Music and me.
The first musical memory that I have is my mother singing a lullaby after reading a chapter in my "Scampy" book and "tucking me in." "Lullaby and good night.. etc" you know the rest.
The next memory was from around 1938 when I was four years old. All the neighborhood girls would congregate on our front porch every night and sing the current pop songs. I was a cute little rascal so they let me chime in. I specifically recall singing "Elmer's Tune."
Next is an experience that I don't remember, but must be true because there is a picture of me. My Aunt Marjorie enrolled me in Al Sanger's Dance Studio when I was 7 years old. I was the only boy with six little girls. When we had a recital, all went well until I, as the leader, was supposed to back off away from the girls. They tell me that I had a giant "crush" on one of the girls, so instead of doing what I had rehearsed, I followed my "love" off stage and spoiled the dance's effect.
Guess what! 14 years later, my new wife and I rented an apartment with a lady who said that she had taught dancing at Al Sanger's. She taught with the soon to be famous, Carol Haney. She searched her memory and suddenly remember the incident I mentioned above. But, more amazingly, she remembered the girl I had followed. I know, you've guessed, that girl was my new bride! I had not known that my wife had also been a trainee at the dance studio. Now you know, that romance was made in heaven.
When I was in the fourth grade, my African American and Cape Verdean friends taught me how to sing "the Dozens," but I'm not going to go into that now.
Throughout my early teenage years, my buddy "Casey" and I would serenade our neighbors with the old favorites, from under the street lights, until people complained, when we would go on to another corner. Casey had a wonderful voice; I just tried to do harmony.
I went to work at the local YMCA while I was still in High School. Where I worked, we kept a radio going, blasting out all the pop songs, like: "How much is that doggie in the window?" This was the music that I heard morning and night.
After High School, just like my whaler ancestors, I signed up for a three years voyage. But not to search for whales. Instead, I spent my time in the Air Force in Europe.
The Rock and Roll revolution did not reach Europe while I was there; so it was great surprise to me when I came home and heard it. I did not like it and got a bit nasty about it. One day, at our local pub, I did not want to hear such music so I cashed some bills and got enough nickles to play "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt for hours on the juke box, much to the consternation of fellow pub guys.
In time, I did get used to Rock and Roll; but I had cultivated a classical music preference in Europe, and I remain a cuckoo for such music even today.
I've already written about how "inherited" hundreds of classical vinyl records, so I won't mention it here. For quite a few years now I have been amassing classical CD's from the BBC.
When I was in the 7th grade a wonderful lady named Miss DaLoid (sp?) taught us how to read music. Do, re, me...etc. I'm glad I paid attention to what she said.
The do-re-me system was invented by a monk named Guido d'Arezzo somewhere around 1000 AD.
Guido based his scale from the first syllables of the plainsong Ut queant laxis/Resonare fibris/Mira gestorum/Famuli tuorum/Solve polluti/Labi reatum/Sancte Johannes which was a prayer to St. John. At some point, "ut" became "do." (Thank you, BBC Music.)
"Do, a deer, a female deer,
Re, a drop of golden sun,
Me, a name I call myself,
Fa, a long long way to run.
So, a needle pulling thread,
La, a note to follow So,
Ti, I have with jam and bread,
And that get's us back to Do.
La, a note to follow So.... tsk tsk... come on guys, you could have crafted a better line than that!
I've mentioned before that I have constant music and Morse Code playing in my brain. I don't realize it until I force myself to think about it. Right now, I have my XM radio playing La Boheme on the Met Opera channel, so the music from that opera will stay in my brain for days, until something else takes its place. (By the way, Luciano Pavarotti is singing in this opera version. Nobody...nobody.. nobody can ever equal the voice of that wonderful tenor!)
....................................................................................................................
No comments:
Post a Comment