FreeSpace #3 Nat Hall and Lili Morgan: On the theme of ‘Music’

Here’s the last  ‘FreeSpace’ Collaborations put together by poet Nat Hall and artist Lili Morgan inspired by the theme of  ‘Music’.  This time Lili was inspired to create by Pavarotti and his classic version of Nessun Dorma  (See here) .  Lili passed her work onto Nat who produced the poem below in response. 

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none shall sleep

by Nat Hall

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below the drapes of green & gold,
below the thirsty Hunter’s moon,
………..below the stars’ dancing eyelids;

above the turmoil of each tide,
above that thin layer of mist,
………..above the edge of your canvas –

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in between my eyes & your shore,
in between now and Aquilla,
………..in between sheets of the north wind,
………………………………………………………..we shall not sleep

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below blotched dots of question marks,
above my doubt-rocking silence,
………………….in between words we never said

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en-dessous des feuilles d’érable,
en-dessus des giffles du sel,
…………………entre les dentelles du désir,

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………………………………………………nous ne nous endormirons pas
………mais dans la chaleur de septembre,
dans l’azur de ton crépuscule,
regarde-moi le coeur en face et
dis-moi qu’on y fait
son lit.

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© Nat Hall 2013

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You can find out more about Nat and her work here:

http://nordicblackbird.weebly.com/index.html

or follow Nat on Twitter here:

https://twitter.com/nordicblackbird

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You can follow Lili  on Twitter here:

https://twitter.com/LiliMorganArt

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FreeSpace #2 Nat Hall and Lili Morgan: On the theme of ‘Music’

Here’s the second of 3 ‘FreeSpace’ Collaborations put together by poet Nat Hall and artist Lili Morgan inspired by the theme of  ‘Music’.  Nat’s poem was passed to Lili to provide her with the inspiration for her painting below. We hope you enjoy it!

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In memoriam, Giuseppe Verdi*

L’homme qui plantait des notes

(The Man Who Planted Notes)

Feel dawn.

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In between two juniper trees,
lingering mist & wild fennel,
I hear songbirds pronounce his name.
Songthrush,
la grive musicienne,
found in a pine a pedestal
to celebrate the musician – Melodious,
Orphean, warblers in olive groves in need of a maestro.

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Breathe in sunrise.

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On every hill,
where shepherds drive ash-coloured herds to
the sound of footsteps & fifres*,
ascending scent of morning dew connects his dreams to land & thyme.
Hear the wingbeat of the gerfaut*
inside still rows of lavender,
Mistral waking
between
roof tiles & Mourre Nègre*

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where evergreen oaks through
their leaves echo the song of hidden streams,
and acorns shape notes on
score sheets.

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La force du destin*,

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Ugolin’s love* behind shutters,
…………the great symphony has begun.

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© Nat Hall 2013

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Notes:

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*Giuseppe Verdi, on his 200th Birthday (1813-2013). Italian Romantic composer & most influential of
his century. Composer of many operas, whose work includes La Forza del Destino, 10 Nov 1862.

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*fifre(s): fife(s), in homage to Jean Giono’s Le Serpent d’Etoiles / The Serpent of Stars (1933)

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*gerfaut: gyrfalcon, in homage to Alphonse Daudet’s La Chèvre de Monsieur Seguin, from Les Lettres
de Mon Moulin / Letters From My Windmill (1869)

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*Mourre Nègre: Highest summit (3691ft, 1125m) from The Grand Luberon Mountain, Vaucluse,
Provence, France. Jean Giono nicknamed it “the blue whale/la baleine bleue”)

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*La Force du destin/ La Forza del Destino – Ouverture, by Giuseppe Verdi, who inspired (in turn)Jean-
Claude Petit’s Theme of Jean de Florette for the 1986 film by Claude Berri, Jean de Florette/Manon
des Sources.

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*Ugolin: Marcel Pagnol’s character, from the two-part novel, Jean de Florette & Manon des Sources
(1963)

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‘The Man Who Planted Notes’ by Lili Morgan painted in response to Nat’s poem above

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You can find out more about Nat and her work here:

http://nordicblackbird.weebly.com/index.html

or follow Nat on Twitter here:

https://twitter.com/nordicblackbird

—

You can follow Lili  on Twitter here:

https://twitter.com/LiliMorganArt

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FreeSpace #1 Nat Hall and Lili Morgan: On the theme of ‘Music’

Here’s the first of 3 ‘FreeSpace’ Collaborations put together by poet Nat Hall and artist Lili Morgan inspired by the theme of  ‘Music’.  Nat’s poem was passed to Lili to provide her with the inspiration for her painting below. We hope you enjoy it!

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PRELUDE

>>>>>
Every colour holds its own notes.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>It takes the Moon to know my mood…
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Triads of tarnished red in gold,
>>>>>>>>>Debussy defined

>>>Clair de Lune.
Silver
tiara invisible,
I hold your canvas
with white
clefs,
as dusk
revives melancholy –
the other side of the mirror,
Frederic’s tears in arpeggios, Franz’s own
rage in minuets.

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Or is it just a magic spell?

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>>One woman’s work clad in scarlet?
>>>>>>>          She raves and twangs to
>>>>>>>>>>>>>    >>>>>>guitar & harmonica,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>      >sits at the piano with angels and
            splashes sounds around the house as a painter would never dream…
There’s a blackbird inside her heart.
I hear colours sigh in darkness,
as fingers caress her
keyboard.

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Sing me the songs
>>>>>>from your palette,
>>>>>>>>>>>toute la matière du monde.

>>>>>>>
It takes one Moon to know my mood,

>>>>>>>>
It takes
>>one wrist
>>>>>to splash it round;
>>>>>>>>>>one set of notes
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>to light it up,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>one set of drums
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>for the musical rendez-vous.

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© Nat Hall 2013

Here are the links to the pieces of music  that inspired the poem Prelude:

Claire De Lune by Debussy, Mazurka in A by Chopin, Liebstraum No.3 in A flat major by Liszt, Among Angels and Rubberband Girl by Kate Bush

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Prelude by Lili Morgan, in response to Nat Hall’s poem Prelude

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