Lit/Pub #IV - The Wake Up Issue - Spring2024
The magazine of Professor Andrea di Robilant literary class at The American University of Rome. "Last year’s issue of Lit/Pub was about the slow return to a post-Covid world. This year, the initial theme was dreams – time to get on with it and think about the future. But the more we discussed what to put in the issue, the more it became apparent that a lingering wariness was still in the air, even a certain complacency. Hence the exhortatory title – The Wake Up Issue – which Isabella Klepikoff has deftly captured in the design of this year’s cover: a wolf resting by a Roman fountain. He looks to be resting, but his lively green eyes tell us he is stirring back to action."
The magazine of Professor Andrea di Robilant literary class at The American University of Rome.
"Last year’s issue of Lit/Pub was about the slow return to a post-Covid world. This year, the initial theme was dreams – time to get on with it and think about the future. But the more we discussed what to put in the issue, the more it became apparent that a lingering wariness was still in the air, even a certain complacency. Hence the exhortatory title – The Wake Up Issue – which Isabella Klepikoff has deftly captured in the design of this year’s cover: a wolf resting by a Roman fountain. He looks to be resting, but his lively green eyes tell us he is stirring back to action."
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Sidetracks<br />
Edgar and Veronica played several more pieces by Piazzolla with great intensity. <strong>The</strong> audience<br />
was captivated and cheered loudly at the end of each song.<br />
“We will now play ‘Las Cuatro Estaciones porteñas’,” Edgar announced. He had mostly been<br />
speaking in Italian, but he switched to Spanish to introduce Piazzolla’s classic piece on the four seasons<br />
of Buenos Aires.<br />
<strong>The</strong> blast of the tuba introduced Spring, and the audience was rushing through the city once<br />
more on the hurried, rhythmic notes of the piano. Summer came with a slower, more lonesome beat<br />
that reminded me of the crushing humidity we have in Rome in August – the piano notes raining<br />
down heavily on us. Autumn brought a sense of relief and sweet nostalgia. With Winter, the tempo<br />
slowed down and the two musicians brought the music smoothly to a rest. I marveled at the versatility<br />
of the two instruments and the bravura of the two musicians in expressing such disparate moods: a<br />
frustrated cry, a lonely murmur, a tempest in a violently hot summer.<br />
<strong>The</strong> audience rose from the seats and clapped. Jey's small concert space quickly filled with<br />
spectators crowding around the musicians to offer their congratulations.<br />
A few days later, I met Edgar and Veronica at a diner-style restaurant in Prati. Music from the<br />
‘50s and ‘60s played in the background during dinner.<br />
Edgar told me Piazzolla’s music found them more than the other way around. “<strong>The</strong> first piece<br />
we ever did together was by Piazzolla. It brought us together, it told us ‘this group works.’”<br />
“And we hadn’t even been thinking of forming a group,” Veronica added. “We played together<br />
because playing together came so easily.” <strong>The</strong>y played together for four years before their relationship<br />
changed and they became a couple.<br />
<strong>The</strong> conversation drifted from music to more general topics and back to music. We expressed<br />
our frustration at the direction the world was taking, and complained about the pressure of money<br />
over artistic expression. But we also shared an appreciation for having the chance to see the world, to<br />
pursue our dreams.<br />
“I think we are all united by dreams,” Edgar said, “We all have dreams.”<br />
“It’s not that I have a dream,” Veronica added, “We have a dream.”<br />
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