The Pandemic Lens^®

I wrote “Reverence” several years ago to commemorate the aftermath of a fire that gutted the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Given our current tragic loss and a longing for what was, the piece has just as much significance for me today. Our lives have been ravaged by a viral fire, one that…

I find myself playing familiar music. This  putting old wine in newish bottles is expressing something important for me as we weather the turbulence of the transition. Makes me wonder, what is it that remains true while we respond to so much evidence of challenge and division in our society? I rest in the music while…

I need a little jazz funk every now and then to weather the heavy weather. This piece is my response to what’s going on. And on and on out there. Seems to fit the bill.   Copyright © 2020 Stanley Sagov Stanley SagovStanley Sagov leads an intense dual life as a physician (Family Practice Group,…

During this extended time of COVID we find ways to quiet our mind, settle our heart, leave the day behind. Like snow falling in the woods, a gentle hiss as flakes land on pines, trickle down through branches, set underfoot. We do what we can. Take a moment to breathe deep the solace of the…

Since I’m not playing with other musicians in public during the pandemic, I find myself curating my own music. I’ve always liked this piece, which I wrote for my recital at the New England Conservatory—in 1973. We were getting excited back then by fusing jazz and rock! Stanley Sagov · Alternative Mode 2 .2020  …

“This Way Now” seems appropriate at this juncture in the pandemic. It has no melody, just chordal progressions with 4ths and 5ths lingering in the decay of the instrument voices. For me, the lack of melody speaks to an imbalance between darkness and light, anxiety and hope. Even with the promising vaccines on the horizons…

I’m struggling to get through these pre-election days and turning to music for solace and engagement. So, this morning, two days before the upcoming monumental event, I composed this piece and sketched my feelings as well.   Stanley Sagov · a day in a life pre-election sunday2020   Copyright © 2020 Stanley Sagov Stanley SagovStanley…

During the early stages of the pandemic, people seemed to experience a period of numbness, almost disbelief, that this was actually happening, followed by a period of dawning reality that it wasn’t just going to fade away. By late April, in the UK, there was a growing sense of fear, too, as death figures were…

Well, it is official. Coronavirus lockdown has changed our working landscape for the foreseeable future. Recent polls showed that many people who have been working from home during the pandemic do not want to change the arrangement. It might be because of continued health risk worries, it might be that they do not want to…