Music

Whew I was three, I got tonsillitis, and the antibiotic they gave me (it was later discovered) can cause nerve deafness—which it did in my left ear. My next memory related to music was at 12, when while singing in the choir the choir master came very close to me. I sang loud and proud. He winced, and said, “Shhh, don’t sing, just mouth the words. Horrible voice.” I was told I was tone deaf, and stopped singing. I learned the recorder, then the flute, and when I played, I literally couldn’t sing but they became my metaphorical “singing voice.” In my 60’s I read some research that nerve deafness in one ear doesn’t necessarily cause “tone deafness.” So, I took singing lessons! Particularly so I could sing “rounds” with my wife Johanna, who has an amazing, angelic voice.* Below are several musical snippets, including Joie and I singing Hava nashira (Let us sing a song of praise.) as well some classical flute songs (Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, Bach’s 3 movement in B minor). Also, when each grandchild was born, I composed a flute song for their birth. All are enclosed below

Beethoven’s 5th

Beethoven’s 5^th has a special place in Johanna and my hearts. I had been taking a music appreciation course which focused on the 5^th; and at the end of the course I met Johanna, and invited her to hear the 5^th which was playing at the San Francisco Symphony. (I was not a classic music lover, she was, and was impressed!) I washed my 1959 Ford, found some red remnant carpet which I unrolled at her door (Red carpet treatment, a la Kansas City Gentleman).

Now, 55 years later, going through my college music class, I found my notes on it and we re-listening to it. I found a lecture by Professor Greenberg who says regarding the opening

“See what you feel…whatever it’s about it’s not very pretty; there is a violence, an angst, a jaggedness that bespeaks a profound disturbance, a disruption.”

He then continues his lecture by talking about the conclusion, the Presto section of the 4^th movement and says: .

Metaphorically what is this about; ..Whatever it is about it’s magnificent, heroic and utterly life affirming…a power and joy in this music that bespeaks victory. a triumph over the darkness that began the symphony…Beethoven’s 5^th is a metaphor for darkness, struggle, and eventual triumph.

When we re-listened to it, Johanna said:

Oh wow, I LOVED this!!! I loved hearing the beginning and the end of the 5^th, and yes, it is where our journey together began, and it is where it led us (our own personal journey toward light and hope). And yes, the beginning is not pretty at all, it is jagged (like our lives before we met each other!?!?) and the ending is uplifting and triumphant just beautiful!:) Thank you SO MUCH. This was absolutely fabulous. Love, love, J

My reaction was similar. I looked at my notes and it says he shifts C minor in the opening to C major in the 4^th Presto section. “the movement has a bright, cheery tone that leaves the listener feeling optimistic..” I feel such hope and joy… the joy, and it feels like he Beethoven, and me as listener, doesn’t want the presto to end. It keeps coming to an end, then again, and again. The joy building and continuing. Awww…

Beethoven’s Ode to Joy

View the Lyrics to the Ode to Joy:

Bach Suite in B Minor

1. Rondeau Flute and Piano^* (view the sheet music)

Flute and Piano:

2. Polonaise (view the sheet music)

Flute:

Flute and Piano:

3. Doublais (view the sheet music and J’s comments)

Flute:

Flute and Piano:

4. Badinerie (view the sheet music)

Flute and Piano:

* Talking (giggling) during our practice session with our teacher Ira

Gabriel Fauré Sicilienne op78, from Pelléas et Mélisande

Summary of Music Scene

Faure composed this incidental music for the first English production of Maurice Maeterlinck’s play Pelléas et Mélisande, which opened in June 1898. In this play, the gentle melody of the Sicilienne introduces the scene at the beginning of Act Two, in which Mélisande’s wedding ring slips from her finger and disappears into a well as she plays gently with Pelléas. This scene is particularly famous in the opera adaptation of “Pelléas et Mélisande” by Claude Debussy, where the “Sicilienne” is often used as the musical backdrop for this pivotal moment in Act Two. Symbolic action: The falling ring represents the loss of innocence and the foreshadowing of their doomed relationship. Musical element: The “Sicilienne” is a gentle, melancholic melody that adds to the scene’s poignant atmosphere.

View Sheet Music

Flute and piano: