ePub How Architecture Works: A Humanist's Toolkit by Witold Rybczynski in Arts-Photography

Description

As editor of the Guardian; one of the worlds foremost newspapers; Alan Rusbridger abides by the relentless twenty-four-hour news cycle. But increasingly in midlife; he feels the gravitational pull of musicmdash;especially the piano. He sets himself a formidable challenge: to fluently learnChopins magnificent Ballade No. 1 in G minor; arguably one of the most difficult Romantic compositions in the repertory. With pyrotechnic passages that require feats of memory; dexterity; and power; the piece is one that causes alarm even in battle-hardened concert pianists. He gives himself a year.Under ideal circumstances; this would have been a daunting task. But the particular year Rusbridger chooses turns out to be one of frenetic intensity. As he writes in his introduction; "Perhaps if Id known then what else would soon be happening in my day job; I might have had second thoughts. For it would transpire that; at the same time; I would be steering the Guardian through one of the most dramatic years in its history." It was a year that began with WikiLeaks massive dump of state secrets and ended with the Guardians revelations about widespread phone hacking at News of the World. "In between; there were the Japanese tsunami; the Arab Spring; the English riots . . . and the death of Osama Bin Laden;" writes Rusbridger. The test would be to "nibble out" twenty minutes per day to do something totally unrelated to the above.Rusbridgers description of mastering the Ballade is hugely engaging; yet his subject is clearly larger than any one piece of classical music. Play It Again deals with focus; discipline; and desire but is; above all; about the sanctity of ones inner life in a world dominated by deadlines and distractions.What will you do with your twenty minutes?