A FOX IN THE SUN

Étude IX - In the book IN ADORATION OF THE EARTH : A FOX IN THE SUN,

composed and performed by Kathryn J. Potter

This étude practices multi phonics, quarter tones, pitch bending, adding color and expression to this portrait of a fox.
The multi phonics are notated as an open circle on the 3rd line of the staff and with a descending, unattached stem. Suggested fingerings of multi phonics serve to provide both education of multi phonic fingerings and well suited multi phonic choices for the placement harmonically for that moment in the phrase.

With the understanding that all oboes, reeds and conditions vary, it is simply a suggestion.

Reviewing quarter tones introduced in étude VI CROW - with fingerings listed there, Measure 23 calls for a G a quarter tone flat, and measure 25 calls for a G a quarter tone sharp.

I LOVE foxes. So beautiful, mysterious, wild, crafty, adaptable, graceful. They positively flit, pause, glide. Hmmm possibly a favorite transfiguration animal choice of fairies? They seem to live in their own world, too unique to be pigeon holed as canine or feline, in some ways transcending feline and canine qualities while being related.

A word to the wise. When studying/performing, please keep to the written rhythm to the best of your ability. You know, I really put a lot of energy and thought into it. This work is not intended to be played freely at all! Ironic as it may seem, by adhering to the exact rhythmic ratios, the piece sounds freer! The fox after all is not a domesticated animal - at least not the one I am portraying! Therefor a feel of boxed in or metered, would not serve…and yet, this creature behaves in patterns, so there are patterns. This creature is free to follow his/her instincts and so the illusion of sounding free is crafted craft fully like the fox is crafty!

I hope you will enjoy. K.J.P.
P.S. (SKYPE lessons available.)

a man with a flute

Dear Ones,

Some of the students I’ve had in the past have healed or reclaimed somewhat from significant abuse from their childhood through their own determination and courage willing them forward onto a pilgrimage involving music in some way. Especially the male adults.

One of the senior citizen students I’ve had the opportunity to be employed to be a private music teacher, was a retired Christian pastor who was finally pursuing a life long wish to play the flute.

As a boy, he was forbidden to play the flute as it was deemed shameful and inappropriate for a boy to play that instrument. (Meanwhile women at that time weren’t holding orchestral or professional positions of being a flautist either….but that’s for another blog.)

He was in his late 60’s and suffered from a very weak short term memory. For weeks he would come to his lesson, and not even recognize that some of what I was teaching him was review. I feared he was beyond hope and I began to question the morality of taking this man’s money. His wife was an oboe student and she assured me that he practiced at home usually about 5 to 10 minutes most waking hours. He was very devoted.

I decided to be patient and wait a couple more months to see if he’d make enough progress to justify the money he was spending, or to have a real heart to heart with him.

Anyway - fast forward - his consistent hard work started to “pay off” in terms of he was making progress and bit by bit playing the flute. He was getting a sound, getting endurance for phrasing, remembering fingerings and developing - some - dynamics.

BUT

He grew more and more frustrated because technique aside, he wasn’t being expressive. He just wasn’t connecting his heart with his sound. It was noise, not music. He had a mini melt down, because he’d always wanted to play the flute he saw NO moral reason for him being denied the ability to study flute - so his studies were guilt free - yet he felt trapped. Now that he was doing all he could, he hit a wall of ability and feared he’d never play - really play - the flute before he would die. He was feeling impatient also, and that isn’t helpful either.

This gentleman was a retired pastor so he was familiar with hymns and biblical characters. I said, secretly pick one of the following three biblical characters, and play this hymn the way you’d imagine one of the characters would sing it, but play exactly what is written. ( I gave him the most contrasting of three characters I could think of because I was afraid I’d have NO idea, which one he’d pick!) Well, clearly he picked the holy mother and he did extremely well expressing HER character as he’d imagine.

So, my point is, we all have hearts and we are all musical, the trick is finding what we love to access our own ability to “sing” or emote or express our hearts. Sometimes it helps to express ourselves, our hearts through our adoration which isn’t blocked to enter the vast sea of our own emotional sea of expression.

In time, he was able to express more and more of his own heart without requiring to move sideways through adoration of another.

Much of my work with adult students was therapeutic in assisting/witnessing them overcome toxic pedagogy or limiting beliefs of their youth. Fortunately because of their own dedication and love of music, I was able to help them through the wall they willed to fall down.

Very rewarding honor to witness these successes in the heart. There is healing in music.
I am grateful that moving forward, humanity is liberating itself from such narrow ideas of what it means to be a boy or a man.

My oboe teacher, Peter Hertling told me about how in some native American cultures, a boy ready to become a man would go out on a vision quest, fast, have a vision, then make a flute while out on the vision quest. When (if) he returned to the tribe, he’d play on the flute and expression of his vision, on his flute which he forged, for the tribal elders. After hearing the music, he would be given his adult man name.

It was a rite of passage. To go alone in the wilderness, fast, pray, have vision, forge a flute, return, express and choose to be a part of the tribe.

There is a beauty and wisdom there.

Thank you.
K.J.P.
February 17, 2020

Joy in a world gone mad

Dear Ones,

During this age of madness, this age of extinction, this seeming apocalypse, we the vital, creative, force of humanity must give ourselves permission and purpose to feel, experience, create and share joy - true joy, not distraction - during these troubled times. It’s like creating an eye of a hurricane, or mild weather and respite, fresh air to breathe and fresh water to drink, perfectly ripe delicious fruit to eat. WE NEED THIS!

This is our job. In so doing we revitalize our emotional bodies, our nervous systems, we revitalize the good feelings, we tend the garden of love, harmony, beauty, joy, pleasure, devotion, cooperation and all that is deeply inspiring. This is important, sacred, soul watering work. Let it be worship if you are so inclined.

Be an alchemist. Transform the angst into a compost for this garden. Don’t stuff it, sweep it under the carpet or deny it - USE IT - create contrast, create healing. This helps you, this helps all who interact with you.

BOLSTER the good feelings. Turn stress into fuel to exercise the muscles of positivity.

To be real and successful about it, we can treat it like a massage - touch the pain intelligently and lovingly, release it and replace it with glowing love and beauty. In this way we raise consciousness and create healing. We allow joy and well being. We pull a weed of negative energy and with alchemy, transformation it into something beautiful, delicious, joyful.

Have a multi course emotional meal of many flavors of emotion, and follow it up with a naturally ripe, delicious sweetness of joy. Let your emotional heart free, let it soar above the clouds of doom and gloom from time to time and fly in the sun shine, under the stars.

The following works available express joy:
FEBRUARY: in the “Mother and Son Mask Project”
Flying with Ravens into the Sun - oboe quartet no. 2
Many flowers in the 100 Flower Series (along with many other moods!)
(Works in the 100 Flower Series are:
Illuminations
Arc en Ciel
A Dozen Roses
Visions
Duet #2 (of 7) in “The Secret of Ravens”

The new set of duets for oboe, or oboe d’amores, or oboe and oboe d’amore: “Springtime Dances” will be premiered Sunday March 8th, 2020 in Paris - see home page. Later this year they will be commercially available. Many of them are joyous as well.

Best wishes.
K.J.P.
(Feb.1, 2020)

Alchemy

Dear Ones,

ALCHEMY is the consistent underlying art form in this pilgrimage as a creative being - whatever - the medium or task; teaching, composing, blowing wind through a pipe, painting, even meditating….

The process of ALCHEMY demands courage and love in order to harvest the plethora of emotional ingredients to use in the food of music, painting…etc. PATIENCE is demanded of us to develop the technical elegance of skills to transform these ingredients of sound, feeling, sight, relating…

Although it takes time to cultivate technique - if the “IT” is there - that special something …. that ability to courageously TASTE the ingredients of AUTHENTICITY, the IT will come through.

At 54, I feel like I’m in an interesting perspective point along this journey as a student/teacher/life long creative….

As I go forward I am exploring more and more this ALCHEMY .

E VERY year, there is a new harvest of GRAPES (emotions - the pas de deux of relating to the macrocosm as a microcosm).

How do you grow your grapes? How do you harvest? How do you stomp the grapes, barrel them up, store, ferment, bottle and serve?

In the work “DREAMS OF THE BLACK SWAN” a trio for flute, oboe and bassoon - I consciously did a lot of alchemy. It helped. I sat down and tasted a lot of bitter and painful emotions. The thorns and daggers in my heart. With as much patience, courage and compassion as I could muster, I listened to the echos of these torments. I listened to my younger self, as if I were listening to a younger student whom I loved and cared about. That strategy helped. It was like ruff tangy tasting of bitter grapes from the barrel that were left to ferment.

Next, with compassion, I listened to inspiration to transform the pain into sound, lovingly. To do this lovingly, I had to FEEL and RESPECT the difficulty of these feelings, give them wings so they could fly away with beauty.

Another way to put it, is to acknowledge the pain, grind it like a mortal and pestle with loving attention and make a paste.

Add inspiration - and you have wine. Add technique and you have a bottle of containment - i.e. the written page.

Not all feelings are sweet. Not all music as food is a light desert, nor should it all be. We have cuisine - we have emotions, we have sonic food for a FULL COURSE MEAL complete with wine.

As I travel this pilgrimage as a creative, it helps me a lot to have some skills so I can transmute via alchemy the slings and arrows and agonies of the human experience into sound.

Now, that it’s been years since composing “DREAMS OF THE BLACK SWAN” I find myself needing to do more alchemy (every year is a new season of grapes - as well as many other ingredients in the garden of life - . Now I am using my “grapes” as I compose 100 Longings for oboe d’amore - these are solo works.

So - if you are an artist of some medium, how do you embrace this blog for your own benefits?
Sit quietly and listen to the most painful feelings of your life experience like you are listening to a younger person you truly love. Do so courageously - do not be afraid to feel - emotions are like wind storms - THEY PASS - emotions are not solid, they flow like water - courage is your life raft. If you are afraid then either wait until you are stronger or older or get help you can trust. If not - then shelve it - until you are ready. THERE IS NO HURRY. You can barrel up your bitter grapes into a casket for a later time (like I did) and if and when you are ready, listen compassionately to yourself, and then follow it up by practicing your craft be it composing, or painting, or dancing in silence or writing poetry or shaping clay or cooking a stew or planting bulbs in the garden - sewing, knitting - writing a letter to your younger self or older self or best friend or become your best friend or become a loving best friend to someone else, or take a dog for a walk…go fly a kite and celebrate the listening and liberation of the shadows of your heart set free.

From despair to beauty is a wonderful thing. From bitterness to deliciousness is a glorious gift for yourself and if you wish - you can share your art with others.

BEST WISHES for peace, and the growth of love consciousness.
The more we can embrace our own bitter feelings and shadows, the more we can be loving and compassionate. It takes COURAGE. Empathy and awareness and courage - real emotional face the music - courage are the building blocks of loving higher consciousness leading to peace and well being for us all.

K.J.P.

January 24, 2020