I promised myself – no blog unless I had something meaningful to contribute. I mean, honestly, there are hundreds of thousands of these out there – the vast majority of which are the online version of “Dear Diary…”, and I didn’t just want to make noise. And therein lies the goal and point of my venture. Most music is not just about noise – not to me, not to you, not to anybody on the planet. More than any other artform, music is with us on the most important moments: Intimate family time, a first dance at your wedding, the hymn at the memorial of a loved one – even a song your child sings in pre-school.
Don’t believe me, though, test yourself. When was the last time that you heard a song or piece of music you that you hadn’t heard in a long time? And – unbelievably – it still grabbed you and dragged you back across months, years and even decades to a memorable moment in your life. And it brought a smile to your face or a tear to your eye, didn’t it? Yes, it’s sappy, but come on, you know it’s true!
So, now, a bit about me (and we’ll dig right into the meat of this blog): I was born into a very, very musical house. It has been a central focus of my life for the entirety of it. Honestly, neither of my parents were professional musicians (although my father was certainly an amazing one). There was a baby grand piano in my house (I learned to play on that piano), and hundreds upon hundreds of music books, as well as three guitars, a banjo, a dulcimer, a Turkish ud, and two African thumb pianos – as well as hundreds more albums (followed by cassette tapes and CD’s when they came along). Something was always on the radio, the stereo, or being played on some instrument. As my sister and I got grew, we also picked up instruments: She played the flute (and add a piccolo, too – that showed up at some point in high school), and I took up the cello, and then in junior high the bassoon, the bass clarinet, the clarinet (basically whatever the school band or orchestra needed and didn’t have). I sing, I have composed (my own musical comedy got me into college – it sure wasn’t my grades!), I have conducted an orchestra, spun records on the radio, played at weddings, sung at concerts, music-directed a musical comedy, been a lounge lizard – and all before I actually got out of college. But, at least equally importantly, I am an amateur musicologist – that is I like to know about who composers are, why things are written, why they are popular, and what they are about. And that’s why I’m writing this blog – because like most things in my life, I like to thing most things in life in general bring something musical to mind.
So, as often as I can – and for as long as I can, I’d like to attach music to the people and events in my life, the day’s current events, and some past events (particularly musical ones), as well. Hopefully, you’ll all thing about this too, and make your own suggestions. So, let’s get started:
My wife is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. We have been married for almost 7 years, and I still hear this in my head everytime I see her, although I think the piece barely does her beauty justice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5A4CkUAazI. The piece is L’Apres Midi D’un Faune (Prelude on the Afternoon of a Faun) by Claude Achille Debussy. By the way, the conducter in the video is the great Leopold Stokowski with the London Symphony Orchestra. Stokowski has the distinction of being the only symphony conducter to be satirized in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Let’s not let this all get too serious.
We have four children. My oldest I inherited with her. He’s 18 years old and going off to college in September, and plans to go pre-med. Honestly, that would require more initiative than I think it’s possible for him to have. I mean, he’s so lazy that he can’t sit on the couch, he has to lay down. And thus a song for him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQCJO6D9Dl0. There are lots of lazy songs, of course, but you can’t really beat Bing Crosby (apparently, were he here, he would do the beating for you) singing this Irving Berlin tune. It’s originally from the 1920’s, and – true to Irving Berlin form – he recycled it in the classic movie musical Holiday Inn. Some people say Crosby had the greatest male recorded voice of all time. It’s a great tune. And my oldest is a very lazy young man.
We also have 6-year-old twins. My daughter is, well, quite willful. In fact, she seems to think that if she wants it, that makes it automatically hers. And when we say, “no,” well the word isn’t finished forming before the fit is being thrown. So, while we try very, very hard to get her out of this habit, here is her theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVVRD-nw_J0. Now please don’t misunderstand – we have no intention of sending our daughter down the garbage shoot. But we frequently refer to her as Veruca Salt when she’s all riled up. She’s seen the movie, but the analogy is lost on her 6 year old brain. By the way, I think this is one of the two best songs in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Her twin brother is a ball of Star Wars loving, lego-obsessed energy. In fact, he’s taken to wearing a Star Wars clone outfit to be as pajamas. He asks for new legos every day, sure as the old pieces are ripping up the bottom of my feet in the middle of the night. This one is easy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXcoM_AHuk8. John Williams is one of my favorite composers – ever. I’m not sure that Star Wars is necessarily his best work, but it is his most massive, and it works on so many levels. He’s got a theme for every character, and these are skillfully threaded throughout all six films like a Wagnerian opera. And that’s no easy musical feat – especially when it has to fit somebody else’s movie.
Last, our youngest. He’s two and a half and super-cute. Sweet, patient, and he seems to have the ear that I had, at least I think he does. He’s already making his own music. For example, when I hold him and he jumps on the trampoline, he hums this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pNlMgH2p-Y. I don’t know why he thinks that jumping on the trampoline is similar to running after Nazi’s while trying to retrieve a priceless artifact, but he does. More amazingly, he does it every time – and he’s pretty much on the tune. And for 2 and a half, that’s pretty amazing!
I hope you will think about the music that should be around you. More notes on notes from this keyboard, tomorrow.
Posted by jbtakenote 
Taking Note 