Change & Decay In All Around I See

A weblog maintained by Justin Reynolds of the Scottish Borders design studio Lucent Web Design


Tuesday 16 December 2008, 12:48AM

The Isle of the Dead

The Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin, 1880

I‘m trying to finish a mountain of client work before the end of the week, Kate is studying for exams. We are both pretty miserable and desperate for the holidays.

What does it say for my sanity that I’ve had The Isle of the Dead, a tone poem by Sergei Rachmaninov on repeat play for large swathes of the past few days. Not very seasonal, but a wonderful slab of unashameably overwrought Romanticism, especially those forbidding opening bars. Compliments my mood perfectly.

You get the idea from the painting of the same name by Arnold Böcklin (above), Rachmaninov’s inspiration for the piece, which is another great work. Anyway: it’s late, I need to retire.

Comments (4)

1 Heather ~ Friday 19 December 2008, 11:05PM

Hello!  Hopefully things are looking up.  I am not sure what it is about the last two weeks, but I know so many people that are feeling this way.  Hopefully the spirit of the holidays will infect us soon.  grin

2 Justin Reynolds ~ Saturday 20 December 2008, 11:09PM

Thanks Heather - yes, we are still alive. Hope you are doing well, and Happy Christmas.

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