President Macron grabbed my bowing arm
mainFrom cellist Marc Coppey:
L’Europe est aussi incarnée, depuis toujours et glorieusement par la musique. Ce jour, le Centre Européen de Musique fondé par le musicien humaniste Jorge Chaminé a été lancé à l’Elysée. J’ai eu l’honneur de jouer devant le Président de la République la 3ème Suite de Bach dont les danses d’origine diverse et l’art polyphonique disent l’harmonie dans la diversité
Europe is also defined, always and gloriously by music. Today, the European Centre for Music founded by the humanist Jorge Chamine, was launched at the Elysée. I had the honour of playing before the President of the Republic the third suite of J S Bach in which dances of diverse origin and polyphony proclaim our harmony in devisity.
Macron studied piano at the conservatory and understands a lot about classical music, which he sees as an important building tool for cultural identity. He is currently the only European leader with a cultural commitment (as already appeared from his speech at Aachen when he was awarded the Charlemagne Prize).
https://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/video/sendungen/video-der-internationale-karlspreis–100.html
(From 58′ onwards)
He doesn’t half like the sound of his own voice. What a windbag!!
Just stupid.
Coppey is a much much better cellist than Macron a politician. His set of the Bach suites is very rewarding. I would rephrase it as “the President of the Republic had the honour of hearing Coppey play the third suite….”
The only serious mistake of Macron is that he often says what is true, and what he thinks. That has created many enemies.
It is true that loose lips sink ships, but Macron over-promised and under-delivered. The people have seen through it. I think Europeans, Americans and other English-speaking nations are used to their leaders have contemptible things to say about the ordinary people. “Deplorables” and “fly-overs” in the USA, other such monikers in the UK post-Brexit vote and “dumb” and “white knuckle draggers” in Australia. The nouveau-educated have adopted the mantle as the new ‘elites’, replacing the people with money – who were the traditional establishment. And the employers.
If one had followed political developments in France over the last half year, one would have noticed an enormous shift in handling problems and implementing reforms by the government. French people are by nature unruly and resistant to change, but whenever there might be something wrong with ‘the state’ they try to replay 1789. It is a poor & sad spectacle.
Found a way to shoehorn in the diversity angle, eh? Clever. Never noticed the diversity in Bach before; then again, I’m not that into postmodern analysis of everything for the sake of drawing an inane conclusion.
But it is an old idea, like the ‘European concert’ idea in the 19th century. And instead of ‘diversity’ one can read: ‘independence’, that’s where polyphony is about.