A Classical Education

Back in December I stumbled upon an online course on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It was presented by Hillsdale College and was a free course. It consisted of 4-6 lectures and I truly enjoyed it. Recently, I finished up yet another online course from Hillsdale on the History of Classical Music.

As someone who played in band throughout my school years, I was exposed to a lot of classical music. As a band member, it is an amazing experience to be playing a melody while a counter melody is playing with you. It is just as amazing when your section plays beautiful harmonies. Rehearsing a song and watching it all come together is so satisfying.

That being said, I couldn’t wait to get into this course. The overview states: Music’s ability to excite or soothe, to celebrate or console, to capture the inarticulate expressions of the human spirit make it the ideal companion for Western Civilization’s greatest achievements. Music is intertwined with the events of history. The developments of classical music correspond to key moments in science, politics, and religion. Classical music can be studied, it can be understood from the perspective of historical events and the lives of composers, but most of all, it should be enjoyed.

The instructor was Hyperion Knight and he was a wealth of knowledge. Throughout the course, he would occasionally play a piece or make an illustration on the piano for further explanation. We tend to believe that classical music is old or “ancient,” but Professor Knight was so good about relating what was going on in history at the time of some of these pieces.

The course lections were about the Development of Music, The Baroque Era (Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel), The Classical Period (Haydn and Mozart), and The Classical Period (Beethoven and Schubert). The final lecture is not a lecture at all. It is a mini concert performed by Professor Knight featuring some classical music standards.

Much like the Dickens course, I never really felt like it was a class or a lecture. It was really just an enjoyable journey through music history. Classical music is not for everyone, but if you are interested, you can enroll here: https://online.hillsdale.edu/courses/classical-music

“Seasonal” Favorite

As the “Nostalgic Italian,” I would be wrong to not mention that today is the 346th birthday of Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. He (along with GF Handel and JS Bach) is considered to be one of the greatest Baroque composers of all time. His work consisted of many concertos for violin, choral works, and even operas. To me, he will forever be known for one amazing work of music – The Four Seasons.

He was born in Venice, one of six children. He had some issues with his health, which many say was what we’d call asthma today. While this prevented him from playing wind instruments, it did not stop him from becoming a virtuoso violinist. It also did not stop him from composing music.

It is estimated that he wrote The Four Seasons somewhere between 1717-1720. The entire piece features 4 concertos featuring 3 movements each. It begins with the season of Spring, then Summer, Autumn and finally Winter. Wikipedia describes the piece:

They were a revolution in musical conception: Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), a shepherd and his barking dog, buzzing flies, storms, drunken dancers, hunting parties from both the hunters’ and the prey’s point of view, frozen landscapes, and warm winter fires.

Unusually for the period, Vivaldi published the concerti with accompanying sonnets (possibly written by the composer himself) that elucidated what it was in the spirit of each season that his music was intended to evoke. The concerti therefore stand as one of the earliest and most detailed examples of what would come to be called program music—in other words, music with a narrative element. Vivaldi took great pains to relate his music to the texts of the poems, translating the poetic lines themselves directly into the music on the page. For example, in the middle section of “Spring”, when the goatherd sleeps, his barking dog can be heard in the viola section. The music is elsewhere similarly evocative of other natural sounds. Vivaldi divided each concerto into three movements (fast–slow–fast), and, likewise, each linked sonnet into three sections.

The Four Seasons is one of the best known pieces of classical music. It truly is an amazing work. I had heard it hundreds of times before, but it wasn’t until I set aside about an hour one day and listened to it in headphones that I truly gained a real appreciation for the piece. I recall sitting with my eyes closed and envisioning what season the movement was about. The images that the music conjured up in my mind was something I cannot begin to describe. It really was an amazing experience.

Here is one of MANY recordings of the entire piece:

There is a lot of debate as to whether the concerto was written to go with the sonnets that were written or the other way around. No one knows for sure who wrote the sonnets, but it is believed that Vivaldi wrote them.

As you listen to each concerto, read the sonnets and see if you can picture the things alluded to in them.

Spring

Allegro
Springtime is upon us.
The birds celebrate her return with festive song,
and murmuring streams are
softly caressed by the breezes.
Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar,
casting their dark mantle over heaven,
Then they die away to silence,
and the birds take up their charming songs once more.

Largo
On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches
rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps,
his faithful dog beside him.

Allegro
Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes,
nymphs and shepherds lightly dance
beneath spring’s beautiful canopy.

Summer

Allegro non molto
Under a hard season, fired up by the sun
Languishes man, languishes the flock and burns the pine
We hear the cuckoo’s voice;
then sweet songs of the turtledove and finch are heard.
Soft breezes stir the air, but threatening
the North Wind sweeps them suddenly aside.
The shepherd trembles,
fearing violent storms and his fate.

Adagio e piano – Presto e forte
The fear of lightning and fierce thunder
Robs his tired limbs of rest
As gnats and flies buzz furiously around.

Presto
Alas, his fears were justified
The Heavens thunder and roar and with hail
Cut the head off the wheat and damages the grain.

Autumn

Allegro
Celebrates the peasant, with songs and dances,
The pleasure of a bountiful harvest.
And fired up by Bacchus’ liquor,
many end their revelry in sleep.

Adagio molto
Everyone is made to forget their cares and to sing and dance
By the air which is tempered with pleasure
And (by) the season that invites so many, many
Out of their sweetest slumber to fine enjoyment

Allegro
The hunters emerge at the new dawn,
And with horns and dogs and guns depart upon their hunting
The beast flees and they follow its trail;
Terrified and tired of the great noise
Of guns and dogs, the beast, wounded, threatens
Languidly to flee, but harried, dies.

Winter

Allegro non molto
To tremble from cold in the icy snow,
In the harsh breath of a horrid wind;
To run, stamping one’s feet every moment,
Our teeth chattering in the extreme cold

Largo
Before the fire to pass peaceful,
Contented days while the rain outside pours down.

Allegro
We tread the icy path slowly and cautiously,
for fear of tripping and falling.
Then turn abruptly, slip, crash on the ground and,
rising, hasten on across the ice lest it cracks up.
We feel the chill north winds course through the home
despite the locked and bolted doors…
this is winter, which nonetheless
brings its own delights.

Happy Birthday, Antonio Vivaldi!!

Back in Time?

All writers get writer’s block. I am hardly a “writer”, but sometimes stare at the blank page and wonder what to write about. Since I began blogging, I have stumbled on blogs written by others who share some of the same interests as me. I have followed blogs that feature movies, TV, music, nostalgia, positive thoughts & quotes, and more. There have been many instances where I read another blog and an idea will pop into my head. My friend Max and I tend to “borrow” ideas from each other often.

Many ideas I adapt from those blogs. For this blog I am literally stealing the idea, and giving credit, and creating some rules for it. The Anxious Teacher wrote a blog after watching Back to the Future III. You can read it here:

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/94480307/posts/2458827458

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What a great idea for a blog! If you had a time machine – where would you travel? As I thought about this, I wanted to limit myself to a few things. First of all, because I have watched the Back to the Future movies, I know that if you go back and change something in the past – it will affect the future. So Limit #1: If I go back, I am simply there to observe. Many of the things I thought I would like to go back and witness happened over a period of time, so Limit #2 – no real time limit. Limit #3 – wherever I go, I will be dressed appropriately as to not raise suspicion. I know, it’s silly, but it’s my blog and my rules.

I actually thought about adding what I would call the “Ebenezer Scrooge” element to this. What is that? Well, remember when Scrooge was transported into the past, present & future? He could witness everything, but he could not interact with anyone. Those events happened and the people were not aware he was even there. Perhaps that would be the best thing, right? That way, if I went back in time, I would not be tempted to change things.

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General times and places

As my blogger friend said, I think it would be very cool to visit the old west. I have watched many westerns on TV and in the movies. I have read many books set in the old west. I think it would be pretty cool to walk through one of those western towns. How cool would it be to visit the saloons, or the general store? I think it would be cool to don a cool cowboy hat, boots & spurs and ride a horse to get from place to place.

I also think it would be cool to visit the ancient times and watch the building of the pyramids, or buildings like the coliseum. Those historic buildings are still standing. How awesome would it be to see just how they put them together?

As someone who has been a huge fan of the 1950’s, I would love to live a year or two in this decade. It’s fun to see how the ’50s are portrayed in movies like Back to the Future, and I would love to see it in person. I would love to hear the old radio stations playing those early rock and roll songs. I would love to see those classic films in a theater. I would love to have a meal at a real 50’s diner or drive a classic car!

I would love to visit the 1940’s, too! The music of the great band leaders, the early music of Sinatra, and of course, those great old radio shows! Of course, World War II was going on, but it would be interesting to see how life in America was at that time.

Everyone wants to visit the future … that peaks my interest, but is it something I would do? I don’t know. I’d be tempted to come back to the present and use the information for personal gain, or to alter outcomes. I’m not sure visiting the future would be something I’d want to do – unless I knew it was something specific I wouldn’t be able to see.

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General People of Interest

I would love to watch Beethoven or Bach (or any composer, really) writing and composing a piece of their music.

I would love to watch someone like Edgar Allen Poe or William Shakespeare writing a poem or story.

I would love to sit on a set and watch them shooting a Three Stooges or Laurel and Hardy film.

I would love to be in the room where the First Continental Congress held meetings and watch men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and others in action.

I would love to attend a taping of an old episode of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or a taping of the Dean Martin Show.

I would love to be in the audience at a Rat Pack show in Chicago or Las Vegas. Come on! Dean, Frank and Sammy!!

I would love to be an extra in one of my favorite movies.

I would love to watch Elvis in the recording studio.

I would love to watch Thomas Edison working on the phonograph or the electric light.

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Specific Events

I would love to watch the moon landing (on TV or from space).

I would love to watch the first flight with the Wright Brothers.

I would love to see JFK’s inauguration.

I would love to see a Beatles concert.

I would love to see Lincoln deliver his Gettysburg Address.

I would love to witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I would love to witness the launch of Titanic on her maiden voyage.

I would love to be in the stands at Tiger Stadium at the final game of the 1984 World Series.

I would love to be in the crowd at 1985’s Live Aid concert.

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Personal Things

I know I put some limits on what can or cannot happen if I went back in time, but if there were no limits there are a few things I would like to do with that time machine.

I would love one more conversation with my mom.

I would love one more pinochle game with grandma and grandpa.

I would love one more Christmas Eve with grandma and grandpa.

I would love one more radio show with Rob.

I would love one more cribbage game with my grandpa.

I would love to play my trumpet in one more high school band concert.

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Just One Day

For whatever reason, writing this blog made me think of the Nat King Cole song, “That Sunday, That Summer”. The lyrics of the song say:

“If I had to chose just one day, to last my whole life through, it would surely be that Sunday, the day that I met you.”

With a time machine, you could go back to one day. You could pick the day. You could relive whatever happened that day. What day would that be?

I don’t know that I could pick just one.

What I do know is that there are plenty of days that I am looking forward to that haven’t happened yet – the birth of my daughter, the graduations of my sons, etc…. I am perfectly content moving forward and experiencing the days to come.

Here is sit, remembering the past – loving the present – and looking forward to the future.

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