William Butler Yeats
“Tread softly because you tread on my dreams”
—William Butler Yeats
Cloths of Heaven
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
Often described as one of the greatest actors in the world (three Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globe Awards), So intense, true, pure and versatile. He changed the history of cinema for me and for so many others. I miss him on screen now, because he was such an unique actor.
« Welcome to earth, my child!
Joybells of blossom swing.
We time-worn folk renew
Ourselves at your enchanted spring,
As though mankind's begun
Again in you
This is your birthday and our thanksgiving »
by Cecil Day-Lewis
Alessandro Baricco
I discovered Baricco with L'anima di Hegel e le mucche del Wisconsin (Garzanti 1992), an essay on classical music . It was a shock because he was writing the truth about so many aspects of our music world and he had the courage to do it .
His writing is always so poetic, personal and strong.
“Ora tu pensa: un pianoforte. I tasti iniziano. I tasti finiscono. Tu sai che sono 88, su questo nessuno può fregarti. Non sono infiniti, loro. Tu, sei infinito, e dentro quei tasti, infinita è la musica che puoi fare. Loro sono 88. Tu sei infinito”
—Novecento
Jean Cocteau
"I think of as an important twentieth-century artist. ; he wrote poetry and plays and novels, he painted, and he directed movies. And people quite incorrectly thought he was a dilettante. "
—Philip Glass about Cocteau
Rebecca Miller by her mother Inge Morath
Rebecca Miller
An amazing creative woman. Daughter of Arthur Miller and Inge Morath , wife of Daniel Day-Lewis and mother of Ronan and Cashel she amazed me to be able to write, make films, documentaries with the same passion, love and energy. She is known for her films Angela (1995), Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002), The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005), The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), and Maggie's Plan (2015), and the most recent « She came to me »(2023) all of which she wrote and directed. I also love her books The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and Jacob's Folly.
Led Zepplin
David showed me this footage from a live concert . What a great energy this band had and what a beautiful song Stairway to Heaven
Luciano Berio
One of the greatest composers of the XXe century He was our mentor since 1972 when we created his concerto for two pianos in Royan. He was so open about all kind of different musics. Passionated about electronic music during a discussion about his research in this domain he met Paul McCartney who used some of those elements in « Revolver ».
He loved African music, Jazz , Popular and Traditional music . We toured a lot with him and Cathy Berberian who was such an amazing singer and musician.
Bryce Dessner
Bryce does not cease to amaze me. He is the only composer I know who can write with such grace and power rock and classical music,
He is so unique in our world of music.
Branch of flowers
Perfection of this branch of flowers (Japanese Sakura)…
Thank you Daniel C. (@_danieljoel)
Brigitte Lacombe
Our friend and inspiration for so many years. For four decades she has created iconic and intimate photographs of many of the world’s most celebrated artists, actors, politicians and intellectuals.
Pontormo. Déposition (v. 1528)
Huile sur bois, 313 × 192 cm, Cappella Capponi, Santa Felicita, Florence
Pontormo. Déposition
We were so lucky to live in Florence few meters away from the Capella Capponi, we could go and see his paintings everyday, so modern, so strong
Hilma af Klint
Hilma af Klint began creating paintings in 1906. It was years before Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, Klint kept her groundbreaking paintings largely private. She stipulated that it was not to be shown for twenty years following her death. Her work was unseen until 1986.
I love my sister’s shirt representing those swans !
Hildegard von Bingen
“I welcome all the creatures of the world with grace.”
Hildegard viewed people at the centre of the universe, with our body and soul as a miniature representation of the greater world. She wrote more chants than any other composer from the middle ages, writing both music and words. She’s also one of the first to write an opera. Born in 1098 Hildegard was visionary and leader within the church. A Benedictine abbess, teacher, composer, writer, healer, philosopher, mystic, founder of a monastery and she’s known as the founder of scientific natural history. She wrote about the cosmos, theology and the medicinal properties of plants. In fact, she is the first Christian thinker to positively describe women, discussing all subjects about them. She corresponded with popes, kings and emperors to provide them with counsel, comfort and criticism.
—Hildegard von Bingen, Meditations
Emma Bardac
Emma Bardac was Gabriel Fauré’s lover and became Claude Debussy’s wife. She had a daughter from Fauré and another daughter from Debussy. They both wrote wonderful piano pieces for their daughters Fauré wrote « Dolly » and Debussy wrote "Children Corners"
Anne Carson
Anne is working on a libretto for Bryce Dessner's first opera and I cannot wait to hear it ! She is such a visionary poet, inventing words and getting to the unexpected
Dogs
“I am suspicious of people who don’t like dogs but I trust a dog when it doesn’t like a person”
—Bill Murray
