{"id":93148,"date":"2016-01-04T14:26:49","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T19:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=93148"},"modified":"2016-01-04T14:26:49","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T19:26:49","slug":"new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/04\/new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A still from The Thief of Bagdad<\/i>, 1940.<\/p><\/div>\n

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One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats. \u2014Iris Murdoch<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The New Year comes as a relief: it\u2019s like the morning after a good cry. You feel exhausted, yes, and hollowed out, but unburdened, too. What do you do? Well, you go back to work. You listen to music, return e-mails. Your calendar slowly fills, even though not so long ago January seemed like it would never come. \u201cHappy New Year\u201d is the one thing everyone can say to everyone else with confidence, and clearly we enjoy this, it\u2019s a good way to begin a year, all together. Large things give way to small. There are friends, and there is kneading bread, and then there are the little shaded candleholders you picked up, supposedly discarded from a defunct restaurant in Central Park\u2014and they\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0look pretty, even given the state of the world outside their little flames.\u00a0Maybe you watch the movie about the narcissistic puppet or the ten-hour series about the miscarriage of justice in Wisconsin. Perhaps you KonMari your closets or take a month off drinking. Whatever you do, don\u2019t panic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For my first post of 2016, I wanted to share with you something beautiful, something I love. I\u2019m a little embarrassed to do so, because the piece of music I\u2019m about to mention is not \u201cserious\u201d\u2014in fact, it\u2019s part of a film score. Specifically the love theme\u2014\u201cThe Love of the Princess<\/a>\u201d\u2014from the 1940 fantasia\u00a0The Thief of Bagdad<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of course, it should go without saying that\u00a0Mikl\u00f3s R\u00f3zsa\u00a0was<\/em>\u00a0a serious and respected composer, both for his film and classical work. His orchestral and choral works are many and varied; his\u00a0Violin Concerto, Op. 24, is a stunning showcase for\u00a0Jascha Heifetz. His many scores are legendary for their scope and beauty, and his contribution to The Thief of Bagdad\u00a0<\/em>has all the drama and whimsy and over-the-top quality of the film. (Which, after all, contains a giant, a sort of murderous sex toy, and a flying horse. To say nothing of an Orientalism so romantic as to warrant its own category.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

But know, please, that \u201cThe Love of the Princess\u201d is absolutely shameless. It uses every trick of melody and rhythm known to music, science, and manipulation. Your heart soars and the hairs on your arms stand up and you will cry. Give yourself over, and enjoy the relief that comes with it. And it is a relief. It will be okay, in some sense. At any rate, we are all in it together.<\/p>\n