triste ... the cold and wet ending of cherry blossom week in the nation's capital;... and yet ... Behold! ...

Has it already been 36 years since I first visited the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and heard conductor/composer Antal Dorati lead the National Symphony Orchestra and the Choral Arts Society of Washington in Olivier Messiaen's religious masterpiece, La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ?









Composers Iannis Xenakis and Olivier Messiaen in 1977.

Photo credit: www.iannis-xenakis.org. [Via On an Overgrown Path]


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And my sincere holiday wishes to N. and my Eastern Orthodox readers who celebrate the mystery of the Christian Annunciation each year on this date [Old Calendar].

[The Annunciation is also cited in the Quran, in Suras 3 (Aal 'Imran - The family of Imran) verses 45-51 and 19 (Maryam - Mary) verses 16-26.]


















The Annunciation, from Ohrid, Macedonia, Future European Union.

Photo credit: Wikipedia.

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Reuters "Research Explores What 1.3 Billion Muslims Think" New York Times April 7, 2008