Tous les Matins du Monde - Marin Marais

[Jhanananda]

This is one of my favorite contemplative movies.

Sainte Colombe playing viola de gamba & dreaming of his wife.

Tous les Matins du Monde - Marin Marais - La Rêveuse (1991) Version Film
It is a difficult scene to see, but there are many, it is so deep.

[violet]

This was a great movie and maybe I should see it again. I was younger at the time and I did not pay much attention to the contemplative side of it. But I have to say that I liked the play with light in the movie (lots of scenes could have been paintings), the silences, and the music. It's how I discovered the composer, Sainte-Colombe.

[Jhanananda]

Yes, the movie introduced me to to the music of Sainte-Colombe; however, before that I had enjoyed medieval music.  I too enjoyed the use of light and the scene in this movie.  The director certainly understood the tenebrism of renaissance art.  It was not just the contemplative life of Sainte-Colombe, but the music and the use of light and the scene that made this movie contemplative for me.

[Jhanananda]

The complete movie in French Tous Les Matins Du Monde - Alain Corneau(1991).avi .  Sainte-Colombe new of the music of the silence.

[Michel]

Beautiful piece of music by Sainte-Colombe. J.S. Bach wrote something very similar to this for cello some twenty years after Sainte-Colombe's death, and I use to play an arrangement of this for classical guitar, and I liked to play it in an old empty church. It was one of my favourites. I got out the music and played some of it through this morning.

See opening prelude here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i6pjvrkUZU

Thank-you for the link to the film, will watch latter.  I'm fortunate that I speak French. I very much enjoy watching films like this. The link to the scene you liked is dead.

[Jhanananda]

Beautiful piece of music by Sainte-Colombe. J.S. Bach wrote something very similar to this for cello some twenty years after Sainte-Colombe's death,

This suggests that Sainte-Colombe was the original genius behind J.S. Bach's music.  There is another French genius artist who I am quite sure was a mystic as well, and he is the original source of the renaissance art movement.  His name was Jean Fouquet.  We have discussed him here before.

I use to play an arrangement of this for classical guitar, and I liked to play it in an old empty church. It was one of my favourites. I got out the music and played some of it through this morning.

I would like to hear you play the piece some day.

See opening prelude here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i6pjvrkUZU

Thank-you for the link.  I listened to the whole thing.  Very nice.

Thank-you for the link to the film, will watch latter.  I'm fortunate that I speak French. I very much enjoy watching films like this. The link to the scene you liked is dead.

Sorry about the dead link, but that is the internet for you.  My French is clumsy, but I understand enough to enjoy the movie, but then I have seen it in English more times than I can count.

The places in the movie where Sainte-Colombe appears to be a genuine mystic are:
1) His idea of the music of the silence.
2) At some point in the movie he is sitting in the sun with Marin Marais and his daughter, and Sainte-Colombe says, "Oh the passion."  And, Marin Marais and his daughter say, "Passion?"
3) He retreats from the world into his music
4) He gives away everything to maintain his solitude.

The problem with the story of Sainte-Colombe is most of what we know about Sainte-Colombe is most probably from someone else' point of view, who was most probably not a mystic, then the screen writer and director want to sell the film, so they twist the story more.  So, I personally cannot imagine a genuine mystic being hung up on his dead wife for decades; however, I can see how grief over the death of his wife might have propelled him into an interior life, where he found bliss, joy and ecstasy.

[Michel]

This suggests that Sainte-Colombe was the original genius behind J.S. Bach's music. 

When I first heard Sainte-Colombe I thought it might be Bach, the similarity of style is remarkable; so Bach may have been influenced by Sainte-Colombe.
Jhananda:

is another French genius artist who I am quite sure was a mystic as well, and he is the original source of the renaissance art movement.  His name was Jean Fouquet.  We have discussed him here before.

I am really struck by these paintings, and they are only digital images. Imagine seeing the actual paintings. Fouqet was a genius of light and colour.

Quote from: Michel on October 28, 2013, 05:38:32 AM
I use to play an arrangement of this for classical guitar, and I liked to play it in an old empty church. It was one of my favourites. I got out the music and played some of it through this morning.

Jhananda: I would like to hear you play the piece some day.

Playing the guitar is a big distraction to my contemplative practice. I am thinking of abandoning it for good, it takes far too much effort and time, and is not as fulfilling as my contemplative practice.

I've watched half of Tous Les Matins Du Monde .  It is rare to see a film of this quality, it so beautifully crafted. I plan to purchase the blue ray version when it becomes available later next month.

[Jhanananda]

Yes, Sainte-Colombe's music and life, as well as Fouquet's artwork, have had a profound influence upon me. 

One of the interesting things about Fouquet was he did the realism, wet drape and depth of field of classical renaissance art before the renaissance, then later he moved onto Esher-like abstractions all before the renaissance.  Talk about genius, and sadly he was all but forgotten until the last 10 years or so.  If you ever have a chance to go to LA, the Getty museum has most of the Fouquet to be seen.