CHE SI PUÓ FARE?

Have a case of the Mondays?

Urban Dictionary defines “a case of the Mondays” as: A fictitious disorder associated with the tiredness, irritability or distractedness that comes from returning to work after the weekend.

I feel like Barbara Strozzi might have been having one when she penned this incredible song.

What can you do?
The stars, intractable,
have no pity.
Since the gods don't give
a measure of peace in my suffering, what can I do?

What can you say?
From the heavens disasters keep raining down on me;
Since that treacherous Cupid
denies respite to my torture,
what can I say?

BARBARA STROZZI: Che si puó fare with Brandon Acker, lutes | Craig Trompeter, viola da gamba | Mark Shuldiner, organ

In a way, I feel like I could also have just simply put this emoji 🤷‍♂️ in place of the translation above.

I’m always a bit puzzled by the concept of “Mondays” and weekends, as one of the side-effects of my musician-life means that weekends almost always involve working, so Mondays don’t have quite the same bite as they do for most of the working world. Some of my colleagues take Mondays as a sort of “musicians sabbath”, since we so often have to work through the weekends. However, I’ve never been good at that kind of thing, being a bit of a workaholic. Either way, it can always feel a little extra-difficult to get back in the work-saddle in January, after having just pulled through the mad holiday-dash to the end of the calendar year.

It also seems that Mercury is fixing to go retrograde in a few days, too, which might compound this feeling of fatigue and helplessness that seems kind of pervasive about now…

Of course, this is another seamless plug for the first installment of San Francisco Performances’ 2021 Salon Series, which will explore nearly 5 centuries of music by women composers over the course of four salon recitals this month and next. This song, along with two other masterpieces by Strozzi, will feature on the Women of the Baroque program on January 20th. Please come join us, if you’re boosted (a requirement for entry to the War Memorial) and in the Bay Area. 

Want to come to all four concerts of the Salon Series? Save 10% by clicking below!