Carpe Diem #1103 Symphony in F sharp minor Op. 41 by Dora Pejacevic

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new inspirational episode of CDHK full of wonderful music. I haven't enough time today, so this episode will not be a very big one. I will only share the composition by Dora Pejacevic (1885-1923) to inspire you. Sorry for that.

I hope this music will inspire you.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 6th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, Libertango by Sofia Gubaidulina, later on.

Carpe Diem Seven Days Before Christmas 2016 #4 first snow

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We are counting down to Christmas 2016. As is the tradition here at CDHK we are doing that with our special feature Seven Days Before Christmas. As everyone does I think ... we are all dreaming of a white christmas, but a white christmas is not always there. Of course a white christmas brings the real Christmas sphere, but that's only possible if you live on the Northern Hemisphere.
Here in The Netherlands it has been several years ago that we had a white christmas and this year we will again have no white christmas it's to warm for the time of year ... so maybe we will have to dream about it.

In my opinion snow has to do with Christmas, so for this episode of Seven Days I have chosen for the prompt first snow. First snow is a classical kigo by the way and I remember that we have had that prompt earlier here at CDHK.

Let me give you a few haiku themed "first snow" to help your muses to become inspired:

first snow has fallen
prints of bare feet to the fence -
sweeping the path

virgin snow
stepping into it like a child
bare footed

winter morning
the fragile light of the sun
reflects in the snow

a cold moonlit night
just the sound of fresh fallen snow -
wandering over the moors

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... we are a day closer to Christmas and I hope I have inspired you.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 25th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1102 Symphony No. 4 Op. 50 by Johanna Senfter

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

2016 Is running towards its end and we have only ten days to go before this year will be gone and a new year will start. This month was a joy to create. I discovered the beauty of classical music created by composers I never had heard of, but ... wow what a wonderful music I have shared here and heard here ... I can only hope that you all have enjoyed it so far and I hope the last episodes will be a joy too.

Today I have a nice piece of music for you by Johanna Senfter, a female composer who isn't well known, but has created wonderful music. I hope her music will inspire you. Let me first tell you a little bit more about this female composer who was born in the 19th century and died in the 20th century.

Johanna Senfter (1879-1961)

Johanna Senfter:

Johanna Senfter (1879 - 1961) was a German composer. She was born and died in Oppenheim. From 1895 she studied composition under Iwan Knorr, violin under Adolf Rebner, piano under Karl Friedberg and organ at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt am Main. This gave her a considerable amount of musical training when in 1908 she became a student of Max Reger in Leipzig. She composed 9 symphonies, 26 orchestral works and concertos for piano, violin, viola, and cello. Senfter was a masterful composer of fugue. All together she left behind 134 works.

It takes some time to listen to this Symphony, but it is sure worth listening to. I hope this Symphony inspires you to create haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form.

As I listen to this symphony I see an open space somewhere high up in the mountains. A peaceful place to be and to enjoy the beauty of nature and the beauty of the one you love. I think this symphony is a nice inspirational source to create tanka ... so I did try to create a tanka.

high in the mountains overwhelmed by the beauty of the Creation I bow my head and embrace the one I love enjoying being part of each other

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 25th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, Symphony in F sharp minor Op. 41 by Dora Pejacevic, later on.

Carpe Diem Seven Days Before Christmas 2016 #3 Christmas Carols

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We are counting down to Christmas and today I love to inspire you with Christmas Carols. I love those songs, but I also love that movie "A Christmas Carol", about Mr. Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future. It's every year again a joy to watch this movie. Of course I love the real classic and not the modern versions of this story.

What does this movie tell us? That we have to be good people and live out of unconditional love, but I love to change that interpretation a little bit, because I think CDHK is an awesome family of haiku and tanka poets, we were this in the past, in the present and I hope to have that same strong feeling of a warmhearted family in our future. As I started Carpe Diem Haiku Kai back in 2012 I couldn't have dreamed that more than four years later Carpe Diem Haiku Kai still exists. I am grateful for that ans I am proud, but also humble, that I can and may be your host here. Thank You all for that.

Christmas Carols ... what can I say ... I love them and I love to share a classic here to inspire you.

Silent Night ... I mentioned it yesterday, but this is one of my favorite Christmas Carols. And this choir performs it with an elegance and fragility ... it really gives me that feeling of a Silent Night. A night to be alone with your thoughts, maybe one candle and of course pencil and paper ... such a Silent Night can be a great source of inspiration.

wandering over the fair
in touch with the Christmas thought  -
Silent Night

© Chèvrefeuille

What is your favorite Christmas Carol?

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 24th at noon (CET). Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku or tanka.

Carpe Diem #1101 Emilie Mayer's Symphony No. 4 in B minor

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy it was to do the Tanka Kukai "winter love" it was an experiment to do this tanka kukai, but I think it has become a nice kukai and it is my pleasure to announce our first winner of this Tanka Kukai:

The winner is: Xenia Tran with the following tanka:

a warm path

weaves her way through winter
from eye to heart
soft glow of the low sun
blows a silent kiss

© Xenia Tran

Congratulations Xenia. With being the winner of this first Tanka Kukai, you will be featured in a new special feature here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai ... Tanka Splendor, which I will publish later this week.

Okay back to our episode of today. Today I love to introduce Emilie Mayer, a female composer who has written wonderful pieces of music. Let me first tell you a little bit more about Emilie Mayer.

Emilie Mayer (1812-1883) 

Emilie Mayer:

Emilie Luise Friderica Mayer (1812 – 1883) was a German composer of Romantic music. Emilie Mayer began her serious compositional study relatively late in life, yet she was a very prolific composer, producing some 8 symphonies and at least 15 concert overtures, plus numerous chamber works and lieder.

Emilie Mayer was the third child and eldest daughter of a well-to-do pharmacist, Johann August Friedrich Mayer and Henrietta Carolina. She received musical education at an early age, and even in her first years as a piano student, the young Emilie apparently had an eating disorder, which caused many issues in her compositions.
On August 28, 1840, her life took a sudden turn: Emilie Mayer's father fatally shot himself, 26 years to the day after he buried Emilie's mother.
In 1841, she moved to the regional capital city of Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland), and sought to study composition with Carl Loewe, a central figure of the musical life of the city. Author Marie Silling, writes concerning this: "The death of her father caused her first deep sorrow; in order to numb this pain, she buried herself in work. She went to Szczecin and became Loewe‘s student. After a challenging test he said in his crafty manner: "You actually know nothing and everything at the same time! I shall be the gardener who helps the talent that is still a bud resting within your chest to unfold and become the most beautiful flower!" Emilie always considered it important to be thrifty in her own life but was continually giving to the needs of others. When, for these reasons, she asked Löwe whether she could share the composition lessons with other female pupils, he answered: "such a God-given talent as hers had not been bestowed upon any other person he knew." This statement filled her with the greatest thankfulness throughout her whole life and obliged her to work extremely hard."
In 1847, after the premiere of her first two symphonies (C minor and E minor) by the Stettin Instrumental Society, she moved to Berlin to continue her compositional studies. Once in Berlin, she studied fugue and double counterpoint with Adolph Bernhard Marx, and instrumentation with Wilhelm Wieprecht.
She began publishing her works (e.g. lieder and chants, op. 5-7 in 1848) and performing in private concerts. Then on April 21, 1850, Wieprecht led his "Euterpe" orchestra in a concert at the Royal Theater exclusively presenting compositions by Emilie Mayer. With critical and popular acclaim, she continued composing works for public performance. She traveled to attend performances of her works, including to Cologne, Munich, Lyon, Brussels and Vienna.

Emilie Mayer has composed a lot of music and she was (in my opinion) one of the best female composers of the 19th century. I hope I can inspire you with the following Symphony;

I hope you did like this piece of music and I hope it did inspire you to create haiku or tanka. I wasn't inspired to create a haiku or tanka in response on this magnificent Symphony by Emilie Mayer.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 24th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, Symphony No. 4 Op. 50 by Johanna Senfter, later on.

Carpe Diem Seven Days Before Christmas 2016 #2 silent night

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the 2nd episode of our special feature "Seven Days Before Christmas" in which we are counting down to Christmas, or more specific to Christmas Eve, because to me that's Christmas.

In this time of year we are all doing our best to decorate our homes, not only inside, but also outside. We do that of course too, but we don't decorate the outside of our home, because we are more of the Inner World and meaning of Christmas, so there is no need for us to decorate our home from the outside.

Of course we have a decorated Chrismastree and a few small decorations in the rest of our home and some strings of light, candles and most important music. My wife and I are of the classical Chrismas carols like "Oh Tannenbaum" and "Silent Night", but we also like the real classical music for Christmas, like e.g. the Messiah of Handel, or the Christmas Oratorio by Bach, but the piece of music we love the most is this one:

Maybe you recognized it. It's a famous Christmas Concert written by Corelli (1653-1713). I love this kind of Christmas music, it goes well with the Christmas dinner or lunch, or just to enjoy listening to it.

Of course "Silent Night"  as I titled this episode of Seven Days Before Christmas, is a classic also and I love that Christmas carol for sure ... Silent Night ... well the night before Christmas was a Silent Night until the little lord Jesus was born ... With His birth the world would change forever ... and that happened, but look at were we are now? Christianity against other religions ... is that what His goal was when He came to earth in a manger somewhere in a cold stable? I don't think so He came to bring peace and love. He came to bring respect and trust in each other ... Let us show that here at CDHK ... we are a warmhearted family of haiku and tanka poets ... Can we do that? YES WE CAN!

Namaste,

Chèvrefeuille

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 8.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until December 23rd at noon (CET). And I hope that this episode, not only my thoughts, but also the shared music will inspire you to create haiku and tanka.

Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #92 Hamish Managua Gunn's "the temptation "

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at this new episode of Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu. In this episode I love to share poetry by our runner-up of the "tribute to Jane" kukai, Hamish Managua Gunn. I think you all have heard from him or have read his haiku and tanka.

His haiku for the "tribute to Jane" kukai brought him the runner up status and this was his haiku:

the temptation

at the chalk cliff top
I throw a rose

© Hamish Managua Gunn

With this haiku he not only gave tribute to Jane Reichhold, but he also honored her for her choice. A very strong haiku with a very strong emotion in it.

Recently Hamish writes more and more tanka and I love to share a few of his tanka here with you to inspire you of course. Hamish is a very gifted poet and I think he is becoming a great tanka poet.

His most recent post, maybe you already have read it, he published on his Tumblr Forest Bathing:

Since we bowed in Sayonara the last time I took you to the airport, there have been so many sunrises and sunsets I have forgotten which is which.
“Do not count the falling leaves,” you once told me, in your hushed voice. “What is important is that you let the tree grow big and strong.”

your origami Torrii Gate
I place at the top of the Christmas tree
and leave the forest
with the sun that always rises
and the stars, that you see too

© Hamish Managua Gunn

And I found another beautiful tanka written by Hamish, this tanka is one of my favorites, maybe because of the mentioning of the name of my own haiku master, Matsuo Basho. And as Hamish writes in this tanka ... "Basho taught me all I know about haiku and tanka, but mostly about nature".

Basho and I
share the same moon
and the same joy
of words about nature
I know - Basho taught me

© Hamish Managua Gunn

I love these tanka written by Hamish and I hope they will inspire you to create tanka yourself. Have fun!

This Tokubetsudesu episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until December 23rd at noon (CET).