mine. I could not remember how we managed that. But it was when I noticed what fun it was to play chamber music with good company, even though it was far from real chamber music.

The jr orchestra days was musically very premitive and skill less time for me as a cellist. But it was still really brilliant days in my life when I could learn how good it was to play ensemble as if we sung together. It has determined my way to go, even if I was a bit away from music during my medical career. It has made my life full of joy and good memoir.

I often wonder how those friends are doing now. How have they done with music throughout their lives? I sure would ask them about that if I had a chance to see them.

I still have a bit more to talk about those days. But the glass of scotch on the rocks is being finished now. It is the time for me to put an end to this tale. Thanks for reading.

A memory of university orchestra days part2

In response to overwhelming approval by "3" friends, here is the part 2...

Next spring when freshmen/women came into the schools, as in usual year, a junior orchestra was organized for the instrument beginners. A year behind the classmate at the school, I joined it. A violinist, a graduate from the Dept. Dentistry, instructed us. He had started violin in the university and finally played the 1st violin part in the orchestra. For amateur players, the 1st violin players are looked honorable being in the orchestra. The cello part, including myself, has welcomed 5 fresh members. Two of them were students of the faculty of music education in the women's university. Another girl was a student of some science in the same university. The other, but not least, one was a student of faculty of medicine. Without the science majoring member, all of us have played in the orchestra until our graduation.    


Since I had started cello a few months earlier, I helped them to tune their instruments. As if a senior member. Those majoring in music education have progressed with cello quickly. I didn't know I would be behind them soon. Every week end, we had the practise of the jr orchestra. A lecture theater class room in our university was always used. The podium was too small for all of us to sit around the conductor. Some of the members sat at the table in tier. Tuning was deliberately done. Before starting with any tunes, we practised scales. Each instrument was harmonized in unison. Even it was really impressive to me. I believe the others might feel it the same way. The pieces we have practised were such as the 2nd movement of the Symphony Nr 94 "The Surprise" by Haydn  or the Water Music by Hendel etc.  I can't remember how the ensemble sounded. Maybe, close to music of atonality. We still enjoyed every moment to play together. 


After the week end practice, we often went to have supper together. It was a downtown for students where our med university was located. And there were a lot of restaurants for students. Not so long since I joined the orchestra, we went for dinner at an Italian cuisine there. Candidly, I had not been to such a restaurant yet. A beautiful girl, a senior cellist, took a seat beside me. A fair skinned thin girl wearing glasses. She was so kind to talk to me for some topics when I had nothing to talk about. When my dish was served on the table, she was, with a charming smile, telling me this seasoning was very good for the dish. I was really thankful for her kindness. But it turned out to be Tabasco, which I had never tried before. It was the moment when I first learned that a beautiful rose had thorn. I could hardly remember we had happy hours together. One reason was that we had little amount of money for such an event. I haven't attended any party alcohol was served before entering the university. Yes, I used to be a sobersides stiff. Who knew I would be indulged in this club later!


Every summer, we have had the summer camp in Shinshyu. It is a large basin or a long valley spreading north to south, surrounded with high mountains, located in the center of the main island. A winter olympic game was held in 1998. Pretty famous resort area. After the olympic, things have been settled down like in the days when we used to visit for the summer event in '70s. The mountains are named Japan Alps. The scenary might be like that in Switerland or the other area in European Alps. It was always in the end of August when the summer vacation was over. In the area, cool breeze was starting blowing. 

Four years ago, I have driven to the summer camp place for a sentimental journey. There was still the private house for students to stay for such activities. The same guesthouse. 

In front of the guest house, there was a small river running from the mountain. In the end of August, breeze of fall was starting to blow down here from the top of the mountain. 

There was a pretty big late a few km away from the guesthouse. We used to walk to this lake and swam across it, when we knew the water could be too cool to swim and swimming was forbidden there.  Some friends were rowing boats beside us. What an adventure! After that adventure, we all walked another few km to the camp site. It was a real fun. Only youth could do such a thing.

The road was quite the same as almost 40 years ago. Drenched to the skin, we were walking all this way. A lot of laughter and talks.

Part 3 might refer the jr orchestra activity and subsequent event, if I won't forget it.