Andries Bezuidenhout. Poësie en musiek gemeng in ʼn oeuvre van klinkklare meriete
Daar wen Leonard Cohen toe nou die “Prince of Asturias” literêre toekenning in Spanje. Dit word in Oktober aan hom oorhandig, saam met ʼn vuis vol banknote. Volgens die beoordelaars het Cohen drie generasies wêreldwyd beïnvloed “through his creation of emotional imagery in which poetry and music are fused in an oeuvre of immutable merit.”
Lees hier meer daaroor.
‘n Aanhaling vir die dag, dan, uit “Avalanche”:
When I am on a pedestal,
you did not raise me there.
Your laws do not compel me
to kneel grotesque and bare.
I myself am the pedestal
for this ugly hump at which you stare.
In 1969 is die Kanadese Governor-General’s Award for Poetry aan Cohen toegeken, wat hy van die hand gewys het. Vroeer vanjaar het hy die baie gesogte Glenn Gould Music Prize for Lifetime Achievement (as ek die naam nou reg onthou) gewen, die hoogste musiektoekenning wat in Kanada gegee kan word.
Leon, ek het jare gelede Ira Nadel se biografie van Cohen gelees, maar kan nie die insident uit 1969 onthou nie. Vind nou die volgende: “In 1969 poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen declined the award for his winning collection, Selected Poems 1956-1968 (1968). According to the Globe and Mail (28 May 1969, p. 6), Cohen would not accept the honour because ‘the world is a callous place and he would take no gift from it.’ On the night of the award ceremony, he partied at Jack McClelland’s hotel room with fellow authors and declared: ‘I would like to be Governor-General’ (Globe and Mail, 17 May 1969, Entertainment and Travel section, p. 25).” http://hpcanpub.mcmaster.ca/case-study/governor-general-s-literary-awards Ek wonder egter wat die storie agter die storie is.
‘n Mooi, ou weergawe van “Famous Blue Raincoat”, met ‘n jong Cohen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vzAHFU0Ydw
So by my kool. “Avalanche” met onderskrifte in Spaans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-oLmOm9vk0