It’s the anniversary of Derek Jarman’s passing, February 19th 1994. He was 52 years old when he passed.

I was looking at Jarman’s IMDB entry, where there are a pair of pictures with him with Amy Johnson, listed on IMDB as “the old lady” for Jarman’s segment of Aria (1987). When I wrote about this a couple of years ago I observed that Jarman chose this short aria, celebrating new love and youth, at a time when I feel certain he was wondering about his future, having recently been diagnosed with AIDS.

While I can only guess at Amy Johnson’s age at the time, it struck me today that Jarman himself would now be in his 80s. The old lady is bowing, receiving adulation from an audience. Of course, I realize now, as I watch my own mom reach an advanced age, or Leontyne Price celebrating a birthday in the 90s and see others who haven’t made it, that this is of course cause for celebration for someone expecting to die young.

Meanwhile I think of how much one can accomplish in 30 years, or in the four minutes of an aria or song.

As you look at Jarman’s IMDB entry with 94 directing entries, one notices that most of them are short. He did a great many music videos for Pet Shop Boys, Bryan Ferry, The Smiths. And then his contribution to Aria is really just another music video, employing Leontyne Price’s version of “depuis le jour”.

Like Chopin or Schubert, Jarman was a miniaturist. If you don’t expect to live a long life perhaps you get busy making perfect little creations rather than expecting to finish something massive like a full-length symphony, opera or feature film. Yes Jarman made some enigmatic & challenging features, a body of work that deserves to be better known.

And Schubert & Chopin made some full-length works. It still upsets me when I think that Schubert never heard his amazing 9th symphony performed in his short lifetime. Why am I so lucky to have multiple recordings of a piece the composer only heard inside his head or perhaps paraphrased at a keyboard.

It makes me want to make good use of my time.