We spent much of Sunday evening at the United World College, attending a student recital, which featured some excellent instrumental and vocal offerings.<\/p>\n
We went as guests of our get-away student, Belen Sogo Mielgo, from Madrid, Spain.<\/p>\n
Some of the entrants sang, some played the piano, and with kids in the late teens (and even of any age), there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bound to be a slip or two \u00e2\u20ac\u201d obvious to all.<\/p>\n
So I remembered my own youth, when I was a work-study student at Highlands University\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s music department. I worked under then-chairman Champ Tyrone and spent time with Ronald Wynn, the choral director. Once I asked Wynn, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You know that piano recital you asked me to tape last night at Ilfeld: Well, when the pianist hit the wrong note, why is it that everyone noticed?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Wynn explained why even the most un-musical person on the planet \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I think he was referring to me \u00e2\u20ac\u201d notices keyboard errors. He spoke in terms too technical for me, and through no fault of his, I failed to take note of the tenor of his explanation.<\/p>\n
But rather than turn this into a treatise on how lay persons take in music, let me digress to discuss our family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experience with the first and only piano our family ever owned.<\/p>\n
As payment for the after-school clapping of erasers, my oldest sister, Dolores, qualified for free piano lessons at Immaculate Conception School with Sister Mary Pianissimo. That meant we had to buy a piano.<\/p>\n
I believe my sister Bingy and I created the need for the term \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pounding\u00e2\u20ac\u009d when we took our turn at the piano. If someone, possibly Dolores, were preparing for a recital, one of us younger children would attempt to help out.<\/p>\n
So, as Dolores was playing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Malague\u00c3\u00b1a\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Clair de Lune,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d sometimes give her a hand by inserting supplemental notes as she played.<\/p>\n
Dolores was not amused, accusing us of ruining her piano piece. But to us youngsters, our addition was Arthur Rubenstein and Arturo Toscanini personified. When reality set in, in the form of a lecture from dad (he was an accomplished banjo player and former small-orchestra conductor), we got the message.<\/p>\n
As part of the punishment to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153never bother someone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on the piano,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d we were still able to discuss with Dad why he felt that our additional notes didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly improve Dolores\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 recital piece.<\/p>\n
Dad used terms like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153consonance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dissonance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to explain that some notes, such as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153g\u00e2\u20ac\u009d following a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153c\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153simply sound better together,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a-sharp\u00e2\u20ac\u009d don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always been fascinated by the question as to why one can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t simply use any combination of notes and create sublime music.<\/p>\n
Ann Mishler, my piano teacher decades ago, also introduced me to a bit of music theory. I learned about an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153open fifth,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which Ann explained was a combination of keys spaced five intervals apart and not a quantity of liquor to be consumed.<\/p>\n
Listening to the UWC students performing Sunday convinced me of the tremendous effort these youngsters put in to perfect their music.<\/p>\n
I am particular about music. I like what I like. That includes classical music as well as some popular music, often the theme from movies I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen. My wife, Bonnie, accuses me of being a musical snob because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve refused to attend some performances here in town. I say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is not my kind of music,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and she believes I ignore her efforts to broaden my horizons.<\/p>\n
Dad saw to it that we had a wealth of classical music available at home. Often, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d see him with a new classical LP tucked under his arm, something he bought at Ilfeld\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s store on his way home.<\/p>\n
Neighbor kids often sat on our lawn as Dad turned up the volume; they seemed to enjoy the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153concert.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d These performances, also, have faded, as so much music comes through headphones.<\/p>\n
To wax eloquently, I like what I like. Beethoven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ninth would be an excellent choice for my funeral, as would Pachelbel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Canon.<\/p>\n
But at the moment \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I believe my tastes have changed a lot \u00e2\u20ac\u201d my current addiction is the music from Les Miserables, which includes selections like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One Day More,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Master of the House\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153At the End of the Day.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Years from now will I have become enamored of some other style?<\/p>\n
As kids, we had limited choices of music on radio. Even though Dad once brought home a new radio, about the size of a small horse, all we could receive was the local station, KFUN, but no FM.<\/p>\n
The radio had push buttons with call letters for stations printed in the tabs. We believed the tabs, complete with call letters for KNX, KOMA, WSL and KOB were simply \u00e2\u20ac\u0153suggestions,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but my brother, Severino, figured out that we could fine-tune these buttons and receive far-away stations. That opened possibilities.<\/p>\n
One of the stations played an hour a week of classical music, which I believed enhanced our appreciation of what we called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153long-haired\u00e2\u20ac\u009d music. In this pre-TV time in our family, we listened to Spanish, country-western, Top 40 and other varieties.<\/p>\n
Even though I know the words to many Spanish folk songs, western songs and other popular music, I am passionately devoted to classical music as well as show tunes. Bonnie says I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a curmudgeon, but in truth, I appreciate and laud the efforts of many high-minded people in our community who work hard to bring various forms of music. I enjoy town-and-gown presentations.<\/p>\n
On tap in the coming weeks and months are a host of musical presentations, possibly even involving the pipe organ at Our Lady of Sorrows Church. Groups have been helping restore the musical treasure, which they hope will soon make the organ fully functional.<\/p>\n
We have fine talent in the Meadow City. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s support the efforts to strengthen the amount and quality of music here. I will too, even if my own spouse says I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a curmudgeon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We spent much of Sunday evening at the United World College, attending a student recital, which featured some excellent instrumental and vocal offerings. We went as guests of our get-away student, Belen Sogo Mielgo, from Madrid, Spain. Some of the entrants sang, some played the piano, and with kids in the late teens (and even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1615,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions\/1615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}