Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

I have spent the past three months or so covering both Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and Gaza prior to that. I’ve written as many as four posts some nights. So much death, destruction and bleakness. Such senseless violence and waste of human potential. And it still goes on to this moment. And I will be covering it again tomorrow no doubt.

But for tonight, I wanted to write about something good, and true and heartwarming. Something not having to do with the Middle East. Something to do with two human beings and this blog.

I can’t begin to tell you the number of times that odd, charming and wonderful things have happened through this blog. The time when a former high school student of my deceased dad wrote to me after finding a blog post I’d written about him and his childhood in Haverstraw, NY. Or the time a well-liked high school teacher found this blog and regained contact with me. Or how I found a fellow, Mark Klempner, who I’d crewed with on Pete Seeger’s Hudson River sloop Clearwater in 1969.

And this piece of serendipity happened yesterday. I wrote a post some weeks ago about a deep, mysterious and powerful song I’d heard at a Kronos Quartet concert, Tusen Tankar (”A Thousand Thoughts”). One of my readers, Anais P., wrote an appreciative comment about how the song was one of the few pieces of music that would soothe her young baby:

Bonjour!

My name is Anaïs, I live in Montreal Canada. I heard Kronos quartet’s show on Radio Canada a few months ago and also fell under the spell of ‘Tusen Tankar’. I taped the show and listened to it a few times with great delight. I was pregnant during those listenings. My daughter has arrived 2 months ago and seems to have been touched by the music. ‘A thousand thoughts’ is one of the very few tunes that will calm her down when she’s crying. Thank you for the information about the song. I’ve been looking for the quartet’s version but no luck. Triakel’s version is wonderful. Thank you for helping me discover a new group!

I’m also happy to have found your blog and to know that I’m part of a great community of shared values of love, respect, kindness, peace and curiosity towards the world.

Have a great day

This comment was lovely enough, but more was to come. Yesterday, another reader wrote to say that he knew Anais long ago when they were in college. But that they’d both lost track of each other and that he wanted to get back in touch with her. I wrote Anais asking for her permission to put them in touch with each other. She responded by telling me about their “past:”

Bonjour Richard!

Wow it is odd! François is a friend from college that I haven’t seen in almost 13 years! When we were eighteen years old, we were part of a group of friends whom lost one of its members (Pierre-Yves a kind, gentle and spiritual person) in a car accident in the States. This horrible incident brought us all closer together and gave us, at an age when you think you are invincible, a glimpse of the fragility of life and the importance to make the very best of it. That moment convinced me that I had to leave something good during my time on earth and it totally changed me from an introverted and shy girl to someone who wanted to share and create links between people.

Ha–that this happens on your site is certainly what you call in English serendipity (!?). Life is great!

I haven’t visited your site in a while! My baby has started rolling over on her stomach and she’s likes being outside in the summer (like me!) so the computer hasn’t seen me in a while!

I hope you are well and that your family is happy and healthy! Thanks a lot for François email I will write to him for sure!

À bientôt!

I so love when blogs transcend the bounds of time and space and bring human beings together for good purposes.

Last week, I attended my first Kronos Quartet concert with special guest, Rahman Asadollahi, the Azeri accordion wizard. To tell the truth, I’m not a big fan of minimalist music. Asadollahi’s music was the star of this show as far as I’m concerned. But there was a single piece Kronos performed which was absolutely gorgeous: Tusen Tankar (hear it) by the Swedish folk ensemble Triakel.

There is a certain profundity and grandeur to the finest Scandanavian folk music and Tusen Tankar illustrates this quality perfectly. It is a deeply moving song. Despite the sad and even maudlin lyrics, the melody carries tremendous hope and optimism about the human condition. While Triakel’s original version is lovely (this live video performance only adds to that loveliness), Kronos’ version conveyed a deeply poetic intensity and immediacy that kept mounting with each repetition of the hypnotic musical phrases. Kronos took the music to a very deep, spiritual place.

Triakel: Emma Härdelin (vocals), Kjell-Erik Eriksson (fiddle) and Janne Strömstedt (harmonium)

Unfortunately, Kronos appears to have started performing this song fairly recently and I haven’t found a recorded version. But if someone reading this knows of one, by all means please let me know.

Tusen Tankar (”A Thousand Thoughts”)

A thousand thoughts oppress me
for love of one who can’t be mine.
As through the world I ramble,
all I can do is pine.
All I can feel is the pain I bear
and it’s all for you, my dear.
Mankind’s false heart betrayed me
and left me in despair.

If I had never seen you,
Your hands, your face, your clear blue eyes,
If I had never been there
The first time you walked by,
I might have spent my days in joy,
I might be content and free.
The day will never dawn now
When sorrow leaves me be.

The pretty flowers of summer
I see them everywhere I go,
But death is all I long for,
Since your love I’ll never know.
And if my fate’s to die for you,
To you I’ll leave my pain,
For never while I’m living
Will I be free again.
–translation, Alistair Cochrane at Northside

Triakel’s website characterizes the group’s style:

The group’s repertoire covers everything from old music-hall numbers to hymns. Often the songs are rooted in the provinces of Jämtland and Hälsingland where the group’s members grew up. The music is quiet but emotionally charged, and arrangements are built up around Emma’s singing, which is the heart of the group’s sound. It is an expression of its members’ yearning to make simple, acoustic music, in contrast to the louder, amplified sounds they otherwise work with.

Please Note: This mp3 blog showcases my love for traditional music. I hope you come, listen, enjoy, and follow the links to buy the music. Such good deeds reward the artists I feature here and allow me to cover a small portion of the expense involved in maintaining this blog.