Ottevanger's Omphaloskeptic Outpost

[Luke]

Ah, gents.....

That piece I wrote about higher up this page, nigh on three months ago, the one about which I said

''tis only a piano scribbling of my normal sort, and who knows if it will be any good. I'm too close to it to tell at the moment. It has my usual moments of increasing complexity, tuplets building up into ever-bigger nests, the whole shebang-charade

...was, when I wrote that, very close to completion. It remains so. I haven't been able to write a single note of it since. I could plead lack of time, but though I'm ultra-busy in the final analysis I suppose there has been time. But even though there are free minutes and hours, my life is so full of concerns at the moment, and for the foreseeable future, that even when I find myself with an opportunity - such as now, I have ten minutes at the moment - I just can't do it. It's a matter of getting my mind into the right zone, and I simply can't do it. That's also why I haven't posted here in recent weeks - not through lack of desire to, not through lack of looking (I check out the board every time I am able to). Just through lack of intellectual energy, general life-fatigue that means I am only coasting musically, at the moment, and to be honest not feeling as if I am much of a real musician at all, fingers clumsy at the piano, ideas stodgy and same-old, brain clumsy in thinking with any acuteness...is acuteness even a word? There was a time that I would get hugely energised about discussions on the board, but at the moment that hardly seems to happen, and even subjects which once motivated me to write long screeds I can't summon up the power for. I don't think it's forever I know it's not forever - I am as in love with music and composing as I ever was, of course I am, and I yearn for a time where I can sit, think, stop worrying about everything else and simply write. But I can't see a time in the near future when I will be able to do so. Maybe at Easter, there may be a few days...but I doubt it

I am writing that half in the hope that in doing so I will be proved wrong, and have to eat humble pie when I come back in a few days having jotted down half a symphony. But it seems unlikely...!


Ho hum, I don't mean to be depressing! That's why I was keeping quiet.

[Karl Henning]

Understand completely about needing, not simply the time, but to be in the right space mentally/spiritually. Good to hear from you, lad! Hang tough! : )

[Cato]

.... Just through lack of intellectual energy, general life-fatigue that means I am only coasting musically, at the moment, and to be honest not feeling as if I am much of a real musician at all, fingers clumsy at the piano, ideas stodgy and same-old, brain clumsy in thinking with any acuteness...is acuteness even a word?

Okay, Pilgrim!  You are too young for "life-fatigue"    and so what you should try to do is listen to your own works, (take your pick) and say: "That is a great accomplishment!"  0:)

Everything I have heard of yours is in fact a great accomplishment, whether the world knows it or not!

Because...Cato is writing this and telling you the truth:you have creative genius, and after over 6 decades on the planet and possessing some degree of talent myself in all sorts of areas, I can tell you that my observation is the truth.

Yes, acuteness is a word, and might be preferred in certain cases over "acuity" because it generates things like "Her acuteness is a cuteness!"   

. I don't think it's forever I know it's not forever - I am as in love with music and composing as I ever was, of course I am, and I yearn for a time where I can sit, think, stop worrying about everything else and simply write. But I can't see a time in the near future when I will be able to do so....

It is time to sublimate and send the sublimations into those neurons for transformation: the dissatisfaction, the discomfort, the repressed anger, the yearning for happiness, the joyful memories, the promise of Easter, all these things can be swirled and baked in a pied pie of wonderment!

I am writing that half in the hope that in doing so I will be proved wrong, and have to eat humble pie when I come back in a few days having jotted down half a symphony....

Well, at least a page or two,     so  check back with us in a few days!

[Karl Henning]

We could always start another flame-war here, if that would bemuse our Luke . . . .

[Jo re mi]

If you need inspiration, Luke, check this out:

http://youtu.be/5PiXRAkIhNY

What's more they're in Great Yarmouth, which is only an hour from you (or a million miles, depending how you look at it)

[Karl Henning]

Luke is in the building . . . .

[Karl Henning]

Luke is in the building again . . . .

[Karl Henning]

Luke is in the building again . . . . !!!

[Cato]

Luke is in the building again . . . . !!!

Rats and Raskolnikov!  I missed him!

Luke Ottevanger  Come down from the mountaintops and proclaim the good news of Musiksetzung!

[Cato]

"Use The Force, Luke!"

Has anyone heard from Mr. Ottevanger?

[Karl Henning]

Not in a while; now and again I try ringing him. I shall try again tomorrow!

[Cato]

Not in a while; now and again I try ringing him. I shall try again tomorrow!

I hope things have not gone badly for him somehow: perhaps he is immersed in that symphony mentioned last year!

[Karl Henning]

I know there is/was a pending move.

[Jo re mi]

I did wonder myself if he had entered a purely mythical state but let me reassure you he's fine and still real. Like a rainbow unicorn dressed as a tramp he showed up on our doorstep the other day - very reassuring

[Karl Henning]

Excellent!  Next you see him, tell him I try ringing now and again . . . .

[Cato]

I did wonder myself if he had entered a purely mythical state but let me reassure you he's fine and still real. Like a rainbow unicorn dressed as a tramp he showed up on our doorstep the other day - very reassuring

The American Association of Rainbow Unicorns Dressed as Tramps highly approves of your hospitality!

Tell Mr. Ottevanger that he needs to be soiling some music paper with ink!   0:)

[Karl Henning]

I have spoken with Luke!  0:)


Still mad busy, still in the throes of pre-move activities, but he's been working on a "sort of novel," and he has begun setting a poem for voice and piano.  He is, on the one hand, keen to return to GMG, but on the other, wants to be able to return as a stable presence, so he stands by, waiting on the signs.  He will come back to us!

[Cato]

I have spoken with Luke!  0:)


Still made busy, still in the throes of pre-move activities, but he's been working on a "sort of novel," and he has begun setting a poem for voice and piano.  He is, on the one hand, keen to return to GMG, but on the other, wants to be able to return as a stable presence, so he stands by, waiting on the signs.  He will come back to us!

Such a talented young man!  We all hope he returns even intermittently!  His long absences have starved us!

For those who do not know, Mr. Ottevanger has composed several very impressive piano works in what might be called a post-Scriabinian style.  He teaches at a British school for his daily bread.

[Jo re mi]

Yay, glad you spoke to him Karl and could get an update from the equine orifice.

[Karl Henning]

Aye, Jo . . . he was in transit through some sparsely-towered terrain, so the call broke off at a couple of points;  but knowing that he was available on the other end, I persisted.