Bach, Kodaly

His Sunday-morning recital in Atherton -- one of the festival's "Carte Blanche" concerts, where headliners are given a free hand to devise their own programs -- was "pleasant" in the deepest sense. "Pleasing" is the better adjective: Quiet contentment reigned in the Menlo School's Stent Family Hall. What a way to spend a Sunday morning; as good as crawling into a cozy nook with a favorite book, warmed by light through a window.

Beginning with Suite No. 3 in C major, Carr played with streaming clarity, bounding and bright. His earthy tone enriched the big splayed chords of the Prelude, the hopping rhythms of the Allemande, the expansive soulfulness of the Sarabande. The music was in his fingers. In fact, one could see Bach's cascading logic -- its physical representation -- in Carr's wily shifts in finger position and variety of bow attacks.

In a 2004 Carte Blanche concert, Carr played all six of the solo suites from memory. It was a memorable traversal of the works, which had been largely forgotten until 1890, when 13-year-old Pablo Casals stumbled on a crumbling copy of the sheet music in a Barcelona music shop.

In Carr's pithier Sunday recital, two suites were plenty. He also performed Bach's Suite No. 5 in C minor, which requires the cellist to change the instrument's tuning. By lowering the top string a whole step from A to G, the player can access additional chords and unleash unusual overtones and resonances, making this suite unique. It is the gravest of the rtls; "pleasant" doesn't do it justice.

Carr's first chord was a timbral explosion, and he took it on from there, flowing through the Prelude's fugue-like sequences, later opening into the painful beauty of the slow Sarabande. Carr's natural sense of phrasing seemed to scrub clean the concluding Gigue: For this listener, Bach's nifty voice leading and implied harmonies have never been easier to follow.

After intermission, Carr again retuned his instrument, this time for Zoltan Kodaly's Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8. It instructs the player to lower the bottom two strings by a half-step, from C to B and from G to F-sharp, making possible more unusual resonances and contributing to the work's essential character.

This year's Menlo festival, titled "From Bach," attempts to spell out the connections between Bach and composers to the present day. Kodaly's Sonata for Solo Cello (1915) echoes Bach in specific chords and cadences. But Kodaly also was fascinated by Eastern European folk music, which he imitates with keening vocal-like effects and "unbridled slash-and-burn virtuosity," as Carr put it in his program notes.

Dedicating his performance to the late János Starker, who put this piece on the map, Carr rooted into the sonata's raw moans and ululations, shimmering pizzicato chords and volatile bass effects, which rattled the cello -- and the room. It was a terrific blood-and-guts performance that Bach could never have imagined.

“Kays” as they called him was son to a Gushungo who migrated from Serima and my gogo a Muturikwa whose parents possibly migrated from Mrehwa. He was born in 1945, across the river from Prime Minister’s home. Surprisingly that is as far as their similarities go because had he been alive, he would not vote for MDC-T today. This man who forever will be revered as a hero in my memory was disabled. It was not an inborn disability, but something happened to his right lower leg when he was young. Up to the day he died, he had not been able to discuss with me nor my siblings regards to what really happened. All I know is that it was a fire accident.

Kays believed in the revolutionary movement’s focus on policies that improve lives of the common man. He would always urge Zanu (PF) to go back to roots to emphasise on such policies to lure lost votes. “It will be a walkover on these directionless boys” he argued with me on his deathbed at Parerinyatwa. He belonged to a generation who had wanted to participate in liberation struggle but failed because of various reasons. They mobilised students, recruits, provided clothes and other support. Such a class faced wrath of Smith regime accused of being lifeblood to the comrades and withholding information. These professionals played their part but never clamoured for recognition to date.

The fire accident deformed his right leg such that his toes turned towards the heel to form a round like foot developing into a very thin sheen up the leg. So to speak he stepped on the top of his foot. That leg became shorter. At times he used clutches until Jairos Jiri organised a special shoe for him. From Bata shops, he would buy a pair of size 11 but only use the left one. That special shoe could only be repaired but he could not buy a new one. Courtesy of Mugabe’s health policy, more disadvantaged people like him during years after independence could always be treated for free regardless of medical needs. UK has maintained a similar socialist health policy to date. The number of health clinics opened country wide, more medical professionals training, building of toilets in rural areas, access to clean water all pointed to a caring leader in Mugabe.

Just like many, he was frustrated that the Lancaster House Agreement put land redistribution on hold for 10 years. Worse still after that period, Mugabe was frustrated into being unable to fulfil pre-war time period promises to resettle masses from reserves as apportioned by Land Apportionment Act 1930. When farm invasions started in 2000, all Kays said was “Commercial Farmers’ Union have shot themselves in the foot.” CFU never thought farms could be taken away from them. White farmers believed in the Courts which continued to make decisions against land redistribution. To date land redistribution has continued and although chaotic, people’s lives have been changed.

Kays was appointed acting headmaster closer to his home in 1985 but by then he was already involved in running elections. He would later work as presiding officer in charge of polling centres. Talk of Zanu (PF) vote rigging was doing rounds by 1990 elections. Edgar Tekere gave Mugabe a run for his cash and many expected a surprise. Results later indicated that “Two-Boy” Tekere actually lost dismally. I put it to him then about vote rigging and to the day he died, he maintained the answer he gave me 19 years before. He explained the system to me, how each candidate’s representatives verify boxes before they are sealed and sign to agree authenticity. The same happens when opening the boxes and counting the ballots. He believed that in the system run by Mudede, there is no way any rigging can happen. He reminded me that rigging could affect Mugabe as well and as such the system had to be water tight. I believed him and still can argue that it is possible Zanu (PF) has never rigged elections to this day.

Read the full products at http://www.ecived.com/en/.