Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine


Starting a new book is always fun, there's an excitement, the feeling of beginning a journey, the opportunity to try new things and to use ideas that have been fizzing around in your brain waiting for the chance to erupt. I will be documenting my journey with this new book, there will be ups and downs, thrills and spills, and eventually, there will be...a book:-)

I am embarking on a book entitled "Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine", based on a choral work by the American composer Eric Whitacre, with libretto by Charles Anthony Silvestri. These very talented men collaborated to produce an unusual and stunning work, full of action, exploring the concept of Leonardo da Vinci dreaming of his flying machine. I first heard this piece sung by the National Youth Choir of Canada in 2006, a magical performance which inspired me. From this beginning, I began to research Leonardo's notebooks (and along the way filled a few of my own).

Check out Eric's website and scroll down to the 'BYU Sings' entry for March 29 2009 for a sample of Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine. (No, I'm not getting a cut.) BYU = Brigham Young University Singers.

In my next post I'll be talking about choosing the paper for this book. So many types of paper.....where do you start? And why does it matter?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There you are! ;-) What a great start, I'm really looking forward to the next post. Off now to check out the music that inspired this.

Jill Timm said...

Blogs are supposed to be great way to get the word out there, No being much of a writer I have stayed away from having one. I am very happy to see you start a blog and look forward to seeing where it goes.

Jan said...

Thanks, hope you enjoy the ride.

sangyu said...

excellent!
I just rediscovered this song, and getting goose bumps all over listening to it right this moment. Can't describe the effect of the piece on my nervous system!