Razzamatazz

Pavane pour une infante défunte

We will, of course, be the first to say that this isn't a very typical posting for a Wines and Spirits store but we have just come off New Year's Eve and we and our friends are full of memories of parties and dances (some dating way way back in time).  One of our patrons this morning (yes we are open and yes this is a holiday or sorts - and we want you to prolong this weekend through dinner tonight in front of endless football games, raise a glass of good cheer and welcome the new year now here to stay)...was speaking of dances as he and his wife got to dance a danceable dance to danceable music at midnight Saturday as they have for decades and his recount brought a tear to our eyes - sentimentalists as we are.

They went home and watched Shakespeare in Love until they fell asleep and he talked about the dancing/entertainment in the movie.  The "pavane" scene in particular as he thought Pavanes seemed to be  interesting things.  They started out as a processional type dance and dates back 500 or so years. Done in pairs and in long lines (think conga line dancing in pairs - side by side) but really slow and in 2/4 time like a march.  We suppose our 50s dance "the stroll" is kinda like it...where the partners meet up and then "stroll" down the center.  If the stroll and the conga line are outside your experience, think of the hesitation step used for processions (pavanes) down the aisle at weddings...you know...step together step....

On occasion societies and artist communities go through a renaissance revival thing and dances and dance forms populate the output. France had one at the turn of the last century and a look back at classic forms was afoot and taken as inspiration.

Ravel wrote Pavane pour une infante défunte (a pavane for a dead princess or a processional not a funeral procession but a processional dance for princesses long remembered or forgotten and therefore dead who were possibly part of it one upon a time) in 1899.  He was a student then of Gabriel Faure who also wrote a Pavane about the same time.  Here they are and are very peaceful and nostalgic bits of music. You might note, if you listen to each, that there is a lot alike even though they were the products of two very different minds.

Things don't have to be complex to be of interest.

We are gonna help you out just this time...

We get it that you are not much into making toasts at the witching hour, but there is absolutely no reason that you shouldn't be prepared. If you stop in after 3pm today we will be tasting various "bubblies" and you should be able to find something to your liking to take home for later.

And to further smooth the way, here are some toasts for the "speechless". Pick what's appropriate. Raise a glass. Happy New Year.

Here's to the days of good will,
cold weather, and warm hearts.

A health to you,
a wealth to you,
And the best that life can give to you.

We've Holidays and happy days, and memory days galore
And when we've toasted every one, I offer just one more
So let us lift our glasses high, and drink a silent toast
To the day, deep buried in each heart
that each one loves the most

You, like many of us, might have a little "making up for some earlier-in-the-year errors" sometime this evening .  So in the interest of romance here are the words to the appropriate song and your favorite band playing further on down. To the light of the computer screen, sing along, hold hands, knock yourselves out.

Auld Lang Syne
by Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne

We twa hae run aboot the braes
And pou'd the gowans fine;
we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin' auld lang syne

We two hae paidled i' the burn,
Frae mornin' sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne

And here's a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie's a hand o' thine;
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne



What's a nudge between friends?

We certainly don't want to be nudges but New Year's Eve is 2 nights from now...2 shopping days .... and we will taste some sparkling wines Saturday, New Year's Eve from 3-6. 132 Front St. Greenport.  Got it.
'nuf said.

If you stay home that evening about 10pm or so the NY Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony will be doing their special New Year's Eve concert and they are fun to watch.  One of our friends was actually in Vienna and went to one of those some 20 plus years ago. It was fun so he said. He recounted the following:

Across from the concert hall and over a bit was a real Vienna champagne bar where one went after such concerts. They served chocolates and champagne - by all accounts a dandy combination.  Our friend went to the bar to order and had some musician friends from the event with him. He asked information as in " how much" (wie viele ist es) but his German was nicht gut and the bartender said "viel??" and our friend thought he said vier (as in the number 4 not how much) so our friend gestured to his 2 guests and repeated "vier?" which in the din of the place came out "vier jaja!" or 4 and 3 of us so 12 glasses appeared. Dazed and confused our friend paid the 120$ bar tab and and everyone drowned in cheap champagne.  The only solace was that Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Mahler had drunk champagne there on New Year's Eve - records meticulously kept - so that was kinda neat.

Venus

We happily spend long hours at this time of year and it seems we come to work with Venus setting and leave with Venus Rising - the proverbial morning and evening "star". 

It is just past mid-day and our bright little friend is nowhere to be seen and additionally it is far to early to play "did you know that..." but remember that old ditty "star light star bright first star I see tonight..."? It is the evening star "Venus" which, by some celestial magic turns into the morning star in the east.  It is regular and something of a comfort. Think about it. The moon all but disappears regularly - fading in and out - but this gentle orb shows up on time and shows us west at night and east in the morning as if following and then dragging up the sun.

Poe wrote a poem (yes that Edgar) wrote a poem called "Evening Star" as part of the published set we know as Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827).  Folks have been writing about Venus or discussing it and have noticed it from antiquity (Hesperus in Greek mythology), biblically (How Brightly Shines the Morning Star), and spiritually (wow! lookatthat!) and an occasional musician captures it perfectly like this:

Its Christmas by the Fire...

Simple Gifts

We gift wrap.

You still have a day and 3/4ths.

We smile and talk to you and don't need an elf standing outside our door to make you feel welcome.

Share a moment with us.

Give a gift that inspires the appreciative "ahhhhh!!".