October 2008 Archives

There comes a time in a young man's life when Halloween, like Gregor Samsa, goes through a metamorphosis from something familiar to something vaguely unsettling. One year Halloween means providing for the Dentist's retirement, and suddenly, the next year, it is a venue for impersonating Bela Lugosi. While trick or treating was fun when you are a "little kid", and visiting the local Haunted House was okay when you were only a kid, things change so that actually MAKING a haunted house, or as close as you can get to it, becomes a really cool thing.

I remember a Halloween in the early 1960's when I went through this change. Since I was the studious sort, not the juvenile delinquent type, my Haunted House was well... a little weird. After all, one must admit that a Volcanic Pumpkin is a far cry from a Haunted House. I don't remember where I got the idea, but I think it must have been from Mr. Wizard.

Although this performance by Grigory Sokolov of the third movement of Prokofiev's 7th Piano Sonata is taken at a moderate rate and with an almost metronomic steadiness of tempo, it works. This piece, written in the midst of World War II while the German and Soviet Armies struggled for survival is one of the great achievements of 20th century writing for the piano. It will take four minutes of your life to listen to this, and it will be four minutes well spent.

UPDATE: The video previously included in this post has been removed from YouTube for copyright violation. It undoubtedly was copied from this DVD: Grigory Sokolov - Live in Paris (2002). Anyone interested in hearing this superb performance should buy the DVD. I'm going to.