Orson Welles - "F is for Fake" - Chartes
Thursday, June 5, 2008 at 12:59AM 
(From the Wikipaedia article about Orson Welles' film, "F is for Fake")
In perhaps the most celebrated segment of the film, treating the power of art and the nature of authorship, Welles narrates a montage sequence of the medieval French landmark, Chartres Cathedral:
"Now this has been standing here for centuries. The premier work of man perhaps in the whole western world and it's without a signature. Chartres. A celebration to God’s glory and to the dignity of man. All that’s left, most artists seem to feel these days, is man. Naked, poor, forked radish. There aren’t any celebrations. Ours, the scientists keep telling us, is a universe which is disposable. You know it might be just this one anonymous glory of all things, this rich stone forest, this epic chant, this gaiety, this grand choiring shout of affirmation, which we choose when all our cities are dust; to stand intact, to mark where we have been, to testify to what we had it in us to accomplish. Our works in stone, in paint, in print are spared, some of them for a few decades, or a millennium or two, but everything must fall in war or wear away into the ultimate and universal ash: the triumphs and the frauds, the treasures and the fakes. A fact of life... we're going to die. 'Be of good heart,' cry the dead artists out of the living past. Our songs will all be silenced - but what of it? Go on singing. Maybe a man's name doesn't matter all that much."
Reader Comments (1)
"Our songs will all be silenced - but what of it? Go on singing."
What of it indeed! It's great to read your thoughts & bloggings, Michael. I hope you will keep at it!
I love "Black Cadillac" too. I got to orchestrate "I Still Miss Someone" for Rosanne to do with the NY Pops last Fall. If you visit my MySpace page you will see that I list you as one of my 'influences' with a link to your website.
I will definitely be up to check out your new show in Pittsfield. Congratulations on that! Let me know how things are going when you've got a moment.
All the best,
Tom