The House of Old-School

Sir Charles Mackerras!

2006-11-17T21:33:00.000-05:00

Greetings!:

Yet again, in the name of the House of Old-School, I extend further best wishes and congratulations on a birthday, this one being of my favourite conductor
as regular visitors to this house already know, Sir Charles Mackerras, this being his 81st!

Believe it or not, this conductor, usually associated with England nowadays though he is widely travelled, was actually born in Schenectady, New York, on
this date in 1925 of Australian parents. If I am not mistaken, he returned to Australia at an early age, and I do know that his early musical studies
were in Sydney and later, _MOST_ importantly, in Prague, where his lifelong love of Czech music began. He came to England in either the late 1940's or
early 1950's, and there, as the Website of his Managers, Askonas Holt (please see my favourite links for their Web address), tells us, a production of
the early-20th-Century Moravian/Czech composer, Leos Janacek's, opera, _Katya_ _Kavanova_, which the future Sir Charles conducted at what was then called
Sadlers Wells Opera (later English National Opera), won critical acclaim. I recall hearing an interview on the Web with Sir Charles in which he told us
that he participated in productions of the comic operas of that famous English team of Gilbert and Sullivan during his school days, and one of the earliest
manifestations of him also loving those operas was a ballet which he arranged from the music of these, _Pineapple_ _Poll_, which was premiered also in
the early '50's. His first recording of it was also the first commercial recording he ever made, and, fortunately for those of us who admire his work,
he has been making recordings ever since to use an avowedly-unoriginal phrase! According to a review of some orchestral music from Verdi's operas which
a man on Amazon, with whom I have recently begun corresponding, wrote, as well as one of a collection of early recordings of ballet music released to honour
Sir Charles's 80th birthday last year, this latter on the _Gramophone_ _Magazine_'s Website (
www.gramophone.co.uk), he
would sometimes be asked to step in for conductors who were indisposed for whatever reason, and this helped build up his reputation for the future. He
would go on to become Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera in the late 1960's (he was there when I started corresponding with him in 1969, and this
correspondence would continue for much of the next 35 years), but, before that, he would start on another famous aspect of his career, the performance
and recording of Baroque (the period in music history from roughly 1600 to 1750), and later Classical (as I wrote in an earlier post, this latter period
goes roughly from 1750 to the early years of the next Century), music in a style as close as could be determined to that in which this music was first
performed. In 1959, he made a famous late-night recording of Handel's _Music_ _For_ _The_ _Royal_ _Fireworks_ with a band of wind, brass and percussion
players from various London orchestras. This is the scoring in which Handel wrote this work and which he apparently preferred, though there is still some
question as to whether it was performed thus in the composer's lifetime. Then, in 1966, he made one of three landmark recordings of Handel's _Messiah_
which were made around that time, the other two having been conducted by the then-future Sir Colin Davis and the now-late Dr. Robert Shaw. Of those three,
the then-future Sir Charles's probably came closest to what was then believed to have been Handel's manner of performing his oratorios, though one could
perhaps question the amount of vocal and instrumental ornamentation which was added in that version, and further discoveries pertaining to Handelian practice
have been made since then. Yet, despite this and perhaps some speeds being slower in it than one expects nowadays, and though I admittedly no longer play
it (I played it last for the 80th birthday), there is still some vital music-making in this recording, notably from the chorus, the Ambrosian Singers,
and particularly from the higher-voiced soloists, the now-late Miss Elizabeth Harwood (soprano), the then-future Dame Janet Baker (mezzo soprano), and
counter-tenor Mr. Paul Esswood. In that same year he also recorded Purcell's (an English composer who lived in the later part of the century before Handel
came to England from Germany via Italy) music for Dryden's _The_ _Indian_ _Queen_, and though this too may now be somewhat outdated, I still like to play
it on his birthday, and hope to do so again during a break from this writing. While in Hamburg, he made another Purcell recording which I still also like,
of that composer's famous opera, _Dido_ _And_ _Aeneas_ (has its female title role ever been sung more movingly than by the now-late Miss Troyanos, perhaps
even more so than on a subsequent recording she made of this opera under another conductor?). And, with some of the same forces he used on his _Messiah_
recording, he later recorded Purcell's 1692 _Ode_ _On_ _St._ _Cecilia's_ _Day_ (the Patron Saint of Music whose day is 22 November). Upon returning to
England in, if memory serves, 1969, he took up appointment as Music Director of what again would soon become English National Opera, and it would be there
that I met him in person during my first visit to England in 1977 at productions of Puccini's beloved _La_ _Boheme_ and French composer Massenet's opera,
_Werther_. My third meeting with him was also during that same visit, at a concert he gave for the BBC of Haydn's _Nelson_ _Mass_ and Stravinsky's ballet,
_Appolon_ _Musagette_. I recall that the members of the ENO Orchestra were in some sort of dispute with the Company at that time, and one of our conversations
was interrupted by someone he described as a "recalcitrant cellist." His long-time wife, Lady Judy Mackerras, was quite vivacious in those days, but was
somewhat more subdued during conversations I had with her a few years ago. She seems _MOST_ capable at helping to manage his affairs! By the bye, I now
have, thanks to the Chandos Opera-In-English Series, a recording of that production of _Werther_ as recorded at the Coliseum, ENO's home, but with a different
tenor than the one I heard when I was there. Dame Janet Baker sang the female lead in this opera, Charlotte, in both performances. Sir Charles would
later become Music Director of Welsh National Opera, and presumably, while there, he first worked with a then-young Welsh bass-baritone called Mr. Bryn
Terfel! He also, with the WNO orchestra and sometimes the chorus, made some _SUPERB_, in my opinion, recordings of works by four English composers, notably
a series of works by a composer Sir Charles seemed to particularly be championing in those days, Delius. I have already mentioned his disc of Elgar's
youth-oriented music, featuring Mr. Terfel, in my 31-August post. Suffice it to say that, in addition to Mr. Terfel's contributions in the Suite from
_The_ _Starlight_ _Express_, I especially enjoy Sir Charles's accounts of the two _Dream_ _Children_, and in particular the first of these! There were
also recordings of five Gilbert-and-Sullivan operas, though, apart from _Trial_ _By_ _Jury_ which is all sung, these omitted Gilbert's spoken dialogue.
Yet most of the musical performances are _EXCELLENT_, notably the recording of their most famous opera, _The_ _Mikado_! Sir Charles made other Elgar
recordings with the London orchestras, his account of that composer's _Second_ _Symphony_ being a particular personal favourite! He made two recordings
of Elgar's best-known large-scale orchestral work, the _"Enigma"_ _Variations_, and I personally prefer the first of these which he made on the EMI Label.
It is coupled with the composer's Symphonic Study based on Shakespeare's accounts of the historical Falstaff, and, though it is now deleted, you _MIGHT_
be able to find it on Amazon since a copy of it was on offer there the last time I checked. There was also that recording of Britten's _Gloriana_ mentioned
in that 31-August post. But Sir Charles did not exclusively confine his performances and recordings to England and the UK! In Vienna he made a series
of recordings of his beloved Janacek's (pronounced yanachek) operas, and these garnered much just critical acclaim (one of these was of that composer's
next-to-last opera, _The_ _Makropoulos_ _Case_, but a new recording of this, from ENO and in Sir Charles's new performing edition of that opera's score,
is due for release next year again as part of Chandos OIE, he having recorded Janacek's earlier opera, _Jenufa_, for that series a few years ago, etc.).
In the late '80's and into the '90's, Sir Charles would record much Mozart, though he had recorded a little of his work previously. There would be all
of his Symphonies with the Prague Chamber Orchestra, some of the Piano Concerti performed by an Irish pianist, Mr. John O'Connor, with the Scottish Chamber
Orchestra, and most of his important operas with that same orchestra, all of these recordings being for the American Telarc Label, as were his Gilbert-and-Sullivan
series. He also made a fine recording of Handel's _Water_ _Music_ and some _SUPERB_, again in my view, accounts of some of Haydn's best-known Symphonies
with the New-York-based Orchestra of St. Luke's, though not the most famous of them, the "Surprise." There would also be more Handel orchestral music
with the English Chamber Orchestra, with which he had made that landmark _Messiah_ and three other Handel oratorios, though these latter are also now somewhat
outdated as per performance practice. Yet I still have and play his account of _Judas_ _Maccabaeus_ since it is still probably the best version of that
popular oratorio we currently have. In the late '80's he also began to work and record with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, a London-based
orchestra playing on instruments of the late-18th and early-19th Centuries, notably Schubert's last two symphonies, the famous _8th_, the "Unfinished,"
having been completed for another conductor by an English Schubert scholar called Mr. Brian Newbold (spelling hopefully correct). In the '90's Sir Charles
was Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and made some _MARVELLOUS_ recordings with them, particularly a disc of Richard Strauss
tone poems, two Mahler (a late-19th/early-20th-Century Austrian composer and near-contemporary of the German Strauss) symphonies and a straightforward
set of all of the Beethoven symphonies relying on the scholarship of a current Beethoven authority, Mr. Jonathan Del Mar, as well as a Telarc recording
of that composer's only opera, _Fidelio_, the _Violin_ _Concerto_ on EMI with Miss Monica Huggett and the OAE and a disc for the Hyperion Label of Beethoven's
ballet, _The_ _Creatures_ _Of_ _Prometheus_. And we must not overlook another set I particularly like, a landmark series of the Brahms symphonies, again
for Telarc, which offers them with the approximate size of orchestra Brahms preferred, just under 50 players, and incorporating information left by his
pupils as to how he wanted these works to be played. He continued to conduct and record Czech music, with several recordings of music by one of its most
popular representatives, Dvorak (it would be difficult to accurately write how that should be pronounced, but hopefully at least some of you know it anyway
and can thus assist those who do not). Besides that forthcoming recording of _The_ _Makropoulos_ _Case_, one of his most recent recordings of Czech music
has also been previously mentioned, Miss Susan Gritton's favourite among her recordings as of earlier this year, an English-language version, again for
OIE, of Smetana's comic opera, _The_ _Bartered_ _Bride_! His Mozart disc with Mr. Terfel, _Tutto_ _Mozart_, has also been recently released, and he is
to record this month, if he has not yet done so, yet another OIE contribution, of Humperdinck's (not the popular singer of some years ago, but his German
namesake) ever-popular opera, _Hansel_ _And_ _Grettel_.

There is _MUCH_ else I could cover, including a _WONDERFUL_ disc of excerpts from Wagner's _Gotterdammerung_ (Twilight of the Gods) from the '70's, etc.,
but I hope I have managed to represent what this conductor's artistry has meant to me since the late '60's. If I recall anything else I should have covered,
I will try to add it as a comment to this post. Hopefully Sir Charles had a fine, though presumably not as elaborate as his 80th, 81st birthday!

Gratefully and joyfully submitted,

J. V.

Happy Belated Birthday, US Marine Corps, etc.!

2006-11-13T23:14:00.000-05:00

Greetings!:

In the name of the House of Old-School, I extend my heartiest belated congratulations and best wishes to the United States Marine Corps on its 231st birthday!
I would have written this sooner, but was busy attending events related to this over the just-concluded weekend, including the dedication of the new National
Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, of which hopefully more later.

As I wrote in my post saluting the Navy's birthday, the Continental Congress initially established a navy when General Washington arranged for the acquisition
of a few ships. Further, on 10 November, 1775, they authorized the establishment of two battalions of Marines. During the Revolution, these Marines supported
naval operations as well as fought on land. As had been done with the Continental Navy, these battalions were disbanded after the Revolutionary War ended
in 1783. Then, on 11 July, 1798, the same day on which the Marine Band, discussed in my post of that day in this year, was established, the US Congress
established the United States Marine Corps! During the years prior to the War of 1812, Marines served in several places, notably against the Barbary Pirates
along the "shores of Tripoli" later to be immortalized in the "Marines' Hymn." During that second war with England begun in 1812, Marines continued to
assist in Naval operations, one notable land engagement being assisting in the defense of our then-rather-new Nation's Capital by engaging at nearby Bladensburg,
Maryland. They further notably fought with General Jackson in the famous Battle of New Orleans. The Corps would see further action between then and the
War Between theStates, that other reference in the "Marines' Hymn" being from the Mexican War, in which Marines fought into Mexico City where were "the
halls of Montezuma." Marines continued to work with the Navy during the Civil War, but used their infantry skills in a number of land battles as well.
Throughout the remainder of the 19th Century and up to the First World War, the Corps was called upon to serve in various foreign locales, notably those
near seacoasts as one might expect. Then, near the end of what was supposed to have been "the war to end all wars," Marines showed particular bravery
in a battle of which I did not yet know or had forgotten about, Belleau Wood, along with certain others throughout 1918 prior to the Armistice. Marine
Aviation began initially in 1912, and the amphibious capabilities for which the Corps is now so well known were developed between the two World Wars.
As is also well known, Marines fought prominently in the Pacific Theatre during World War II, their two most famous engagements probably being Guadalcanal
and, of course, Iwo Jima, where a contingent of Marines raised American flags on Mt. Seribachi. The raising of the second, larger flag was famously photographed,
and this, at least one of the widest-circulated photographs in history, formed the basis of the design of both the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington,
Virginia, where a ceremony takes place each Marine Corps Birthday and which I have attended numerous times, and the afore-mentioned new National Museum
of the Marine Corps, which opened to the public on 13 November, 2006, the day on which I am now writing. By the bye, the photographer who took that photograph,
one Mr. Joseph Rosenthal, made an Honourary Marine some years ago, died just recently. Something which interested me when I read it was that the Corps'
strength jumped from between 100,000 and 200,000 to just under 500,000 at the peak of the War. I was told today that it is currently at about 181,000,
though it would probably be at least desirable to increase it to around 200,000. Following World War II, the Corps began to develop another capability
for which it is justly famous, the use of helicopters. Marines would again figure prominently in the next two wars, Korea and Vietnam. Both had their
frustrations, especially the latter, though Marines would fight valiantly as per their tough nature. The last Marine ground forces were pulled out of
Vietnam in 1971, though other Marines would help embassy personnel and others to leave Saigon and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1975. A major activity in the
late 1970's was development of the Rapid Deployment Force, a multi-service unit designed to help do just that, _MOST_ important, it would seem, in our
time! It further seems that there is now more inter-service co-operation than at any previous point in our history. The 20th Century, for the Corps and
other service branches, would close with engagements such as in Beirut, Grenada and, of course, the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield and certainly
one of the swiftest wars in our history, Operation Desert Storm. Humanitarian aid was also offered at home, the latest major manifestation of this being
from last year's two major hurricanes. 9-11-2001 brought the beginning of the current Global War On Terror, and while there is much controversy surrounding
the present war in Iraq, and while our tactical approach _MAY_ require some re-assessment, I for one hope that we will _NOT_ leave there in humiliation!

As has been my custom over recent service birthday posts, I would like to offer a birthday message for the Marine Corps, belated on two accounts. The first
of these, as already related, is that the birthday itself, 10 November, was this past Friday, and I was out attending events related to it and Veterans
Day over the weekend (I was home yesterday, but doing other things). But the latter is that the man who wrote the below, General Michael W. Hagee, passed
command of the Corps to its new Commandant, General James T. Conway, in a ceremony held on the parade deck at Marine Barracks Washington at mid-day to-day,
a ceremony which I was also privileged to attend. So here is one of outgoing Commandant Hagee's last acts in that position:

Daily Media Report

10 NOVEMBER 2006

A MESSAGE FROM THE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS

On November 10th, 1775, our Corps was born as the Continental Congress raised the first and second battalions of American Marines. Each year as we celebrate
our birthday, we pause to reflect on the Marines of yesteryear who fought in our touchstone battles and forged the modern Marine Corps with their courage,
integrity, and undying commitment to their fellow Marines. Each of our storied battles is a link in the long chain that binds all Marines together from
the Continental Marines at Bunker Hill to the Teufelhunden crossing the wheat fields of Belleau Wood. This chain binds us to the Marines on the crest of
Mount Suribachi; it passes through the ice and snow of the Chosin Reservoir and the steaming jungles of Vietnam, and it anchors firmly today in the desert
sands of Iraq.

This years celebration again finds many from ranks serving with distinction in harms way. As we have for the past 231 years, our Corps is answering the
Nations call. I can report first hand that our Marines fighting on the front lines of the Long War on Terror are performing brilliantly, acquitting themselves
with honor, dedication, and dignity in difficult and dangerous environments.

All Marines are making a difference. Regardless of where you are serving, you are adding new chapters to the legacy that was earned with sweat and blood
on old battlefields. Just as previous generations of Marines shaped todays Marine Corps, your deeds are molding the Corps of tomorrow. Our Corps has never
been stronger, and all Americans are extremely proud of your magnificent performance and unwavering commitment to serve our Corps and country. With high
caliber Marines like you, our future has never been brighter.

Another irreplaceable element of our success as Marines is the terrific support we receive from our families. Through the long hours, the exercises, and
the combat deployments, their support is unconditional and firm. They give us love and devotion, providing us with the strength to drive on when duty calls.
Today we should all acknowledge our loved ones for their patient, steadfast service.

To all who have earned the title Marine, to the superb Sailors who serve with us in every clime and place, and to our precious families I wish each of
you a heartfelt Happy 231st Birthday.

I _VERY_ much thank Captain Manuel Delarosa of the Marine Corps Public Affairs Office for providing me with the above birthday greeting from Former Commandant
Hagee, and am additionally _MOST_ indebted to the Website of the Marine Corps History and Museums Division, hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Home_Page.htm, for
the historical information given prior to that message. As you saw, only highlights were sketchily given, so my visitors are _STRONGLY_ recommended, if
this subject interests them, to visit that Site where, among numerous other things, they may read the birthday message of the legendary Commandant, General
Lejeune, which established the current custom of observing 10 November as the Corps' official birthday, as well as about customs related to the observance
thereof over the years. I further thank the Department of Defense Website,
www.dod.mil,
for admittedly refreshing me on the new Commandant's name and another name to follow soon.

That other name is of the late Corporal Jason Dunham, who lost his life in Iraq recently as the result of falling on a grenade to save the lives of his
fellow-Marines. At the dedication of the Museum this past Friday, the President informed us that Corporal Dunham would be the second Medal of Honour winner
to come out of the current Iraq War, _EMINENTLY_ deserved as far as I am concerned!!! Another highlight for me from that ceremony was the speech given
by Dr. Jim Lehrer from PBS and a Former Marine. He told us that, at his first drill session, the Drill Instructor mispronounced his name. Recruit Lehrer
impulsively, yet seemingly respectfully, corrected him, whereupon the Instructor came, got in his face, and told him that if he said that his name was
Little Bo Peep, then Little Bo Peep was his name! He _NEVER_ forgot it, and, in the tradition of the Corps, "once a Marine, always a Marine," he has been
a loyal Marine ever since, bringing this fact into his equally-_SUPERB_, again in my opinion, address he gave at Harvard's Commencement/Alumni Meeting
this past June! As for the Museum itself, which I was privileged to tour the following day, much of it is visual, and thus I cannot comment as fully as
I would wish. Yet I _CAN_ tell you that at least two of its exhibits are simulators, the first being a booth in which one simulates being yelled at by,
yes, a Drill Instructor, the other being landing under fire in a Vietnam-Era helicopter and then quickly deploying onto rough terrain to serve in what
I recall being a sort of suicide mission. Those who _CAN_ see the structure tell me that it is _INDEED_ beautiful/impressive! After the 3:00 p.m. Museum
tour, we went outside to what is called Semper Fidelis Memorial Park (as many of you hopefully know, the Corps' motto is "semper Fidelis," Latin for "always
Faithful") for its initial dedication. When fully developed, it will be more fully landscaped, and one of its features will be a hill representing the
hill which a Marine Recruit must climb in order to, at its top, receive the Eagle, Globe and Anchor of a United States Marine. If I am not mistaken, a
chapel is planned for the top of that hill. There are, or again eventually will be if all goes well, memorial bricks for which the Marine Corps Heritage
Foundation, which operates the Museum and Park, raised private funds. I would like to eventually return to Quantico to visit the Marine Corps University,
etc. Despite much requiring vision, these events, along with the annual ceremony at the Marine Corps War Memorial and today's Passing-Of-Command Ceremony,
were _MOST_ meaningful for me! By the bye, having mentioned that, of course, Naval and other Officers have served as astronauts, it was good that one
of their pioneers and a Former Marine, Senator John Glenn, was at least in attendance at the Museum Dedication!

The man who conducted me on the tour of the Museum, one Sergeant Jones, told me that new amphibious landing craft are being developed for the Corps, and
he showed me a new tractor-like vehicle which can take men and materials unloaded from a ship somewhat farther inland than previous amphibious landing
craft might have allowed. These, along with presumably other technological advances, should keep the Corps in good stead in the coming days and years
along with hopefully the best men and women that can be mustered!

Once again I extend my best wishes and congratulations to the Corps on yet another meaningful birthday, and conclude this series of birthday tributes to
all five branches of our Armed Forces by thanking _ALL_ our Veterans, both past and present, for the loyal and dedicated service they have provided, this
past Saturday having been, as we all know, Veterans Day. _SEMPER_ _FI_, Marines, and the _VERY_ best to the rest!!!

Gratefully and joyfully submitted,

J. V.

Continued From Previous

2006-10-31T21:39:00.000-05:00

Continuing with what I was writing reference Vaughan Williams and Howells, one of the former's most famous works appeared in 1934, but the _Fantasia_ _On_
_Greensleeves_ was not arranged by VW himself (though the last part of it, where that famous tune returns, is taken directly from the music between the
two scenes of Act IV of the composer's previously-mentioned opera, _Sir_ _John_ _In_ _Love_, and the first occurrence of this, at its beginning, sounds
to me virtually identical to the accompaniment it receives when Mistress Ford sings it in Act III of that opera, though without the flute introduction
heard in this fantasia, the flute introduction to the reprise however also being right out of the opera), but by one Mr. Ralph Greaves, he having added,
whether at VW's suggestion or on his own, another English folksong called "Lovely Joan." This song is also sung in the opera, by Mistress Quickly in Act
II, but the arrangement in the fantasia is somewhat different and more elaborate than that. VW must have at least approved of this fantasia since
he conducted its first performance, and listeners have been loving it ever since along with the earlier and previously mentioned _Tallis_ _Fantasia_ for
string quartet and string orchestra! In the late 1930's VW gave us two beautiful works, particularly the _Serenade_ _To_ _Music_, setting lines from Shakespeare's
_The_ _Merchant_ _Of_ _Venice_ for 16 solo voices and orchestra (an alternative version involving chorus), this having been written to salute Sir Henry
Wood, a prominent English conductor of the time, on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee Concert in 1938. This is one of the composer's most lyrical works in my, and presumably many others', opinions,
and I feel that musically it has much in common with the best lyrical passages in _The_ _Pilgrim's_ _Progress_! The following year VW gave the New York
World's Fair an homage to an English folksong which initially had a strong effect upon him in 1893, "Dives And Lazarus," this new work, for strings and
harp, being _Five_ _Variants_ _Of_ _Dives_ _And_ _Lazarus_. The big variant at its end is the version of the tune which VW himself collected during his
song collecting days previously mentioned, the others being reminiscences of other versions. Sir Adrian Boult conducted the first performance of this
very English work in Carnegie Hall! There was also a _Te_ _Deum_ based on traditional tunes written for King George Vi's coronation in 1937. VW, though now getting
further on in years, nonetheless contributed some non-combat service to the Second World War as well, but also continued writing music. He began to write
film music in the 1940's, most of it as yet unfamiliar to me personally. Yet one of his scores, for _Scott_ _Of_ _The_ _Antarctic_, would provide the
basis for his _Sinfonia_ _Antarctica_, his _Seventh_ _Symphony_, first played in 1953. His _Fifth_ and _Sixth_ _Symphonies_ also came out of the '40's.
He had been working on _The_ _Pilgrim's_ _Progress_ from time to time throughout the '20's and '30's, but had, in the late part of the latter, come to
think that this morality might never reach the stage, and thus he began writing his _Fifth_ _Symphony_, using some of his material for the opera in it.
At the beginning of its "Romanza," Third Movement, he originally wrote a quotation from the Bunyan book which concludes, "He hath given me rest by His
sorrow, and life by His death," and the English-horn solo after its opening chords presents the theme to which Pilgrim sings those words in the morality,
though it first occurs as an English-horn solo there as well. The second theme of its First Movement is heard, in various versions, during the opening
scene of the morality, it first appearing when Evangelist tells Pilgrim that, when he knocks at the gate, "it shall be told thee what thou shalt do."
Agitated passages in the middle of the symphony's "Romanza" are associated, in the morality, with Pilgrim's burden, and the theme of its Finale, a passacaglia
(that being variations on a continually-repeated theme, that theme often first appearing in the bass), is heard during the second scene of the morality's
First Act, the scene in the House Beautiful. The symphony was first played in 1943. The early '40's also brought a motet for unaccompanied chorus setting
Mr. Valiant for Truth's speech from Part II of the Bunyan allegory, and then the BBC asked this composer for incidental music for a dramatization of that
great book. This also contains music which would later appear in the morality, notably the Anglican hymn tune called "York," which I gather came from
Bunyan's time, and extensive use of the theme on which the _Tallis_ _Fantasia_ is based. This latter would, in the morality, be shortened to just a rising-and-falling
passage which would recur at several points associated with the Celestial City. The _Sixth_ _Symphony_, as already suggested, was _QUITE_ a different
matter! The _Fifth_ had largely returned to a more tranquil style often associated with this composer in the public's mind. And yet here came the _Sixth_,
returning to the brutality and harshness of the _Fourth_, though the two works are quite different from each other. There is a folklike theme in its opening
movement which returns quite simply near its end, only to be succeeded by a return of the violent opening of the symphony. Repeated groups of three B-flats
on brass and percussion menace the end of the Second Movement, and the middle of the Third presents a somewhat-jazzy saxophone solo. And then comes its
strange, often _ULTRA_-soft, Finale, with what the composer describes as "whiffs of theme," causing some to wonder if he was there depicting the world
as it might be after nuclear destruction. Yet, in a letter to Mr. Kennedy which is cited in both his musical biography of the composer referenced in the
first installment of this post and his notes for Sir Adrian Boult's EMI recording of this symphony, he says that a possible clue to the meaning of this
could be found in a passage from Prospero's farewell in Shakespeare's _The_ _Tempest_, "We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is
rounded with a sleep." Re-reading the notes for that recording just minutes ago, I was surprised to discover or re-discover that, while Mr. Kennedy has
no authority for this, he conjectures that this work could conceivably be a memorial to VW's closest musical friend, Gustav Holst, who had died in 1934,
ten years before the composition of this symphony was begun (I am now ashamed that I did not write a post about Holst around the time of his birthday,
21 September, so must try to make up for that some time in future). Sir Adrian first conducted this symphony in 1948. While the war was still going on,
VW wrote a work to be broadcast on the BBC once victory was declared in Europe. It was even pre-recorded. _Thanksgiving_ _For_ _Victory_, the title later
changed to _A_ _Song_ _Of_ _Thanksgiving_, is rather a favourite of mine, its text being from the _Bible_, Shakespeare and Kipling (the latter's "Land
Of Our Birth"). It is scored for a speaker, a soprano soloist (VW wanted a powerful, dramatic voice for this with no vibrato, but, so far as I know, has
yet to get the latter, not even on the original broadcast, though he suggests a small group of boys as an alternative), chorus, children's chorus (which
begin's "Land Of Our Birth" near the end of the work) and large orchestra including a prominent organ part. Another work for speaker, chorus and orchestra
from later in this Decade is more delicate, _An_ _Oxford_ _Elegy_, setting a combination of excerpts from two poems by the 19th-Century English poet Matthew
Arnold. I feel this is a particularly beautiful work. As for the previously-cited _Prayer_ _To_ _The_ _Father_ _Of_ _Heaven_, also written for Oxford,
I personally find the Skelton text which VW sets for this one of the finest pieces of Theology outside the _Bible_ itself, another such being Elgar's short
Christmas work, for unaccompanied chorus as this is, _I_ _Sing_ _The_ _Birth_, setting words attributed to Ben Johnson! The 1950 Gloucester Festival,
which, as already related, brought the premiere of Howells' _Hymnus_ _Paradisi_, also brought an unusual work from VW, his _Fantasia_ _On_ _The_ _Old_
_104th_ _Psalm_ _Tune_ for piano solo, chorus and orchestra. The tune is attributed to one Ravenscroft, the text being a rhymed paraphrase of the Psalm.
When the chorus and orchestra are silent, at least Sir Adrian Boult's EMI recording of this makes it hard to believe that they are there at all, their
three appearances thus coming as somewhat of a surprise. The second of these, where two verses of the Psalm are sung, brings the work's most advanced
harmonies. Thereafter VW embarked on the last nearly 8 years of his life, _MOST_ productive for one who then approached and surpassed 80! In addition
to the already-much-discussed _Pilgrim_, there would be music for the present Queen of England's coronation in 1953, including a short motet to be sung
while the Royal Couple was receiving Communion late in the Service, _O_ _Taste_ _And_ _See_, setting Psalm 34:8, and a _ROUSING_ setting of the "Old Hundredth,"
to the tune most familiar nowadays as the one to which the Doxology is usually sung, though here in its original meter instead of the uneven meter most
often sung. VW proposed to the then-Archbishop of Canterbury that the congregation should be allowed to sing during part of this, something which had
never happened in any coronation prior to that, and this indeed happened, the congregation joining the chorus, organ and orchestra as well as the trumpeters
from the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall! VW had made at least one other setting of this text, even including something like his setting
of the last verse here, when he set the entire Psalm, with the added final verse as in 1953, in 1930. The 1953 version again sets a versified paraphrase.
He may have whimsically regarded this as making "a mess-up of the "old Hundredth"," but what a _GLORIOUS_ "mess-up?" it is! Then, the following year,
he made one of two other homages to Christmas which would come from that Decade, _Hodie_ (This Day), a cantata for three soloists, boys chorus with
organ, large mixed chorus and orchestra, telling the Christmas Story from the traditional Biblical passages as well as a passage from the Latin Christmas
Vespers along with settings of English poetry, including one by a modern-day poet, Thomas Hardy. This also includes two unaccompanied chorales, the second
verse of the second of these, as well as the movement related to the Three Kings, offering poetry by the composer's second wife and now widow, Mrs. Ursula
Vaughan Williams. Once again, at least in my opinion, we have one of those great pieces of Theology in the form of the Scottish poet William Drummond's
"Bright Portals Of The Sky," set for the tenor soloist just before the section related to the Three Kings. There are also several lyrical movements, two
of these being the Hardy setting, "The Oxen," and a pastoral movement to a text by George Herbert, whose poetry VW had previously set in those beautiful
_Five_ _Mystical_ _Songs from 43 years earlier. Checking some details from Mr. Kennedy's article for Sir David Willcocks' recording of this cantata brought
relevant information, that it is dedicated to one Herbert Howells! Throughout his composing career, VW had been writing concertos, including one for violin,
one for piano (also in a version for two pianos), and another for oboe. Then, in the 1950's, he wrote two more concerted works for solo instruments with
orchestra. The first of these, a short _Romance_, was for, of all instruments, harmonica! There is a rather-amusing story connected with it related in,
among presumably other places, Mr. Kennedy's book. VW told the man for whom he wrote it, the American Larry Adler, that he would alter it if Mr. Adler
was not pleased with it, then do so again if he was still not pleased, and then, if he _STILL_ was displeased, he would re-write it for bass tuba! As
things turned out, Mr. Adler _WAS_ pleased, but VW went ahead and wrote his _Tuba_ _Concerto_ anyway, and that work has become at least somewhat popular.
It has wit as one might expect in a work for that instrument, but it also has a characteristically-lyrical slow movement. There were also more songs
throughout this composer's long life, and two final groups of these appeared in the Late '50's, most notably his _Ten_ _Blake_ _Songs_ for tenor and solo
oboe. These songs are quite attractive as far as I am concerned. He also, as Richard Strauss had done, wrote _Four_ _Last_ _Songs_, these being, if I
am not mistaken, to words by his wife, but I confess to not being certain as to how much, if at all, Strauss and VW had to do with their last songs being
so designated. He further wrote _Three_ _Shakespeare_ _Songs_ for unaccompanied chorus, the second of these setting the passage from _The_ _Tempest_ which
contained the words VW felt best described the meaning of his _Sixth_ _Symphony_'s Finale. There would also be two more symphonies, his _Eighth_ and _Ninth_.
Yet it should probably be here noted that his previously-cited _Seventh_, _Sinfonia_ _Antarctica_, also includes a soprano soloist, women's chorus and
a wind machine. Each of its five movements is prefaced in the score by a literary superscription related, in the composer's mind, to Captain Scott's expedition
and VW's reaction to it and the Antarctic landscape as he understood it. The _Eighth_ is probably the most jocular and shortest. One of its distinguishing
features is that its middle movements are entirely for separate groups of instruments, the Second for winds and brass only and the Third, another "Romanza"
if I am not mistaken, for strings only. The Finale includes all manner of percussion instruments, particularly bells and the like, these having increasingly
interested him later in his life, especially in the Finale of _Hodie_. Yet there are also bells near the end of _Dona_ _Nobis_ _Pacem_ from some years
earlier. The _Ninth_ is a rather-darker affair, and Mr. Kennedy, along with possibly others, see it as the beginning of a new direction in the composer's
output. I personally have yet to discern this, hearing in a repeated passage in its Finale a fond farewell, but am by _NO_ means closed to the idea that
this could be something new if someone will show it to me. Its Second Movement has a theme for solo flugel horn which closely resembles a passage early
in _A_ _Sea_ _Symphony_ at the words, "and on its limitless heaving breast," and its Scherzo (Third Movement) has a section for a quartet of saxophones.
The work on which VW was working when he died in 1958 was yet another Christmas one, _The_ _First_ _Nowel_, a pageant which musically was largely based
on carols, etc. "The First Nowel" itself was one of VW's personal favourites, and the work closes with it, though his assistant during his later years,
Mr. Roy Douglas, had to complete his arrangement of this along with having to complete, arrange, or even perhaps write, some movements in this work. The
concert version of this has just received its latest recording, on the Chandos Label, conducted by one of today's greatest VW champions, Mr. Richard Hickox,
whose recording of _The_ _Pilgrim's_ _Progress_ is mentioned in my 11-June post in this blog about that work. The disc also includes the world-premiere
recording of his 1920's masque, _On_ _Christmas_ _Night_, loosely based on Dickens' _A_ _Christmas_ _Carol_. Another VW work which received its first
recording this year was one which I feel is particularly affecting, the final version of his _Willow_ _Wood_, a setting from Rosetti's _The_ _House_ _Of_
_Life_, from which poems the composer had also fashioned a song cycle which includes one of his most famous songs, "Silent Noon." This version, for baritone
solo, chorus and orchestra, comes from around the time of _On_ _Wenlock_ _Edge_ and _A_ _Sea_ _Symphony_, etc., and I feel a passage in it looks straight
ahead to the _Serenade_ _To_ _Music_ of some 20 years later! In addition to editing the _English_ _Hymnal_, VW also figured in at least two other books
of hymns and the like during his life, _Songs_ _Of_ _Praise_ and the famous _Oxford_ _Book_ _Of_ _Carols_. He also arranged many folksongs for various
vocal and instrumental forces, etc.

I admit to not knowing as much about Howells as I have sought to do about VW, but I gather that his early career mainly focused on instrumental music whereas
his later at least largely centered on vocal/choral music. Among other works, he wrote settings of the Anglican Morning and Evening Canticles and Communion
Service, of which settings the ones he made for King's College, Cambridge, called _Collegium_ _Regale_, are presumably the best known. Some of these are
in Howells' more advanced harmonic language while others are more "traditional" in that area. One setting where both of these could possibly be said to
come into play is in the Communion Service from the _Collegium_ _Regale_, the "Kyrie" ("Lord have mercy upon us, etc." in English). This is among the
_MOST_-beautiful and moving half-minutes-or-so of music of which I am currently aware, Howells, in my opinion, perfectly capturing the meaning of this
penetential text, with anguished harmonies penetrating into the beauty, especially at "Christ have mercy upon us." Other movements from this Service,
such as the "Gloria," are more straightforward, notably at their openings. One of Howells' best-known works is a little Christmas gem called _A_ _Spotless_
_Rose_, often sung at services such as the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols held each Christmas Eve at King's College. In addition to the _Hymnus_
_Paradisi_ previously mentioned, there are two other major choral works which an article I read on the Chandos Records Website (
www.chandos.net)
suggests make, with it, a "Holy Trinity" of works. The _Missa_ _Sabrinensis_ (Mass of the Severn), from what I read, was apparently considered unperformable
for some years after having been premiered at the same Worcester Three Choirs Festival in 1954 at which VW's _Hodie_ was premiered (thus making the latter's
dedication of his Christmas Cantata to Howells even more significant it would seem). Yet a recording of it was made on that Chandos Label, and has received
favourable reviews on amazon.com, though one reviewer cautioned that at least some of Howells' detailed dynamic markings are ignored in that performance.
He further set the famous Medieval poem about the Virgin Mary's reaction to her Son's Crucifixion, the _Stabat_ _Mater_, in 1965, and that article on
the Chandos Site tells us that his setting was influenced by world events of the time, including a 1961 Soviet nuclear test, the harrowing Cuban missile
crisis of 1962, President Kennedy's assassination in 1963 (in response to which he wrote an unaccompanied motet for chorus on an early-Medieval text, part
of which, in the original Latin, heads the score of the _Hymnus_, though the motet sets an English translation of this beginning "Take him, earth, for
cherishing") and Sir Winston Churchill's death and funeral in 1965. I gather that all three of these works are quite emotional, and this is _DEFINITELY_
true of the _Hymnus_, the only one of the three I really know to any degree! Howells obviously _FELT_ the loss of his son, though he brought much technical
skill to his work as well, thus, as it were, offering a fine Bunyanesque combination of head and heart! It seems plausible that the opening of its Prelude, for violas
and clarinets if I am hearing correctly, is an homage to Elgar's _The_ _Dream_ _Of_ _Gerontius_ which, as related in the first section of this post, Howells had come to hear at
Gloucester in 1910 where he first met the _Tallis_ _Fantasia_ and VW. Not long thereafter, there is a climax for strings, but then, after an oboe solo
on a theme which is later associated with the 23rd Psalm, there is an even bigger one where the brass, including some stratispheric horn writing, is followed
by sweeping harp arpeggios (broken up-and-down chords). At the end of this Prelude, a C on trumpet leads into the chorus's first entry with the opening
words of the Latin Requiem, "Requiem eternam dona eis" (I for one wonder why he omits the word "Domine" which usually appears in this passage since he
does refer to the Lord and to Christ later in the work). The text for the _Hymnus_ is actually a mixture of Latin and English, a combination which Benjamin
Britten would use even more fully in his _War_ _Requiem_ in the early 1960's. After these Latin words are treated extensively by both chorus and eventually
the entering soprano soloist, an orchestral interlude leads into a setting of the 23rd Psalm as it appears in the Anglican _Book _ _Of_ _Common_ _Prayer_,
the translation there beginning, "The Lord is my Shepherd, therefore can I lack nothing." The soprano begins this beautifully and tranquilly, but, as
the text suggests, a sinister element enters at "Yea, though I walk through the valley, etc.," though the promise of a full cup restores the tranquil mood,
leading to a return to the soprano's opening music at "But Thy lovingkindness and mercy, etc." The chorus's repetition of this text leads to a climax
on "and I will dwell, etc.," and then comes a magical chromatic chord on "forever," the first of at least two instances in this work where Howells treats
that word in a particularly-magical way. The next movement combines the "Sanctus" from the Latin Mass ("Holy, Holy, Holy, etc.") with the 121st Psalm,
"I will lift up mine eyes, etc." This is a particularly powerful, impassioned movement, the choral womens' repeated Sanctuses being answered by the soprano
and tenor soloists beginning the Psalm. Then, after the "Sanctus" has gained sway, the key of C major is reached, and, with a heavy orchestral thud as
of a foot being planted firmly down, the chorus then informs us that "He will not sufffer thy foot to be moved, etc.," and then, after several more verses
of the Psalm, the "Sanctus" returns at a big climax on E major, including some _WONDERFUL_ high B's and C-sharps from the first violins. This gradually
subsides into E minor and then, with an English-horn solo with orchestra as interlude, an unaccompanied semi-chorus of boys voices reiterates the opening
of the "Sanctus" after which the womens' "Dominus, Deus Sabaoth" returns us to the opening music of the movement where the two soloists bring the Psalm
to a close, the words "for evermore" bringing yet another magical treatment from Howells. The text for the next movement comes from the _Book_ _Of_ _The_
_Revelation_ and the Anglican Burial Office, beginning "I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, from henceforth blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord, etc.," and Howells has the tenor soloist begin this with viola accompaniment, after which, with two clarinets magically entering, the semi-chorus
gives us that part of the text which St. John was bidden to write. This is calm of a sort before the final movement, the text for which, beginning "Holy
is the true light," comes from the _Salisbury_ _Diurnal_ with Alleluias added by Howells. The composer tells us, in notes reproduced in the booklet accompanying
Sir David Willcocks's _SPLENDID_, at least in my opinion, EMI recording of this work, that light is an important aspect of it, and this is obviously found
particularly in this last movement where that light lends "radiance to them that endured in the heat of the conflict." As the music approaches its final
climax in E-flat major, where both chorus and orchestra reach for the heights, including more _WONDERFUL_ stratispheric, Elgar-like writing for the violins,
we are told of that home of unfading splendour which the redeemed inherit "wherein they rejoice with gladness evermore." Yet it would seem obvious that
this passion, besides depicting the light, shows that this composer is _FEELING_ his loss and thus expressing it. After the music and the soloists' Alleluias
subside, the opening text of the work returns to bring it to a peaceful, restful conclusion.

Both VW and Howells could write congenial, accessible music, but, as already related, they both could also write music of complexity and, yes, harshness
at times. A reasonable amount of the music in _Hymnus_ _Paradisi_ could not exactly be called pleasant by conventional standards, and yet, if one can
let it, it indeed can move, as can a harsh, yet apt to its situation, opera such as VW's _Riders_ _To_ _The_ _Sea_. Perhaps I have, as Skelton says he
did regarding Eleanor Rumming in the first of the _Five_ _Tudor_ _Portraits_, written too much over this two-part post, but hopefully my visitors can realize
from this that the subject means _MUCH_ to me, and thus, if necessary, can forgive the verbosity. I can only hope that what has been written here can
somehow win new friends for these two composers and confirm the love of those already initiated!

Hoping this finds my visitors well and ready for some good music,

J. V.

An Additional Honour

2006-10-31T18:59:00.000-05:00

Greetings!:

As owner of The House of Old-School, I hereby confer the designated honour upon the below-named individual for reasons set forth in the following citation:

For long _AND_ _PATIENT_ service when taking care of me for many years from my late childhood through early adulthood, for, as part of that patience, putting
up with my quirky and, yes, sometimes-cranky, ways, for being an excellent opponent in the two Vaughan-Thomas Tournaments we had in 1963 and 1965 respectively,
for making flags, awards, and other props associated with them and other often-ceremonial functions during her years with me, and, though she was also
folksy, for living out the basic premise of this blog, the late Miss Mary E. Thomas is hereby created Honourary Co-Patroness of The House of Old-School.
Mrs. Mary Cupid, the other Honourary Co-Patroness of this blog, being the only person I currently know who had significant association with her, has accepted
this appointment on her behalf.

Gratefully, respectfully and joyfully submitted,

J. V.
Owner
The House Of Old-School

The Birthdays Of Two Great English Composers

2006-10-20T20:09:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

This post is a bit late for various reasons, notably the computer problem I was having and mentioned in my last post and, yes, more procrastination. Yet
today, the anniversary of when I first met Mr. John Noble, who sang Pilgrim in Sir Adrian Boult's recording of Vaughan Williams's _The_ _Pilgrim's_ _Progress_,
about which work you may read in my 11-June post devoted to it, seemed a good day on which to write this, and thus here it is for what it is worth.

October saw the birth of two great English composers, Vaughan Williams on the 12th in 1872 and Herbert Howells on the 17th in 1882. Both of them came from
Gloucestershire, and they became friends when they met in Gloucester Cathedral in September, 1910, just after VW had conducted the world-premiere performance
of his now-famous _Fantasia_ _On_ _A_ _Theme_ _Of_ _Thomas_ _Tallis_ at the Three Choirs Festival. Howells was most impressed with it, and I just learned
today that, after VW left the rostrum, he sat down next to Howells, and the two of them looked at the same score during the subsequent performance of Elgar's
_The_ _Dream_ _Of_ _Gerontius_. Howells had actually come to hear this latter, but his lasting impression was of the _Fantasia_. The two of them would
subsequently teach at the Royal College of Music at the same time, and, to our lasting benefit, VW would later suggest that Howells release his _Hymnus_
_Paradisi_, which he had written as a memorial to his son who had died in infancy, for public performance after it had been held in private for 12 years.
Howells first conducted it, also at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester, in 1950, and it is now numbered among the greatest of English choral works,
at least those written in the 20th Century. I think I have at least somewhat liked it ever since I first came to know it in the 1980's, but have become
increasingly moved by it in recent years.

Vaughan Williams produced a large body of work during his long life, and much of this was rooted in the style of English folksong and/or the works of the
English Tudor composers. VW and others went throughout the English Countryside during the first years of the 20th Century to collect folksongs, asking
the older people to sing these so that they might be written down, etc. A man called Cecil Sharp was largely responsible for this movement to restore
the people's music, and other composers such as Gustav Holst, George Butterworth (if you wish, you may read my post about him and Oscar Hammerstein II
earlier in this blog) and Percy Grainger also joined in. Then, in 1904, VW was asked to take up editorship of the proposed new _English_ _Hymnal_, and
this too was a valuable influence on him. In addition to discovering many previous tunes, he wrote some himself, of which "Sine Nomine (Latin for "Without
A Name")," for the text "For All The Saints," and "Down Ampney (the name of the town where he was born), for the text "Come Down, O Love Divine," are probably
the best known. By the bye, for those not acquainted with the Anglican Communion, it is customary there to give hymn tunes names apart from the names
of the poems set to them, and thus one finds some seemingly-unusual ones alongside those more straightforward. I am assuming that VW's decision to call
the tune for "For All The Saints" "Sine Nomine" came from his playful sense of humour. Meanwhile he began to compose original works, several early examples
being solo songs. His first published work is probably his most famous song, "Linden Lea." There is further a beautiful and rather-famous song cycle
from the first decade of the Century, _Songs_ _Of_ _Travel_, to texts by Stevenson, the author of _Treasure_ _Island_. This was further the period of
A. E. Housman's book of poems, _A_ _Shropshire_ _Lad_, and VW was one of several English composers to set some of these, his best-known settings being
a song cycle named after one of its poems, _On_ Wenlock_ _Edge_, originally composed for tenor soloist, string quartet and piano, but later orchestrated.
More is said about Housman in my Butterworth/Hammerstein post. And then there was the famous American poet, Walt Whitman, to whose work 20th-Century
English composers were also drawn. VW's earliest familiar choral work is a Whitman setting, _Toward_ _The_ _Unknown_ _Region_, and, in 1910, there was
the first performance of a work on which he had been occupied for several years, _A_ _Sea_ _Symphony_, the first of nine symphonies he would write and
his only choral one, he beginning his symphonic career with such while Beethoven ended so. As related in my earlier cited post, it was Butterworth who
would spur this composer on to his Second, _A_ _London_ _Symphony_, his personal favourite and mine as well. After his two big 1910 successes, the next
decade would prove quite fruitful for him, some highlights, besides the _Second_ _Symphony_, being his George Herbert settings, _Five_ _Mystical_ _Songs_,
the _Fantasia_ _On_ _Christmas_ _Carols_, his first opera, _Hugh_ _The_ _Drover_, and a popular work for violin solo and small orchestra called _The_ _Lark_
_Ascending_. During the First World War he drove an ambulance in France, and while there he heard both a bugler playing his calls with a flattened seventh
as well as a woman singing while washing. Reminiscences of these found their way into his next symphony, _A_ _Pastoral_ _Symphony_, from 1922 if I have
the year right. Though his earlier works had at least some dissonance in them, this symphony really began to explore some new harmonic territory for him,
though his music never went as far with that as the 12-tone composers such as Schoenberg, Berg and Webern and other progressivists. As of when I last
heard, Mr. Michael Kennedy, VW's musical biographer, regarded this symphony as his greatest, though in his book, _The_ _Works_ _Of_ _Ralph_ _Vaughan_ _Williams_
(Oxford University Press, 1964-80), he gives that distinction to the _Fifth_. Some musical highlights for this composer from the 1920's include his much-loved
_Mass_ _In_ _G_ _Minor_ for soloists and unaccompanied chorus, his second full-length opera, _Sir_ _John_ _In_ _Love_, based on Shakespeare's _The_ _Merry_
_Wives_ _Of_ _Windsor_, his relatively-short but large-scale oratorio based on the later part of the _Book_ _Of_ _The_ _Revelation_ called _Sancta_ _Civitas_
(The Holy City in Latin), and what the composer called an "exotic suite" for viola solo, wordless chorus and small orchestra called _Flos_ _Campi_ (Lily
of the Valley if I recall correctly), based on the _Song_ _Of_ _Solomon_. And then there was a pastoral episode, _The_ _Shepherds_ _Of_ _The_ _Delectable_
_Mountains_, based on an episode in Bunyan's _The_ _Pilgrim's_ _Progress_. VW had first set music for a dramatization of that book in 1906, and this later
1920's episode would set him more fully thinking about writing a complete opera on the subject of that famous allegory, the fruit of which would be his
morality, discussed more fully in my 11-June post, which he would complete in 1949 and first see staged at Covent Garden in 1951. 1930 would bring his
most famous work for dance, _Job_, a masque for dancing based on William Blake's illustrations of the _Book_ _Of_ _Job_. There would be two more operas
during the '30's, _Riders_ _To_ _The_ _Sea_, a rather-short but highly-dramatic as well as musically-dissonant work giving an almost-complete setting of
a play by the Irish playwrite John Millington Singe about the misfortunes of an Irish seacoast family, which at least some, Mr. Kennedy among them, regard
as his most-successful stage work (and, despite my partiality toward the _Pilgrim_, they may well be right), and a lighter one, _The_ _Poisoned_ _Kiss_,
concerned with a pair of lovers, one of whom has been brought up on poisons and the other on antidotes to these and that which results from this. It only
received its first recording a few years ago. There were also the _Five_ _Tudor_ _Portraits_, settings of the Tudor poet John Skelton, whose poetry would
further be set in an _ENTIRELY_-different work later and a special favourite of mine, _Prayer_ _To_ _The_ _Father_ _Of_ _Heaven_, in 1948. Yet the fourth
of these portraits, depicting the funeral of a pet sparrow in a convent killed by a cat, is also a religious work full of compassion whereas the third
is a celebration of the death of an unpopular deacon in a mixture of Latin and English (as is also that 4th portrait). And, with World War II coming nearer,
there was _Dona_ _Nobis_ _Pacem_, that title perhaps familiar as the closing words of the Ordinary of the Latin Mass, this VW cantata also returning to
Whitman, including a setting of his _Derge_ _For_ _Two_ _Veterans_ from the first Decade of the Century, the decade of those early Whitman settings. Yet
this work ends as I personally feel it should, with God being the ultimate bringer of peace after the humanistic pleadings of Whitman and a quotation from
a speech given on the floor of the House of Commons. But arguably the most significant work of that decade was the _Fourth_ _Symphony_. As written above,
VW explored dissonant harmonies in his _Third_, but this, perhaps because it begins so loudly, caused consternation at first, this often-pastoral composer
now writing something brutally harsh. People also tried to attach this work to the current world situation, as they would later do with his _Sixth_, but
VW was having _NONE_ of it, insisting that these two works were just pieces of music, though he did concede that the last movement of the _Sixth_ might
have had a Shakespearean association, of which perhaps more later. The _Fourth_, unlike the _Sixth_, does not overly appeal to me personally, but its
importance cannot be denied.

I am going to take a so-far unprecedented step for this blog here. Since this post has so far grown to a length which perhaps even I did not first consider,
I think, given that I have dinner and the last two acts of the _Pilgrim_ for this anniversary to which to get, that I will soon publish what I have here
written, leaving the rest for a separate post either tomorrow or soon thereafter.
Until then, as usual, I hope this finds my visitors well.

J. V.

Microsoft And Deference

2006-10-18T15:18:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

For a blog "dedicated to the basic proposition that dignity, decency and deference need not die," I have been doing a _JOLLY_-poor job of bringing up those
"core values" since my first two posts. I am here going to rectify that somewhat, yet would that what is currently going on in our society might not render
such necessary!

I had a computer problem which was hopefully solved yesterday (I may possibly go into detail as to what that was some other time), and, in process of trying
to wrap up the solution to this, it was necessary for me to telephone Microsoft. When I gave my identifying information to the first person with whom
I spoke, that individual immediately started addressing me by my first name. When I expressed displeasure/reservation about that, she informed me that
this was what she was trained to do, and, when I ended up with another, I was merely asked for said first name. I gave that latter person only my last.
I have not re-read my initial post for quite some time, but in it I feel confident that I asked if it would not be better, in a business situation such
as this, to begin by addressing the customer/client by his or her title and last name, the caller obviously then having the option to ask the representative
to use the first name should one wish it so. If not, I have now done so here. I obviously wish we were a larger number, but there are still at least
a few of us who like some old-fashioned _DEFERENCE_, thus this being part of that basic proposition to which this blog is dedicated! I am _VERY_ tempted
to say something cynical here, but I will forebear in the name of hopeful dignity and decency.

Hoping this finds my visitors well,

J. V.

A Strange Error In The Next Post

2006-10-13T12:07:00.000-04:00

In the post following this one, the one saluting the Navy on its anniversary, a strange error occurred, one which I cannot correct by editing since my screen-reader
software seems not to support that function. In the Secretary of the Navy's message, he once speaks of "this nation's" with an apostrophe-s, and yet,
on two submissions, it published as "this nation?s" with a question mark. I assure you that that question mark was _NOT_ the Secretary's doing, nor mine!!!
J. V.

Happy Birthday, US Navy!

2006-10-13T11:20:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

Begging the indulgence of those who might find two military-birthday posts back-to-back "overkill," here cometh yet another such!

In the name of the House of Old-School, I extend my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to the United States Navy on the occasion of its 231st anniversary!

As a most-interesting article on the Naval Historical Center's Website,
www.history.navy.mil,
informs/reminds us, the Continental Congress established a navy on this date in 1775. This was somewhat controversial prior to that date, some Members
preferring to see if issues could be worked out with the Mother Country before escalating hostilities. Yet General Washington, as it were, was a step
ahead. He brought in one or more ships, and notified the Congress of these in early October of that year. There thus seemed no longer any need of delaying
the establishment of such a navy, and so it was established on this date. This would be disbanded after the Revolutionary War, but, the new Constitution
of the United States providing for the establishment of a navy, a new one was established in 1798. Yet the Navy, as do the Army and Marine Corps, prefers
to recognize the establishment dates of their Continental predecessors as their official birthdays.

The US Navy, along with those of various other countries, has certainly come quite a way from the impressive tall-masted sailing vessels of earlier history
to the mechanized, and even nuclear, ships of modern navys, but hopefully the men and women who sail and serve on them, while they may be individually
flawed as we all are, are highly principled, qualified and brave at their core, thus providing this Nation with the sea, amphibious and, yes, air support
it requires in these troublesome times of ours. One also assumes, whether rightly or wrongly, that increased mechanization might require less manpower
than before, but, whether or not it does, those who serve must be the best equipped and qualified personnel we can find! One obviously hears much about
aircraft carriers, but a brief checking of the Navy's official Website,
www.navy.mil,
shows that there still are several other types of ships in use, including some amphibious craft, some World-War-II-types of which I once visited several
years ago. Those wishing more details than I can give here, both for spacial and admittedly lack-of-full-knowledge reasons, are STRONGLY_ recommended
to seek such details there! And yes, the Navy also has missiles in its arsenal, and several Naval Officers, along with their other Service counterparts,
have served valuably as astronauts.

As I have done in two of my previous service-anniversary posts, I wish to share this time something from the Navy's Website, this being the Secretary of
the Navy's birthday greeting to the Fleet which now follows:

SECNAV Navy Birthday Message to the Fleet
Navy Newsstand
The Source for Navy News

www.news.navy.mil

Table with 2 columns and 4 rows

Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), the Honorable Dr. Donald C. Winter, speaks to local news reporters from the island of Oahu during a media availability onboard
Naval Station Pearl Harbor.

SECNAV Navy Birthday Message to the Fleet
Story Number: NNS061012-18
Release Date: 10/12/2006 6:20:00 PM
Top News Story - Editors should consider using these stories first in local publications.

Special message from Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- America is an amazing success story. From our humble origins we have grown, prospered, and offered freedom to generations of Americans.

We cherish our independence, our liberties, and our way of life, and like generations before, we unwaveringly defend these bedrocks from those who would
do us harm.

Since 1775, when the Continental Congress of the United States recognized the need for naval forces, the United States Navy has been vital in protecting
our national security. The heroism and courage of the Sailors that have fought our nations wars since the earliest days of the republic is alive today
in each and every one of you; as we once again confront an enemy that openly targets our freedom and our way of life. Your willingness to serve, your steadfastness
in the face of pressure, and your inspiring example of courage in confronting danger are what protect us from those who plot our destruction.

The fact that we live in an increasingly dangerous world is a sobering thought. We have faced great peril before, and we have prevailed. From those in Iraq
and Afghanistan, to those deployed at sea and ashore around the world, to those at home who are responsible for recruiting, training, supplying, and providing
intelligence to the warfighter, you are all engaged in a noble and worthy endeavor to preserve our way of life and keep America safe.

On this 231st Birthday of the United States Navy, take unique pride in knowing that your service and your sacrifice continue to do honor to a great nation.
Your nation, fellow Americans, and our friends and allies around the world respect and appreciate your commitment.

It is my honor and privilege to be your Secretary as we celebrate this birthday. May God bless you, your families, and the United States of America.

I join the Secretary in once again extending congratulations and best wishes to the US Navy on this special day for them!

Respectfully and joyfully submitted,

J. V.

Happy Belated Birthday, US Air Force!

2006-09-27T06:25:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

In the name of the House of Old-School, I extend my heartiest belated congratulations and best wishes to the United States Air Force on its 59th anniversary!
I actually thought this anniversary might be today, the 27th, or yesterday, the 26th, but checking the Air Force's Website informs me that I was mistaken!

As I expect many of us know, the Air Force as we currently know it did not become an independent branch of the Armed Forces until the late 1940's, 1947
to be precise, it having had various manifestations prior to that, perhaps the best-known of which being the Army Air Corps. In fact, unless I am grossly
mistaken, the Air Force's famous song, which begins "Off we go into the wild blue yonder," used to close with the words, "Nothing can stop the Army Air
Corps," that song having been written in 1939 since 1964 marked its 25th anniversary (I have evidence of this latter on an old open-reel recording made
off the radio). The Air Force's Website,
www.af.mil,
informs us that the separate Air Force, along with the present Department of Defense, resulted from, if I have the title right, the National Security Act
of 1947, which President Truman signed, creating both the Department of Defense and the three separate service departments. Perhaps I should check into
this further, but I was of understanding that the Departments of the Army and Navy previously existed under the old War Department (the Navy Department
_CERTAINLY_ did, or at least the office of Secretary of the Navy, as reported during a broadcast of President Franklin Roosevelt's third inauguration in
1941 which I also have on reel-to-reel tape). My late and favourite uncle, Mr. John Henry Davidson, Honourary Patron of this blog, served briefly in the
Army Air Service during World War I, and my father, unfortunately a rather unsavoury character, served in either that or the present Air Force around the
time he married my mother and I was born.

Though I regretably must admit to not being as well informed about today's Air Force as I perhaps should be, I trust it is a matter of general knowledge
that modern warfare usually begins with air strikes, this, if I am not mistaken, even going back as far as World War II. Operation Desert Storm _CERTAINLY_
began with them. In my post about 9-11, I mentioned meeting two Air Forcemen who know a Major General I had the privilege and pleasure of meeting at last
year's Navy/Air Force football game in Annapolis. He and a classmate of his at the Air Force Academy told me that the F16 fighter, along with other current
Air Force aircraft, are _MOST_ impressive in their capabilities, and thus it would appear that we can be assured of air superiority if and when we need
it (as we currently do in Iraqi Freedom and/or Enduring Freedom, etc.)! And it goes without saying that those who fly combat aircraft and man their weaponry
must be as brave as their ground and sea counterparts since, when it unfortunately happens, it is obviously not pleasant being shot downout of the sky.
Yet one hopes that, in the _VAST_ majority of cases, it is _WE_ who are doing the shooting-down, etc.!

Again though it is late, I would here like to share a message from the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff which was written to
celebrate this recent birthday, this having come from the afore-mentioned Air Force Website.

9/18/2006 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The following is a message from Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael
Moseley on the Air Force's 59th birthday Sept. 18.

"Over the course of the past 59 years, the United States Air Force has established itself as the dominant force in air, space and cyberspace. Our knowledge-enabled
Airmen have revolutionized the way our nation defends itself and its allies across the full spectrum of threats.

"Before our inception as an independent service, the Air Force responded wherever and whenever needed, whether for disaster relief, humanitarian operations
or combat operations. We have only gotten better in time.

"Our heritage is one of technological innovation, courage and dedication. As we build on that proud heritage and look toward new and unlimited horizons,
we will continue to deliver unmatched air, space and cyberspace dominance for the interdependent joint team and our nation.

"Your tireless commitment, agility and professionalism are the foundation for our successes. Without you, and the support of your families, we could not
be the world-class team we are. America's Airmen exemplify our core values of Integrity First, Service Before Self and Excellence in All We Do.

"As we lead into our diamond anniversary celebration, we count on our most valuable asset -- our Airmen -- to continue the magnificent work our forebears
began. We are confident you'll conquer tomorrow's challenges with the same courage, commitment and confidence that defined our first 59 years.

"Thanks to our entire Air Force family across the globe: active duty, civilian, Guard, Reserve, retirees, veterans and all their families. Happy birthday,
Air Force!"

In process of considering and preparing this post, it was my most-opportune pleasure to discover that there is going to be an Air Force Memorial, that it
is being completed, if it is not already, in Arlington, Virginia, across from the Pentagon, and that it is to be dedicated on Saturday, 14 October, at
1:30 p.m. Eastern time! The most-visible element of this memorial will be three stainless-steel spires going 270 feet into the sky and forming an equalateral
triangle, though each spire will be of a different height, thus providing differing views from different angles. These three spires will represent the
three core values of the Air Force which you read in the above message, "integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do." Members of the general public who are able to
attend will be able to view the ceremony, presumably via closed-circuit television, from the Pentagon South Parking Lot, and there is to be an Air Force
open house throughout the day there where visitors may view various aircraft and helicopters, etc. Following the ceremony there is to be a concert in
that lot by a country singer whose name I know but whose work I may not yet know, Miss Lee Ann Womack (yet it just occurs to me that, unless I am _GROSSLY_
mistaken, I am virtually certain that it was she who performed a _VERY_ popular song called "I Hope You Dance" which I _HAVE_ heard many times. Though
I have yet to hear it, though it is not my focus here, and begging the pardon of any who might find this interpolation in poor taste amid this attempt
at an Air Force tribute, our Honourary Patroness recorded that song, and those wishing to hear her rendition may go to
www.suzann.com/music/songs.htm.).
The ceremony, among the expected speeches and music from the Air Force Ceremonial Brass, is to also feature, weather permitting one assumes, some fly-overs
by modern and, if I recall correctly, historic aircraft, including the famous Air Force Thunderbirds. Further information about this Memorial may be had
by going to
www.airforcememorial.org,
and hopefully as many of my Washington-Area visitors as possible can join me for this special event if all goes well!
Once again I belatedly salute the Air Force on this anniversary-next before their milestone 60th, and thank all Air Force personnel, both past and present, both living
and those who died in discharge of their duties, very much for the service they provided and continue to provide to this Nation!

Respectfully and joyfully submitted,

J. V.

9-11

2006-09-11T19:09:00.000-04:00

Greetings:

In the name of the House of Old-School, I join those of you who are so inclined in remembering those who lost their lives in the savage attacks on the World
Trade Center, the Pentagon, and that unintended field in Pennsylvania, on this date five years ago. I further salute and remember those, both living and
dead, who risked their lives to save those trapped in the two buildings. I cannot claim to be fully conversant with all the intricacies of the War on
Terror and the enemies it seeks to defeat, but one thing is certain--these are dangerous people of whom we should beware and seek to thwart when what they
do attempts to undermine civilized society!

So, as is often asked on or near this day, where were you, and what were you doing, when these events occurred five years ago? I was in a small town in
Massachusetts, and, on that morning, went to a medical facility to take care of something related to a chronic condition I have. I believe it was while
I was in the waiting room that someone broke the news of the initial attack, and I seem to recall sharing what I had heard with someone else while taking
care of my matter. Further discussion followed on the way back to where I was staying, and, of course, there would be much more on the radio and television
throughout the remainder of the day. Though, as regulars to this house should know, this is not my primary sort of music, I listened that evening to a
little of the syndicated adult-contemporary disc jockey called Dalilah, and she was seeking to be a comfort at the end of that difficult day. It was gratifying
to me that, in the following days and even months, there was a fair amount of patriotic music on the radio, and one station continued playing the National
Anthem at noon for quite a while. It is said that tragedies can unify, and this was _CERTAINLY_ the case then.

Did any of you participate in one of the several America Supports You Freedom Walks held throughout the country yesterday? Ours here in Washington was
the second such, and I had the privilege and pleasure of walking in them both. This year's was, in virtually all respects, the exact opposite of last
year's. Last year's went from the Pentagon to the western part of the Mall in the morning while this year's went from the western edge of the Washington
Monument Grounds to the Pentagon in the evening. Last year's ended with a concert by a country-music singer whose name I forget, and this year's began
with country music from the Navy's country-music unit, Country Current. I arrived on the grounds close to 5:30 p.m., and a nice woman, whose husband is
a World-War-II Marine Veteran, accompanied me into the front area where, in due course, she connected me with a volunteer who would remain with me for
the rest of the evening. She, with help from some of her colleagues, was able to get me in touch with a contingent from the PGA who I was told would be
there, and one of them gave me his business card which hopefully will result in golf-related things for me down the road. During the walk itself, among
others, I was privileged to meet a couple of Air Force officers, one of them a recently-retired general, who both know a major general I met at last year's
Navy/Air-Force football game in Annapolis. There was also, surprisingly yet gratifyingly to me, a group from a Washington school, and hopefully those
youngsters were able to appreciate and be moved by that in which they were participating. All seemed to be enjoying themselves despite the at-least-partial
solemnity of the occasion. Yet, in addition to the 9-11 Anniversary tributes, and though not much was said about it last night, we were presumably also
celebrating and saluting those who now wear the Uniform, which, after all, is the primary focus of America Supports You. The Navy Band was playing when
we reached the Pentagon, and, when all were assembled, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Hon. Gordon England, spoke briefly on behalf of Secretary Rumsfeld,
Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Pace, having well spoken before the walk. Then Miss Denise (or Denis?) Graves, a fine American opera and concert singer
in my opinion and one who is often heard at events such as this, gave us three songs with guitar accompaniment, "America The Beautiful," "An American Anthem"
(which, as you may recall, she also sang at President Bush's second inauguration), and, after lights were lit honouring those who died in the Pentagon
on 9-11, "God Bless America." After this, tours were offered of the Memorial Room and Chapel in the reconstructed section of the building where the plane
had struck, but I had already toured these with the general public the previous day. Yet, since we were moved through quickly out of consideration for
those still waiting, I was not able to experience as much as I might have personally wished, including anything that could have been touched.

I also wish the families of those who died that day as fine a day as they possibly can have, and further, as usual, wish visitors to this house well.

Respectfully submitted,

J. V.

My Two Favourite Singers Saluted!

2006-08-31T12:33:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

Today is the birthday of one of my two absolute-favourite present-day singers, Miss Susan Gritton, to whom, in the name of the House of Old-School, I extend
heartiest best wishes and congratulations on this occasion! Yet I thought it good to salute them _BOTH_ on this day, the other being Mr. Bryn Terfel!
Both have been briefly mentioned elsewhere in this blog.

These two singers have at least a few things in common. Firstly, they were born in the same year, 1965, Miss Gritton again on this date and Mr. Terfel
on 9 November; both of their careers were advanced by winning singing competitions, Mr. Terfel having won the lieder prize in the 1989 Cardiff Singer of
the World Competition (as some of you might know already, he is a Welsh bass-baritone whose name is pronounced Tarevel) while Miss Gritton, an English
lyric soprano, won the 1994 Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Prize; both are, in their various ways and in my opinion at least, _MOST_-expressive as well as musical,
capable of depicting varying emotional states, and both seem technically sound; and, it must be admitted here in this old-fashioned house, they both seem
to have been linguistically influenced by modern culture. Yet there seems to be one significant difference--Mr. Terfel, from what I gather, seems to be
more of a showman and pop-culturist, having once appeared at the BBC Proms in London wearing a Manchester United football shirt or some such, being a fan
of that team and also a golfer (unless something has lately changed). He also makes what are often called crossover recordings, these being, as at least
some of you may know, when a performer of music in one particular style crosses over into another. Mr. Terfel has made at least three recordings of songs
from the American Musical Theater, two of these, one of Rodgers-and-Hammerstein songs and the other of Lerner lyrics to music by Loewe and others, admittedly
being special favourites of mine! Can anyone sing these songs more expressively? Though some (e.g., Mr. Pinza in the original cast of _South_ _Pacific_)
might equal him or at least come close, I doubt whether any male singer at least can surpass him for expressiveness in this repertoire! These two discs
may be found on the label for which he has been recording exclusively for the past several years, Deutsche Grammophon. He has further given us at least
two discs of popular favourites from both the classical and popular literature, the latest of which, _Simple_ _Gifts_, so named because of the familiar
Shaker song contained therein (though here not in the famous version by Copland), including some duets (alongside the solos) with some other artists (one
of these being fellow Welshman Mr. Aled Jones, known to many (though I have never heard him sing it) for his recording of "Walking In The Air" from Mr.
Howard Blake's music for the film, _The_ _Snowman_, which he made as a boy). I own this Deutsche Grammophon recording, and recommend it to those who like
inspirational songs, a couple which readily come to mind being "Amazing Grace" and "How Great Thou Art." All of the crossover recordings I have mentioned
here feature an accompanying chorus for some of the songs, as does the Welsh disc discussed later in this post. Another lean toward modern culture comes
in the form of a dedicated Website,
www.brynterfel.net,
which also has a message board attached to it. Miss Gritton, on the other hand, seems less flashy and more interested in just her Classical art. She has
no dedicated Website and, so far as I currently know, performs no real crossover (apart from a folkish song or more as encores), though I can somehow imagine
her at least singing Gershwin's "The Man I Love." Another thing which both have in common is that they are married, though I do not think Mr. Terfel has
any children while Miss Gritton, presumably under her husband's name, has two (by the bye, it might interest some to know that Mr. Terfel's actual last
name is Jones, a very common Welsh last name, and so, since there was already a Welsh singer called Mr. Bryn Jones, the man we call Mr. Terfel decided
to use his middle name as last name instead. And while we are about it, both he and his wife are interested in the Welsh language, of which more later!).
When I had the immense privilege and pleasure of meeting her in New York on 18 March of last year, Miss Gritton told me that these children, and it would
go without saying, keep her quite busy, and possibly this could be a factor in her not having some of the trappings such as a Website, though it could
just be part of her life philosophy which seemed to come across in an interview she gave earlier this year on the BBC's _CD_ _Review_. I admittedly have
mixed feelings about this, personally wishing that she _DID_ have a Website and the like, but cannot help admiring her for sticking to the important things
such as her family and her art! Another interesting fact about her is that she first studied to be a botanist at both Oxford and London Universities,
but, as others had done before her, notably some composers, she would change to music. Yet I cannot help wondering if, should she have any plants in her
house or a garden, she adheres to the modern philosophy that speaking (or singing?) to one's plants is good for them!

I now come _JUST_ _A_ _LITTLE_ toward closing by mentioning some other special recordings either by or including these two exceptional singers. I wrote
earlier that Mr. Terfel and his wife are interested in the Welsh language. He may be heard frequently singing in it on his Deutsche Grammophon disc of
Welsh songs, _We'll_ _Keep_ _A_ _Welcome_, which includes, among numerous other things, a full-blown festive version of the familiar Welsh hymn known in
English as "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah" and that old and beloved song without which no important Welsh collection would be complete, "All Through The
Night," here sung softly and tenderly. As those familiar with the standard choral literature will know well, Mendelssohn's _Elijah_ has been one of the
most popular of oratorios for many years, though it may not be as popular nowadays as it once was. Those who like or love this work _MUST_, in my view,
at least hear the Decca recording of it released in 1997, conducted by Mr. Paul Daniel, in which Mr. Terfel _REALLY_ gets the title role right, giving
us both his heroic, full-blooded voice for the stentorian prophet and the tenderness and pathos which also characterize him (another soloist in this performance
is the much-admired/loved American lyric soprano, Miss Renee Fleming). The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment plays on instruments of Mendelssohn's
time or copies of them, and the large Edinburgh Festival Chorus, while they might seem to lapse sometimes, is usually expressive of the drama and is appropriately
large as the choruses which first performed this work were. A _COMPLETE_ contrast, though again there is appropriate variety of expression, is when Mr.
Terfel portrays the devil, called Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's 1951 opera, _The_ _Rake's_ _Progress_! I could cite _MANY_ notable points, but, to take
only one, just listen to how furious he gets when Tom Rakewell, the character he is serving throughout the opera, thwarts him in a midnight game of cards
in a graveyard! Since I wrote a post elsewhere in this blog about Vaughan Williams's _The_ _Pilgrim's_ _Progress_, he made a recording, on the Hyperion
Label, of the original version of _The_ _Shepherds_ _Of_ _The_ _Delectable_ _Mountains_, later to become the penultimate scene of the complete morality.
This may not be one of his absolute best recordings, but it certainly is not bad, quite worth having! Having mentioned VW, there are two discs of English
songs on Deutsche Grammophon in which songs by that composer and others are finely sung, _The_ _Vagabond_ and _Silent_ _Noon_, both titles of VW songs
(I refer to material from the former in my earlier post about Butterworth and Hammerstein). I nearly forgot to further mention an _EXCELLENT_ disc of
largely-familiar Schubert songs which he has given us, also on Deutsche Grammophon, particularly noting his performance of the famous "Serenade!" Though
I think this is now out of print, you might wish to try seeking out an EMI recording, conducted by Mr. Richard Hickox, of VW's _Sancta_ _Civitas_ and _Dona_
_Nobis_ _Pacem_. Just listen to how beautifully Mr. Terfel sings in the "Reconciliation" movement from the latter! And, since those among you who know
me know that Sir Charles Mackerras is my favourite conductor, these two artists team up for a rather-fine Deutsche Grammophon disc of Handel arias, an
excellent account of the suite from Elgar's incidental music for a children's play called _The_ _Starlight_ _Express_ on Decca (this may be hard to get
now since, apart from being available in a rather-large box of CD's, I think it is now out of print, though _MAYBE_ you can still find it on Amazon, etc.),
a most-interesting Britten (Benjamin Britten, another English composer) opera called _Gloriana_, written to celebrate the present Queen of England's coronation
in 1953, also on Decca, and one of Beethoven's beloved _Ninth_ _Symphony_ on EMI Classics For Pleasure. All of these are separate recordings. They have
again colaborated on a disc of Mozart arias for this Mozart 250th-Anniversary Year, and this is due for release on Deutsche Grammophon within the next
couple of months or so.

When Miss Gritton was most-graciously giving me at least 10 to 15 minutes of her time in New York last year, I told her that, if I could only take one of
her recordings I have to one of those mythical desert islands, it would _HAVE_ to be her performance of "Now Sweetly Smiling, Peace Descends" from the
Hyperion recording of Handel's rarely-heard early London oratorio, _Deborah_! She was somewhat taken aback when I told her that, reminding me that this
was one of the first recordings she ever made. Yet, though her voice sounds younger there than it does now, I feel she gets the expression _SPOT_-_ON_
right, etc.! If I could take another, it would be an early and admittedly-uncharacteristic song by Holst (an English composer who was a great friend of
VW's), "Lovely Kind And Kindly Loving," which may be found on a Naxos disc of Holst songs featuring her and two other singers. It is kind, but _VERY_
loving/lovely! I additionally have two other song-recital discs of hers, notably one of songs by Mendelssohn's beloved sister Fanny on the Hyperion label.
At least some of these are very charming! I am particularly fond of three Handel oratorio recordings conducted by Mr. Paul McCreesh on Deutsche Grammophon
Archiv, they being of _Saul_, _Solomon_ and _Theodora_. In _Saul_ La Gritton gets particularly and aptly nasty as Merab in her first aria, "What Abject
Thoughts," but also does _WONDERFULLY_ in one of this great oratorio's greatest movements and a particular personal favourite, "In Sweetest Harmony!"
I feel the _Solomon_ is quite special, and Miss Gritton's performance of the Queen of Sheba's big aria near the end of the work, "Will The Sun Forget To
Streak," is widely and justly admired. Though she may not be quite as memorable for me in _Theodora_, she is fine nonetheless, and perhaps her finest
performance in that recording comes in that _RAVISHING_ duet for Theodora and Didymus near the end of Act II, one of Handel's greatest in my view, "To
Thee, Thou Glorious Son Of Worth!" All of her Handel recordings cited here feature authentic or copied instruments from Handel's time, as do instruments
from _SLIGHTLY_ later in her Deutsche Grammophon recording, again with Mr. McCreesh, of Gluck's rarely-heard opera, _Paride_ _Ed_ _Elena_, in which she
and two other singers, a Czech mezzo-soprano called Miss Magdalena Kozena and another English soprano called Miss Carolyn Sampson, put on what would _HAVE_
to be called a "singing clinic!" Apart from Miss Gritton's, I feel Miss Kozena's contributions to this performance are particularly memorable! Miss Gritton
also colaborates with Sir Charles, on a recording of the Mozart _Requiem_, in Professor Robert Levin's fairly recent completion, this on a Linn Records
super-audio CD. And then they colaborate on the recording which she told both the BBC and me was the most moving, etc., in which she had participated
up to that time at least, of Smetana's folkish opera, _The_ _Bartered_ _Bride_, translated into English out of the original Czech, for the Chandos Opera-In-English
Series. I can well understand why she loves this recording, and I hope some of you at least will also! And next Spring?! Having told you in that earlier
_Pilgrim_ post that she and Mr. Gerald Finley, conducted by the afore-mentioned Mr. Hickox, worked together on that _SUPERB_, again as far as I am concerned,
Chandos recording of that morality, I am _MOST_-eagerly looking forward to these three artists giving us, again on Chandos, VW's _A_ _Sea_ _Symphony_,
in a performance recorded live with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at London's Barbican Centre on 4 June of this year, just two days after this
blog was activated!

I have indeed gone on _VERY_ long, but now I think I may have to throw a sort of "fly into the ointment" reference Mr. Terfel. As pleased as I am that
he followed Sir Charles as winner of the Queen's Medal for Music, I personally feel that it should have probably gone again to an established, long-standing
artist such as Sir Charles, Sir Colin Davis, another long-time English conductor, and Mr. Hickox being two I had in mind. Yet Mr. Terfel is making a name
for British arts now, and that probably figured in him receiving the medal this year. I hope Miss Gritton might eventually win it, but, despite her being
one of my absolute favourites, not until she has earned it by making her _WONDERFUL_ contributions over a long period of time. I would like to think that
she could enjoy it even more then!

Hoping this finds my visitors well, and also wishing _BOTH_ of these artists well on Miss Gritton's birthday,

J. V.

Venting About Verizon

2006-08-26T16:21:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

There are some practices carried out by Verizon, the telephone company which has been servicing the area in which I live of late, with which I am displeased,
and thus I write to comment on them.

Let us take them in reverse order, with the latest first. Just over a week ago I had trouble with my telephone, I sometimes being unable to get a dial
tone or, when I could, getting varying degrees of static on the line. _THANKFULLY_ the problem lay in a cable outside of my building (I am conjecturing
that this could have resulted from the torential rains we had in June, though others on my floor did not have this problem), and thus I was spared the
high fee which would have resulted had repairs been required here in my unit. When the work was done, the man who did it rang to inform me thereof, and
I thought that would be the end of it. But then, some days later, I received an automated message to the same effect which went on to tell me that, should
I wish to find out how I could put my service to better use or something on the order of that, I should ring a certain telephone number. Had this latter
been the _ONLY_ notice I received, I could conceivably have been without service for several unnecessary days had I somehow decided to await such notice.
Do you not agree with me that the notice I received from the repair man just after the work was done was sufficient? If I wished to do any upgrading,
might I not have checked into it myself, it presumably now being common knowledge that various extra features, e.g., call-forwarding and call-waiting,
are available and have been for many years? And then there are the recorded weather forecasts. Before we are allowed to get to these, we must be subjected
to an advertisement about Verizon DSL which, we are told, will allow us "to move at the speed of (our) ambition." _MY_ ambition, when telephoning for
the weather, is to _GET_ _ON_ _WITH_ that, not having to wait to hear about DSL! And, since no prices are given there for that service, what is to tempt
the potential customer? Does not Verizon stop to think that, while advertising is regretably more and more a fact of life these days, putting one at the
beginning of a telephone weather forecast might annoy in an assumed majority of cases (unless I am misjudging the average public), not draw potential customers?

Here admittedly cometh my laziness again, but does anyone reading this know if Verizon's recent take-over of MCI was due to that company's possible failure
(which I actually seem to somewhat recall being the case) or an expansionist move on their part? And, going back further to a time when I was absent from
this area when Verizon took over from C.&P. (Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company), our telephone server for many years, was that take-over friendly
or hostile? If both were hostile, this would incline me to call those advertisements I described as power-grasping, this company seeming to me to want
to take over every telephone company in its path. For those familiar with anti-trust law, when do such practices violate that?

As I write this post, I continue to think about what I wrote above about advertising being more and more a fact of life these days. Lest we neglect this
blog's basic proposition, it occurs to me to also add that when dignity, decency and deference were more prominent than they are nowadays, advertisement
was _THANKFULLY_ less so, though admittedly still present. Thus I hope all of this babbling has not been unfounded. I submit it for what it is worth,
and, should any decide to comment, may we all learn something from whatever discussion might ensue! At _VERY_ least, as with my "Apple Juice" thread,
etc., this will provide some variety from all my posts about the military and music!

Hoping this finds my visitors well,

J. V.

Happy Birthday, US Coast Guard!

2006-08-04T14:10:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

In the name of the House of Old-School, I extend my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to the United States Coast Guard on the occasion of its 216th
anniversary!

I had heard of the Coast Guard during my childhood, and briefly knew a man who had served therein, but I got a bit closer when my interest in the Coast
Guard Band began in the mid-to-late 1960's. Next to the Marine Band, my interest in which began in 1960 and about which you can read elsewhere in this
blog should you wish, I have had interest in the Coast Guard Band longer than in any of our other premiere service bands, though interest in the others
would eventually grow.
Yet today, as I wrote above, it is our happy care to salute the Coast Guard as a whole, and to thank the men and women thereof _VERY_ much for their contributions
to the saving of lives at sea, boating safety, homeland security and the global war on terror, etc. When the Revenue Marine, later to become known as
the Revenue Cutter Service and, combining with the Life Saving Service in 1915, to become known as the Coast Guard, was established on this date in 1790,
it was part of the Department of the Treasury, meant to help enforce the new government's tarriffs. It remained part of that department until it was moved
into the new Department of Transportation in the 1960's. Then, in 2001, came 9-11 as we all know, and it was soon felt best to move the Coast Guard again,
this time to the newly-established Department of Homeland Security in 2003. From what I gather, this was a somewhat-controversial move at that time, but,
in my personal opinion, it seemed, and seems, a good move since the Coast Guard is charged with guarding our ports, enforcing maritime law, interdicting
illegal drugs and preventing the entrance of illegal emigrants, etc. Are not all these significant contributions to homeland security?

I think I can here do no better than to share with you two documents which have been recently sent to me, the first a press release from the Commandant
of the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen, regarding this anniversary, and, hoping it will not be too boring, a list of impressive (again in my opinion) statistics
as to what this Service accomplished in 2005. I had the privilege and pleasure of meeting Admiral Allen after the Band's annual concert at the Navy Memorial
here in Washington this past Tuesday, and he offered to have his Press Officer, Commander Brendan C. McPherson, send me some material to assist me with
preparing this post. I am _MUCH_ indebted to them both, and to the Coast Guard's Chief of Media Relations, Commander Jeffrey Carter, for what appears
below. First will come the press release for the birthday which will lead directly into the 2005 statistics page:

U.S. Coast Guard turns 216
WASHINGTON - Coast Guard members stationed around the globe will celebrate as America's oldest, continuous sea-going service observes its 216th birthday
Friday.
"I'm incredibly proud of our dedicated Coast Guard men and women," said Adm. Thad W. Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard. "As a multi-mission, maritime,
and military service, we continue to grow and evolve to help guarantee the maritime safety, security and stewardship of our oceans and waterways. Whether
it's saving lives, supporting the global war on terrorism, preserving our maritime environment and its resources, or protecting our vital waters for trade
and commerce, Coast Guard men and women perform their duties every day with relentless courage, commitment and ingenuity."
The Coast Guard is one of America's five armed forces and traces it roots to Aug. 4, 1790, when the first Congress authorized the construction of a fleet
of "revenue marine" cutters to enforce the fledgling nation's tariff and trade laws and protect the collection of federal revenue. The service expanded
in size and responsibilities as the nation grew and today is responsible for many diverse missions, including maritime homeland security, national defense,
enforcing maritime law, aiding mariners in distress, maintaining maritime navigation aids, protecting the marine environment, licensing merchant mariners
and ensuring merchant vessel safety. The Coast Guard transferred into the newly created Department of Homeland Security in 2003.
The service received its present name in 1915 under an act of Congress when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the Life-Saving Service.
The Coast Guard is one of the oldest organizations of the federal government and, until the Navy Department was established in 1798, served as the nation's
only armed force afloat. The Coast Guard has continued to protect the nation throughout its long history - both at home and abroad - and Coast Guardsmen
have proudly served in every one of the nation's major conflicts, including Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Around the clock and around the globe, the Coast Guard protects America's interests and keeps its citizens and resources safe and secure. Each day the dedicated
men and women of the Coast Guard will:
- Save 15 lives
- Assist 114 people in distress
- Conduct 82 search-and-rescue cases
- Protect $4.9 million in property
- Enforce 103 security zones
- Interdict and rescue 26 illegal migrants at sea
- Board four high interest vessels
- Enforce 115 security zones
- Board 202 vessels of law enforcement interest
- Board 122 large vessels for port safety/security checks
- Seize 27 pounds of marijuana and 927 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $12.4 million
- Conduct 311 vessel safety checks and teach 57 boating safety courses
- Conduct 19 commercial fishing vessel safety exams and issue seven fishing vessel compliance decals
- Respond to 11 oil, chemical, or hazardous material environmental pollution incidents totaling 2,181 gallons
- Process 280 mariner licenses and documents
- Service 140 aids to navigation
- Monitor the transit of 2,557 commercial ships through U.S. ports
- Track 3,004 vessels in the Automated Merchant Vessel Reporting system
- Investigate 27 activities for marine violation of federal statutes
###
The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the
Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America.

In 2005, the Coast Guard:

Prevented more than 338,000 pounds of cocaine (new record) and over 10,000 pounds of marijuana from reaching the United States;

Interdicted nearly 9,500 undocumented migrants attempting to enter the country illegally;

Responded to more than 32,000 calls for assistance and saved the lives of over 5,600 mariners in distress;

Conducted more than 115,800 recreational vessel safety checks, more than 10,000 foreign commercial vessel boardings and more than 20,000 inspections on
commercial vessels;

Rescued more than 33,500 people during hurricanes Katrina and Rita;

Boarded more than 6,000 fishing vessels to enforce safety and fisheries management regulations, a 30 percent increase over 2004;

Conducted more than 3,000 inspections aboard mobile offshore drilling units, outer continental shelf facilities, and offshore supply vessels;

Responded to 23,904 reports of water pollution or hazardous material release from the National Response Center, resulting in 4,015 response cases;

Partnered with federal and state agencies to ensure that Marine Protected Species populations recover to healthy, sustainable levels;

Kept shipping channels and harbors open to navigation during the Great Lakes and New England winter shipping season;

Ensured more than 1 million safe passages of commercial vessels through congested harbors, with Vessel Traffic Services;

Maintained more than 50,000 federal aids to navigation along 25,000 miles of maritime transportation routes;

Conducted International Ice Patrol sorties to facilitate 1,128,235 tons of cargo shipped daily during the North Atlantic ice season;

Conducted more than 268,000 port security patrols, 5,800 air patrols, and 26,000 security boardings;

Refined and greatly enhanced recent initiatives, such as security and control boardings and deployable Maritime Safety and Security Teams;

Escorted over 10,000 vessels;

Maintained more than 115 security zones. (This concludes the interpolated material.)

One of the Coast Guard's current projects is called Deepwater, and focuses on the repair and/or replacement of equipment, etc., due to wear, tear, and presumably obsolescence as well. This is eminently commendable, and may the Congress please provide all the funding required for this project if they have yet to do so!

Of course, when one thinks of the Coast Guard, I expect one usually thinks of their contributions to boating safety and to the saving of lives at sea or
on other waterways, but, as you have seen above, they do so much more! At least some of you may know that they serve under the Navy in wartime, and there
are some particularly-moving stories of Coast-Guard heroism from World War I in particular which I feel are eminently worth seeking out! And I cannot
conclude this post without a quotation which has always struck me since I first heard it, "The rules say you have to go out. They do not say you have
to come back."

Once again many congratulations and best wishes come from this house to the United States Coast Guard on this, their 216th anniversary!

Gratefully, respectfully and joyfully submitted,

J. V.

Apple Juice

2006-08-03T11:54:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

For something somewhat lighter, perhaps more "bloggish," yet hopefully not unimportant, are there any of you who, like myself, remember the days when store-bought
apple juice tasted like _FRUIT_ _JUICE_, not like some sort of overly-sweet syrup? I do, and I am not just talking about the fine juice our school's cider
press produced during my early days there! I wonder if this perceived change has anything to do with the apparent popularity of the rather-sweet red delicious
apple. I obviously could (and maybe will) check into this, but I seem to recall hearing somewhere that this apple was genetically engineered, and may
not have been around for very long comparatively speaking. If this is so, and if red delicious apples are now primarily used for apple juice, this could
conceivably account for the blandness, in my opinion, of much such juice I have tasted of late. Does anyone know of any apple juices, preferably in 64-ounce
bottles, which have some character to them, that is a distinctly-fruitish flavour? Nantucket Nectars produce what they call a "cloudy apple" juice, which
has plenty of character as far as I am concerned, but this only comes in smaller bottles, as apparently all their product does. I recently was introduced
to the New Zealand Braeburn apple in an organic version from a company called Nature's promise, and like it very much, but their organic apple juice, which
I am now trying for the second time, seems to have only a _VERY_ little character above its competitors (if that, I having finished the bottle since I originally wrote this post, and unsuccessfully tried to have it published), so where does that leave us? I recall enjoying
some of the flavour of White House apple juice, so must try it again next to remind myself if character comes with that likeable aspect. There may still be a
frozen concentrated Granny-Smith apple juice, but I think it was somewhat troublesome to prepare, so would prefer not to have to fall back on that.
A number of the juices and juice blends I currently buy tend to be at least somewhat acidic, so it would be nice to have something like apple juice for
contrast, though _PLEASE_ not these overly-bland versions I seem to encounter too often nowadays! Perhaps another and better organic juice awaits at Whole
Foods, or the Knudsen Apple Juice I bought this past Tuesday, again after this post initially failed to publish successfully?

Hoping this finds you well,

J. V.

Re: George Butterworth And Oscar Hammerstein II

2006-07-19T02:48:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

To begin personally, I had a largely-_GHASTLY_ week last week due to ill health. Further, I think most people who practice dignity, decency and
deference would presumably add industriousness to those three virtues. Yet I must admit that I am often lazy, so my ill health and tendency to procrastinate
combined to make this entry now a week late (the last day's delay due to technical problems). Yet I here offer it, hoping that the familiar "better late than never" can apply on this occasion.

12 July marked the birthday anniversaries of two vastly different contributors to music. George Butterworth, an Englishman, was born on that
date in 1885, and died, rather bravely it is reported, during the First World War in 1916. Apparently being rather self-critical, as others, notably Brahms,
were, he destroyed much before he left for France. We thus have rather little from him, the best-known of it being a song cycle setting poems from A.
E. Housman's famous book from that period, _A_ _Shropshire_ _Lad_, three little orchestral gems in my view in which he arranges certain English
folksongs, these being the _Two_ _English_ _Idylls_ and _The_ _Banks_ _Of_ _Green_ _Willow_, and an original orchestral work also bearing the title of
that Housman collection in which he quotes from one of his own settings, the first of his _Six_ _Songs_ _From_ _A_ _Shropshire_ _Lad_ called "Loveliest
Of Trees." This is a powerful work in my opinion, and has been recorded several times, though I do not know how often it appears in concert programmes,
particularly in the UK. _The_ _Banks_ _Of_ _Green_ _Willow_ begins congenially in A Major with a clarinet quoting that folksong, music which
can hopefully cool one down on a _TORRID_, humid day such as we had here yesterday! After this has run its course, including a shift to C Major,
there is a quiet passage for horns interrupted by a passionate passage which soon holds sway, leading, through key changes, etc., eventually to A Minor
where the music starts to calm and we begin to hear what I feel is a quintessential English tune, "Green Bushes," which Vaughan Williams included in the
Second Movement of his famous _English_ _Folksong_ _Suite_ and on which Percy Grainger also made variations. The _Two_ _English_ _Idylls_ each include
a song which Vaughan Williams would also arrange for chorus as part of his _Five_ _English_ _Folksongs_, "Just As The Tide Was Flowing" in the first and
"The Dark-Eyed Sailor" dominating the second. This is also congenial music, but it has its passionate moments as well. I like his orchestration in all
of these, especially what I feel is his effective use of the oboe. And his string writing is also effective! Butterworth's wonderful setting of "Loveliest
Of Trees" is through-composed, that is not broken up into musical verses, but some of his other settings are strophic, divided into musical verses coinciding
with the verses of the poems, and thus, particularly in the case of "Is My Team Plowing," require a strong contribution from a sensitive singer. In that
poem, the spirit of a dead man is talking to a friend he has left behind, and the voice of the dead man is often sung white, that is without (or with
little) vibrato and also soft, while the living man is sung out. Yet this dead man would have done well to remain where he was since he is told at the
end that his friend cheers a dead man's sweetheart, "never ask me whose." Vaughan Williams also effectively set this poem, minus one verse which much
annoyed Housman, in his Housman cycle of 1909, _On_ _Wenlock_ _Edge_, but, again if a fine singer (such as Mr. Bryn Terfel or Sir Thomas Allen to
mention only two) gets hold of the Butterworth setting, I feel it cannot be beaten! In addition to these _Six_ _Songs_ _From_ _A_ _Shropshire_ _Lad_ from
which the settings just discussed come, Butterworth also set six other poems from that book, naming it after the first of these, "Bredon Hill."
Here we have another comparison with _On_ _Wenlock_ _Edge_, but here, though it could be due to greater familiarity, I feel VW's non-strophic setting
(and the twangy strings depicting the one tolling bell) wins out, though I must further assess Butterworth's quasi-strophic version, the verses usually
starting the same while the rest changes, thus making both settings through-composed. The second set of six also includes two of Housman's most famous
poems so far as I personally know, "When The Lad For Longing Sighs" and "With Rue My Heart Is Laden (the latter seeming particularly English to me in that
wonderful Butterworth manner)," and further includes a powerful setting of "On The Idle Hill Of Summer," the poet expressing his feelings about the futility
of war. It also must not be forgotten that Butterworth was an avid collector of folksongs along with the likes of Cecil Sharpe, VW, Grainger, etc., travelling
throughout the English countryside and asking older people who knew them to sing them so they could be noted down, and his friendship with VW led to him
telling the older composer that he should write a symphony, this eventually resulting in VW's Second and personal favourite (it probably remains mine as
well), _A_ _London_ _Symphony_! So now we are faced with that inevitable and unanswerable question which particularly lovers of English music
have been asking ever since Butterworth was killed--what might he further have given us had he lived? At least some feel he would have gone on to challenge
the likes of VW, etc., for the pre-eminent position in the English music of his day. Perhaps he might, but, whether or not he would have, we can be grateful
for what he _DID_ leave us, even though it admittedly did not equal, either in quantity or depth, the contributions of another composer who died aged 31,
one Franz Schubert. One wonders even more what might have happened had _HE_ lived longer!

The name of Oscar Hammerstein II is much more familiar to Americans, especially those who love the American Musical Theater, and he did not just work with Rodgers! In fact he also worked early on with American operetta composers such as Friml and Romberg, and with
Kern on that landmark of the genre, _Show_ _Boat_! As those of you who have been visiting this house regularly may know by now, I am one who
likes to observe anniversaries, and, since Kern's birthday coincides with Mozart's, I have decided from now on, if all goes well, to combine Kern and Hammerstein's
birthdays on 12 July, Hammerstein's, by playing that _MARVELOUS_ EMI recording of _Show_ _Boat_ conducted by that great advocate for musicals, Mr. John
McGlinn! In fact it was an E-Mail exchange with our Honourary Patroness which prompted me to check into this recording of which I had only previously
heard without hearing any of it. I bought it, and once again here comes that tattered cliche used here earlier, "Better late than never!" As is
very well known, Hammerstein, in this musical, explores certain social issues, particularly those having to do with race, thus adding more substance to
an evening which would usually be lighter in nature, sentimentality being particularly prized in those days (not that this is lacking in _Show_ _Boat_,
"You Are Love" sounding as if it could have come right out of a Lehar operetta, though still extremely effective for me and presumably many others!).
At the risk of raising a proverbial "hornet's nest," I agree with the decision made by the producers of this recording to retain what we now often call
the "N word" where Hammerstein originally used it since it adds a further touch of realism (as I feel it also does in _Porgy_ _And_ _Bess_), and, as was
pointed out in the book accompanying this recording, Hammerstein was not here showing himself as a racist since later, when working with Rodgers on
_South_ _Pacific_, he included that number, "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught." We are further told that this classic has been subjected to much revision
since it first appeared in 1927 (its first preview was actually given right here in Washington!), and thus much of its "cutting-edge" side has
been watered down in most, if not all, modern productions. Yet here we have much of it in this EMI recording, including some of the spoken dialogue!
From what I read, the part of Ravenal was eventually changed from a tenor to a baritone, thus necessitating the transposition of at least some of his music
down from its higher keys. Yet, having first heard Mr. Alan Jones sing "Make Believe" in its original D Major in the 1936 film, I still think it works
best starting in that key, and apparently this was how it was in 1927, beginning in D and then moving up to E-Flat when Ravenal's future wife joins to
lead to the duet. On the other hand, though one cannot deny the contribution Mr. Robeson made to this musical in and before the 1936 film, "Ol' Man River" works better in keys higher than his B-Flat (A-Flat in at least one later recital) in my opinion. Again in my opinion, the original 1927 Bennett
orchestrations are _MARVELOUS_! Yet I have a "pet peeve" about this and _MANY_ other recordings involving works including both music and spoken dialogue.
Producers, etc., have this idea that listeners do not want the dialogue included in recordings (though they obviously must tolerate at least some of it
in the theater, hopefully all of it in a broadway musical), and regretably some customer reviews on a site such as Amazon would tend to bolster this view.
Yes, attempting to include nearly all the music Kern composed for this work while he was yet alive amply fills three CD's along with the dialogue they
chose to include, and yet, while including as much of the music as possible is important, should not this great work be regarded as a whole, and should
not the work of Hammerstein, certainly one of the greatest of all American musical lyricists, stand on equal terms with Kern's? I personally would just
as soon be without all those appendices and instead be given a _COMPLETE_ performance of this 1927 version, allowing for decisions as to what pre-Broadway
cuts would be re-opened and which would not! I think an English company called Jay Records has given us some uncut musicals, and, if and when copyright
may allow, I hope we might have _MANY_ more! And while we are about it, could we _PLEASE_ have more _COMPLETE_ recordings of operas and operettas which
include spoken sections, even if the librettists are not on a par with the composers? And if they are in foreign languages, simply, if possible, engage
either native speakers/singers or those fluent enough in the languages of these works to make them effective dramatically in the spoken sections as well
as in the musical ones! Let us put these theories about CD listeners not wanting the dialogue to the test, with convincing delivery thereof, and _THEN_
find out _FOR_ _SURE_ if their theories are right!

Hoping this finds you well,

J. V.

Articles Concerning The Late Corporal Santos

2006-07-15T08:10:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

Those who want a boost in their faith in God, humanity at its best, and the sometimes-flawed military at its best as well, are _URGED_ to read the various articles, etc., reference the late Corporal Santos which our Honourary Patroness recently posted in her blog! You may find these at tvmeg.blogspot.com.

Respectfully and joyfully submitted,

J. V.

Happy Birthday, US Marine Band!

2006-07-11T23:24:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

In the name of the House of Old-School, and though it is rather late in the day, I extend my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to "The President's Own" United States Marine Band on the occasion of its 208th anniversary!

As all Marines (obviously I was not one) will know, the Corps observes 10 November, the day on which it was established, after a manner since the present Government had not yet been established by then, in 1775. It actually became part of the present Government by an act of Congress on 11 July, 1798, and, as part of that act, the United States Marine Band was also created, thus making it the oldest continuously-operating musical organization in the US Military. Thus, since the Corps has appropriated 10 November as its birthday, the Band now has 11 July to itself, and thus they observe their _ONLY_ establishment anniversary on that day!

The Band started as a fife-and-drum corps in Philadelphia, but moved here to the present Nation's Capital when it was established in 1801 (or 1800?). President Jefferson, the first President to be inaugurated in this city, came to call the Band "The President's Own," and it has performed for every US President since then, though I feel there is still work to be done to determine, if this can indeed be done accurately, as to when it started supporting inaugurations, the Band's current belief being that this started with President Jefferson, and one source I recently consulted (one of the Inaugural websites, though not necessarily the one linked to from this blog) has it accompanying him back to the White House after he was sworn in for his second term in 1805. In Dr. Paul F. Boller's book, _Presidential_ _Inaugurations_, he conjectures that it started supporting these in 1821. Most of the early inaugurations were held indoors (often in the Senate Chamber), so one must assume there was no music for the actual swearing-in, this presumably being limited to escorts as above, or to the balls when they started (the afternoon parades did not really come into their own until the late 19th Century, much of the pageantry prior to then being focused on escorting the President and President Elect to the swearing-in ceremony).

The Band gradually became transformed from that first fife-and-drum corps into the superb professional ensemble it is today. It continued to play at the White House and at important national events, one of the most significant of these being at Gettysburg on 19 November, 1863, when President Lincoln gave his immortal address there. Yet a particularly important period in its history occurred between 1880 and 1892 when its 17th Director (they were called Leaders in those days), John Philip Sousa, was in charge. He improved the Band's technical and musical standards, and began the practice of taking it on an annual concert tour so that those outside this area could have more of an opportunity to experience it. And so it went into the 20th Century up to 1955 when a development happened which I personally feel improved this Organization even further. The man who would eventually become Colonel Albert Schoepper became its 22nd Director. For the first time so far as I know, an arranging staff was established, and, particularly throughout the 1960's, I personally feel the Band again improved as per its playing, and Colonel Schoepper, as far as I am concerned, was a _MARVELLOUSLY_ musical conductor! I hear he could also be quite tough and intimidating, and _MAYBE_ that is how he got some of his results, though it would appear that he might not get such in our day when authoratarian approaches, it must be somewhat-reluctantly admitted, sometimes, if not often, backfire (yet, in the tradition of this blog, would that we could get back to obedience to lawful orders and, yes, _DEFERENCE_ from those under them, without those in leadership having to resort to tyrannical leadership techniques!). My first exposures to the Band were through the annual tree-lighting ceremonies which open our Christmas Pageant of Peace, and I actually date my becoming fully interested from that ceremony in 1960, though, due to the cold weather, it did not play at its best. It sounded similar to me on that _FRIGID_ day about a month later when President Kennedy was sworn in, but a recently-acquired DVD containing an abridged version of that ceremony has them sounding even better, so _HOPEFULLY_ they were not resorting to pre-recorded music for that newsreel (the acoustic would suggest that they were not). I attended my first Marine Band concert in the Summer of 1962, when Watergate meant a music barge just off the bank of the Potomac just below the Lincoln Memorial (as well as a fine nearby restaurant, the Watergate Inn). After another Watergate concert in 1963, my mother and I started frequently attending its other Summer concerts, on the East Plaza of the Capitol (these would move to their present site, the lower West Terrace, in the mid-to-late 1970's, and inaugurations would also move to that side in 1981). I believe I first met Colonel Schoepper in 1965, and, though he could be moody, he was always decent with me, and we even had some contact after his retirement in 1972. I have had the privilege of knowing all of his successors, as well as his immediate predecessor, Lieutenant Colonel William F. Santelmann (who, of course, I met after the fact as it were). Colonel John R. Bourgeois, 25th Director and the Band's current Director Imeritus, served as Operations NCO under Colonel Schoepper, in which capacity I first met him, and he was my other favourite among the former Directors I have known. He, along with his two successors, Colonel Timothy W. Foley and the current Director, Lieutenant Colonel Michael J. Colburn, are, as far as I am concerned, as intelligent as they come, and the latter has already become a special favourite of mine as well!

"The President's Own" actually consists of more than that superb band, also including a chamber orchestra, which plays frequently at the White House, notably at state dinners, and now gives increasingly-frequent public concerts, and various chamber ensembles, combos, etc. Another of Colonel Schoepper's innovations was to bring in a vocalist, and now there are two, Gunnery Sergeant Kevin Bennear and the first female to hold this particular position (though there are now many other women in the Organization), Staff Sergeant Sara Dell'Omo.

Although I greeted this Organization as part of my general greeting which concluded my "Honours and Greetings" post earlier in this blog, I wanted to devote this individual post to it since it has been a _MOST_ important part of my life! Though various musical organizations participated, via recordings, in the securing and activation ceremony for this blog on 2 June, the Marine Band was the featured one, and, as I once told Colonel Foley, I would, if allowed, like to consider this organization not only "The President's Own," but _MY_ own as well! Should you be interested in more information, you may find it on the Band's official website, a link to which may be found in the "favorite links" section of my profile.

Once again many congratulations and best wishes come from this house to "The President's Own" on this, their 208th anniversary!

Gratefully, respectfully and joyfully submitted,

J. V.

Spoof/Fishing E-Mails

2006-07-08T08:59:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

I expect that all of us who use E-Mail have, especially in recent years, been the recipients of these messages which preport to be from some legitimate business, usually a bank or online sales outlet, claiming that the information we have on record with such is out of date, etc., and urging, or more frequently it would seem demanding/requiring, that we update said information on pain of losing our privileges with that particular institution or outlet. As most of us hopefully know by now, this practice has come to be called either fishing or spoofing since, if one gives in, the perpetrator(s) have caught the fish as it were, our sensitive personal and/or financial information, and thus can use it to their own perverse ends. It further appears that, since we are being increasingly and rightly advised to expose the full headers of such messages when reporting them to various authorities (such as the FTC's reporting E-Mail address, spam@uce.gov, or addresses such as spoof@ebay.com, spoof@paypal.com or abuse@(variousotherdomains).com), the perpetrators of these scams now often forge these headers, thus making the messages even more difficult to trace. And yet, despite these seemingly-sophisticated "safeguards," they can also appear _EXTREMELY_ stupid sometimes, such as when they ignore PayPal's _CLEARLY_-stated procedure that _ALL_ legitimate messages originating from them begin with the full name of the recipient. For those who know this, the proverbial game is up already, and thus they should not be caught. There is yet another stupidity I have detected sometimes. Certain of these messages, according to their full headers, are said to be from nobody@domain.com. One hopes that _NOBODY_ in their _RIGHT_ mind would fall for a message from such a lame-brained (if I may describe such in that way) nobody! This is an important factor, but what I wish to mainly ask here is what progress, if any, is being made to unmask those who forge their headers? Can we expect any sort of technology in the near future which will make it difficult, if not impossible, for one to get away with forging one's headers, thus allowing for the perpetrators of these scams to be caught? I am glad, if it will help, to continue forwarding on these messages to the proper authorities for hoped-for action, but this sometimes can be tedious at best, and so could someone _PLEASE_ try to come up with some sort of technology which will, at _VERY_ worst, be _EXTREMELY_ difficult for these scammers to circumvent? What say any of you if you have some information you can share without inappropriately breaching any sort of valid security? And while we are about it, I have lately started receiving once again (though I always receive some occasionally) these Nigeria-fee-scam messages. I gather that this scam, in one form or another, has been around since the Middle Ages, and yet is there hope for _FINALLY_ stamping it out, at least on the Internet?

We have been having some moderate temperatures here in our Nation's Capital over the past day or so, so I hope any of you who read this are somehow experiencing the like where you are!

Further hoping this finds you otherwise well,

J. V.

Salute To The Late Spc. Jeremiah S. Santos

2006-06-20T17:24:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

Hopefully this can be considered "better late than never."

In the name of the House of Old-School, I salute the late US Army Spc. Jeremiah S. Santos, nephew of our Honourary Patroness, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq late last week. According to an article in his home-town paper (please go to www.tvmeg.blogspot.com should you wish to link directly to this story from there), he wanted to make a career out of the military, and, if I may be permitted to put it this way, indeed did so after a manner by making the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of those for whom he was fighting. Again according to what I read, he was well-liked by all who knew him, thus obviously making his loss harder to bear. Yet may his family and friends, who hopefully will accept my best wishes at this difficult time, nonetheless remain proud of him for what he did for them. _I_ am, and I did not know him personally!

Respectfully intended,

J. V.

A Question For Those Who Know Their Golf

2006-06-20T16:50:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

Though I obviously wish that one Mr. Tiger Woods was not using language which, though not so bad as, to here once again invoke the venerable Professor Higgins, to "make a sailor blush," is nonetheless not especially civilized at times, I admit, like many, to being drawn to his frequent excellence on the golf course. Yet there is something which has concerned me and about which I have been curious in his recent inconsistent times. Since I cannot see his swing, etc., can someone who knows his or her golf please tell me if his inconsistency is solely due to problems with his mechanics, are such combined with, or again do his difficulties solely stem from, issues in his personal life, or, of most interest to me, do these problems result from him apparently being forced to use clubs and balls manufactured by that famous company he endorses rather than equipment of his own choosing, if other than those? I have further heard it said (though not lately) that he might have remained in the heights had he not fallen out with Coach Harman, though admittedly he has had some significant triumphs since their separation. Again what say you if you would care to do so?

J. V.

Happy Birthday, US Army!

2006-06-14T11:31:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

In the name of the House of Old-School, I wish to extend my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to the United States Army on the occasion of its 231st anniversary!

Although those who know me reasonably well will also know that I have been rather partial to another branch of the Service over the years, the "purple suit" must be worn nowadays even more than it once perhaps was due to an ever-integrated common mission. Further, the Directorate of Ceremonies and Special Events of the Army's Military District of Washington (please see "my favorite links" to link to MDW's homepage) has been _MOST_ kind to me since the early 1970's, notably the two Directors since then, the late Mr. Paul C. Miller and the current Director, Mr. Thomas Groppel! Without the help of these two men and their colleagues, I would not know as much about one of my foremost interests as I hopefully do now (though I still have much to learn), and both the joint-service formations for which they co-ordinate the military ceremonial support, the Army being the senior service, and the Army's own formations, have interested and moved me these many years! And, of course, much of the ground war in Iraq depends upon the Army along with other missions they perform so well!

So once again happy 231st birthday, _US_ _ARMY_!!!

J. V.

A Correction

2006-06-11T22:54:00.000-04:00

As at least some of you may have seen in the below post, there seems to be an extra right parenthesis fairly near its beginning which does not belong there. Hopefully there are not other errors which I have missed!

J. V.

My "Pilgrim Anniversary"

2006-06-11T20:59:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

Today marks the 28th anniversary of what I feel is one of the most significant events in my life!

As those of you who have read the interests lists in my profile will know, one of the foremost among these by its placement on that list, if not _The_ foremost, is in so-called Classical music (I say "so-called" because the term "Classical" technically should apply to music from a specific period in music history, the period of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven (I should have mentioned in my initial post that historical figures will here often be referred to merely by their last names without titles as is often done), and arguably a transitional figure from the Classical to the Romantic period such as Schubert and others making this transition as Beethoven, of course, also was doing, though it must be admitted that the term generically fits the overall panorama of Western serious music rather well). On this day in 1978 I visited a University of Maryland library for the purpose of concluding my initial get-acquainted sessions with Elgar's two largest Biblical oratorios, _The_ _Apostles_ _And_ _The_ _Kingdom_, which had been suggested to me by a Librarian at WETA, one of our Area's public radio stations (you might not know this English composer's name, but you almost certainly know one work of his, his _Pomp_ _And_ _Circumstance_ _March_ _No._ _1_, often used at graduations, etc., which was the first of five such marches he wrote, though he wrote many other works of various sorts which have much interested me since those days in the late '70's). I was becoming interested in these oratorios, via Sir Adrian Boult's recordings of them which that library owned, but thought, near what I felt would be the end of my session on that Sunday, "why not ask if they have a recording of Ralph (Pronounced "Rafe") Vaughan Williams's opera, or morality as you would later learn he preferred to call it, _The_ _Pilgrim's_ _Progress_, since you heard of it on an opera broadcast somewhat before that and also wrote a high-school term paper on the famous Bunyan allegory, being in sympathy with its subject matter, Theology, etc.?" I did, was offered again a Boult recording, and settled in to listen. Yet I thought that VW (Wich, though it might seem somewhat un-House-Of-Old-Schoolish, I will hereafter call this slightly-later English composer, also sometimes just "the composer") to save space, as others who do so hopefully do), being a 20th-Century composer, might write in at least a somewhat-harsh style. Indeed the opera's opening scene following its Prologue showing Bunyan writing his book in Bedford Jail, having to do with Pilgrim (which VW chose to call his main character instead of Christian, Bunyan's original designation, in an attempt to make the work's message more universal, though I personally feel it remains basically a Christian work, which presumably VW would not want to hear me say) preparing for, and starting out on, his journey, with the great burden of sin on his back, and first being met by three of his neighbours who unsuccessfully try to persuade him to return home with them, contains some appropriately-unpleasant music. This continues through much of the orchestral interlude leading to the next scene, and, though there is nothing in the text nor score as we now have it to suggest this, I wonder if _MAYBE_ we can read Bunyan's famous Slough of Despond into some of this music. But then, as one might expect in a scene called "The House Beautiful," the music becomes some of the most beautiful one might wish to hear, at least in my opinion, and, on that Sunday in that library, it began to be, to paraphrase a familiar cliche, love at first hearing! After Pilgrim's anguished cry of "Save me, save me, Lord, my burden is greater than I can bear! (punctuation, and later some extra capitalization, are my own, not necessarily that of the original text)", three shining ones are heard singing words of encouragement from within the house, and Pilgrim, to music perhaps more familiar from VW's _5th_ _Symphony_ where it originally was associated with these words, sings "He hath given me rest by His sorrow, and life by his Death." The shining ones then come out, greet Pilgrim in turn with Biblical quotations, and remove his burden (as those of you who have read Bunyan will know, there it merely rolls off Christian's back into the sepulchre below the cross which is also upon that place). They having admonished him to knock at the door of the house, he does so, and is greeted by the interpreter, who asks "Whence come you, and what would you have?" "Sir, here is a poor pilgrim. I would know if you are willing to let me in." Indeed an open door is set before him, no man may shut it, and a swelling full chorus, with further invitation from the interpreter, greets him lustily, music which should set goose bumps onto all but the most hardened of backs! A room with its window toward the sun-rising has been prepared for him, and the name of that chamber is Peace. As this wonderfully-beautiful music continues, solo singers alternating with the chorus, he is sealed with the Holy Spirit, robed in fine linen, clean and white, and then prayer is offered for his rest, after which the chorus and shining ones offer final swelling words of encouragement! This ends Act I, but the original production team at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where this work was first staged in 1951, somehow decided they wanted to go straight from Act I to Act II without an interval, and so, one day on a train, VW wrote the Interlude between these two acts. During it, Watchful, the porter, comes down, singing "Into Thy Hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit, etc.," and then, when he has fully come to the fore, sings an abridged version of Psalm 121 (in the Protestant sequence) before leaving to the same words by which he entered. This is rather-lovely music, and it ends with a passage for muted strings based on what Watchful has sung before this Interlude concludes with the music by which it began. But this calm is emphatically broken by the beginning of the Prelude to Act II, restless music which suggests something is about to happen. This eventually leads to a trumpet call, introducing a herald, who is there to help arm Pilgrim for the rest of his journey. "This is the King's Highway, cast up by patriarchs and prophets. It is straight as a rule can make it, who will go on that Way?" "Set my name down, sir," is Pilgrim's reply, after which the herald admonishes him of some of the difficulties he will meet and how he must "turn not to the left or the right, lest you stumble and fall to rise no more. There is no way but right up the hill." At various points during this, the chorus sings snatches of a hymn possibly familiar to some of you as "He Who Would Valiant Be," but here is sung in the verses Bunyan originally wrote, beginning "Who would true valour see, let him come hither," and to a tune VW especially composed for this, though he had previously used it in incidental music written in the early '40's for a BBC broadcast dramatization of the Bunyan allegory. Pilgrim is thus fitted with the equipment prescribed in the 6th Chapter of the _Book_ _Of_ _Ephesians_, the Shield of Faith, the Helmet of Salvation, the Breastplate of Righteousness, and the Sword of the Spirit. He blesses God for these, and says he will not be afraid as the chorus also admonishes him to "be not afraid!" The herald and chorus send him on his way with further good wishes and a final verse of "Who Would True Valour See," after which, to some appropriately-spookky? music, he descends into the Valley of Humiliation. Eventually a chorus of foul fiends starts yelling and snarling at him, after which Appolyon appears. Using artificial amplification, he challenges Pilgrim, telling him, among other things, "all of this country is mine, and I am the king and the god of it." But Pilgrim is having _NONE_ of it, for "the wages of sin is death. Therefore I bound myself to another, even the King of Princes. ... this is the King's Highway, the Way of Holiness. Therefore take heed to yourself!" They eventually go to fighting, and Pilgrim, though wounded, triumphs, being "more than conquerer through Him that loved me!" Yet he has grown weary by reason of his wounds, his strength is almost quite spent, and thus he is offered, by two Heavenly bearers, leaves from the Tree of Life and some of the Water of Life to more of that _WONDERFUL_ music in which this score is so rich! Evangelist, who first pointed out this Way to Pilgrim in the morality's opening scene and further admonished him to give no heed to those neighbours, joins those three to warn Pilgrim of new trials awaiting him at the town of Vanity where the famous (or infamous!) Vanity Fair is kept, also bringing him the Staff of Salvation, the Roll of the Word, and the Key of Promise. They all admonish him to be faithful unto death, "and the King shall give thee the Crown of Life," after which this act peacefully and quietly ends. Following an interval (intermission) if one is in the theatre, a raspy note on muted brass with a cymbal roll pushes us straight into the hubbub of Vanity Fair, and people can be heard chattering during this on both Sir Adrian's recording of this morality and a newer one conducted by Mr. Richard Hickox. "Buy! What will ye buy!," etc., sing the collective venders, and one of them, Lord Lechery, offers his wares to words especially given him by the composer's widow, Mrs. Ursula Vaughan Williams. "But who is this man," etc., sings the surprised crowd, and then they gather around him to try to entice him as well, among them being Madam Bubble and Madam Wanton. "Turn mine eyes lest they behold vanity," he prays, after which the chorus sings mockingly the familiar words from _Ecclesiastes_, "vanity, all is vanity." But Pilgrim would buy the Truth, and, after the crowd laughs at that notion, Pontius Pilate reiterates his famous question, "What is truth?" "As for your prince Beelzebub the father of lies, I defy him and all his angels!," retorts their unwelcome visitor, and when he would have all the whoremongers, murderers and idolaters, and all that maketh and telleth a lie, away, the town judge, Lord Hategood, is announced. He is, as the moderns put it, brought up to speed concerning Pilgrim's perceived interferences, and, when he bids the witnesses to be called, they proceed to come forward, all gradually intensifying to virtual mob status. When asked to return a verdict, the entire crowd heartily pronounces Pilgrim guilty of death, and the judge has him taken off to prison, which happens to a solemn march joined in further anger by the chorus. When this dies away, our central character is left dispondent, and he sings of this to words largely taken from Psalm 22, beginning with an expanded version of that famous opening verse, "My God, My God, look upon me, why hast Thou forsaken me?" When he sings of the mocking crowds, the music is enhanced by more snarling, muted brass and angry whirling in the bass instruments. But he _FINALLY_ comes to his better senses! "O fool that I am, in my bosom lies the Key of promise! Wherefore should I lie in bondage when I might walk at liberty on the King's Highway? The Key, the Way of Freedom! Open to me the Gates of Righteousness! I will go into them!" Then, as the brass triumphantly play again the last music Pilgrim has sung, the prison gates open, and, to _WONDERFULLY_-atmospheric oscillating harmonies, the Highway begins to vaguely appear. "Show me Thy Way, O Lord," he begins to pray, and starts to behold the stars, which leads to extensive quotation from Psalm 139, beginning "If I ascend into Heaven, Thou art there." When he finishes with these verses, the oscillating stops for a time, and he sings perhaps the most famous verse from Psalm 119, "But Thy Word is a lantern unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Then, with the music, _IF_ possible, growing even more beautiful than it has been during this part of the scene, he concludes, "Lead me, Lord, make my way straight before my face. And let all them that put their trust in Thee rejoice! They shall be ever giving thanks to Thee. They shall be joyful in Thee!" Whenever I play this scene, I almost _INVARIABLY_ have to re-play this closing passage, and may well do so again this evening when I hope to conclude my playing of the morality with its last two acts! Act IV begins with high strings and a horn playing further lovely, peaceful music, and, after a change of key, we meet a woodcutters boy who sings a song of his humble life, beginning "He that is down need fear no fall, he that is low no pride. He that is humble ever shall have God to be his Guide." "Hark to what that boy doth sing, I would dare to say he leads a merrier life, and wears more of the herb called heart's-ease in his bosom than he that is clad in silk and velvet." The two greet each other, and the boy tells Pilgrim that, when the day is clear, he may see the Delectable Mountains, and then his journey is nearly at an end. Enter Mr. and Madam By-Ends who, to what Mr. Michael Kennedy, VW's official musical biographer, calls "jaunty and engaging" music (please see his notes for the EMI recording of VW's _Sir_ _John_ _In_ _Love_), tell him that they favour taking a different, less strict, course than he favours, and, when he tells them that they must go against the wind and tide to follow him, they are offended, feeling their old principles are harmless and profitable, and go on their ways. Then the boy further describes the Delectable Mountains, Pilgrim expresses his longing to be there, and the boy bids him farewell as he sets out again. Following a soft instrumental version of "Who Would True Valour See," we come to "The Shepherds Of The Delectable Mountains," a scene which VW actually wrote as a separate work as far back as 1922, though he revised its ending when he incorporated it into the full morality. After a solo on VW's favourite instrument, the viola, the three shepherds take turns singing verses from Psalm 91, beginning "Whosoever dwelleth under the Defense of the Most High shall abide under the Shadow of the Almighty" (perhaps it should be noted here that VW sometimes quoted from the older versions of the Psalms contained in the Anglican _Book_ _Of_ _Common_ _Prayer_, not the more familiar King James renderings, thus the differences you may have noted throughout this writing). When Pilgrim arrives, and asks "Whose Delectable Mountains are these, and whose be the sheep that feed upon them," he is told that "These Mountains are Emanuel's Land, and the sheep also are His, and he laid down His Life for them." He is assured that he is just in his way, and that the Celestial City is "Too far for any but those who shall get thither indeed." When he asks if there is relief for pilgrims that are weary and faint in the Way, he is assured that "The Lord of these Mountains has given us a charge not to be forgetful to entertain pilgrims." The good of the place now being before him, they ask him whence he has come and where he is going, and, when asked what makes him so desirous to get to Mount Zion, he sings "Feign would I be where I shall die no more, in the Paradise of God, there to be with my King all the days of Eternity!" He is then shown a view of the City, at the sight whereof he falls sick with desire." But the shepherds would have him stay a while, and, after he agrees to do so, a bird up in a tree begins to sing an abridged version of the 23rd Psalm, during which one of the shepherds describes the atmosphere which will be found in those Mountains. Thus far in this scene the music has included some strange harmonies (which will be familiar to those who know VW's _3rd_ _Symphony_, his "Pastoral"), but there has been some most-beautiful music as well, and this setting of that most familiar of Psalms, with string solos crowning all, is another of those _SUPREME_ passages in this work! But Pilgrim must get on with it, and so a messenger comes to tell him that the Master calleth for him, bringing along an arrow, with the point sharpened with Love, to let easily into his heart as a token that he is a true messenger. The shepherds anoint his body with spices, pray the Comforter to be with him as he crosses the river between him and the Gate, and then he descends into it. When he starts to sink, he prays to be preserved from the deep waters, whereupon the shepherds, now joined by full chorus, pray that God be not far from him, etc. When he has passed over, and we once again have heard a solo viola, a distant trumpet sounds, followed by "Hallelujahs," first on distant solo voices and then on swelling full chorus. "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy House. May we always be praising Thee," sings a distant tenor, and an alto adds "Behold, thy Salvation cometh, and His Reward is with Him." After this latter further adds "Blessing and Glory, Honour and Power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the Throne for ever and ever," the orchestra, preceeded by swelling "Holy's" from the chorus, thunders out an old English hymn tune called "York," which was first heard on the brass at the morality's beginning, featured prominently in the Prelude where Bunyan was shown in prison, and recurred particularly near the end of the last exchange between Pilgrim and the wood-cutter's boy. If I am not mistaken, the scene of Heaven, which, like the King's Highway in the last scene of Act III, has been vague up to now, but presumably comes into plain view when York breaks out in another goose-bump passage. It might interest some to know that, during this, we also hear a brief quotation from arguably VW's most famous work, his _Fantasia_ _On_ _A_ _Theme_ _Of_ _Thomas_ _Tallis_, which also briefly appears in the Prelude to the whole opera. Once the bells have rung and the "Holy"s have concluded, the distant soloists toss the Tallis fragment back and forth between themselves and the full chorus, the bells ring out one last time with a last _GLORIOUS_ chord from the orchestra, and, as the trumpet calls and solo "Hallelujah"s fade away, we are returned to Bedford Jail where bunyan bids us interpret the dream he has had in which this story was revealed to him. "Put by the curtains, look within my veil, turn up my metaphors, and do not fail there, if thou seekest them, such things to find as will be helpful to an honest mind. This book will make a traveller of thee if by its counsel thou wilt ruled be. It will direct thee to the Holy Land if thou wilt its directions understand. O then come hither, and lay my book, thy head, and heart together." This is what I first heard on this date 28 years ago, and, as I hope you gather, it has remained with me ever since as the cliche again would have it!

There are two _SPLENDID_ recordings of this morality currently available, both of which I mentioned previously. The Boult version may be found on the EMI Label, the Hickox on Chandos. I have since had the privilege of personally coming to know Mr. John Noble, who sang Pilgrim in the Boult version, and one of my _ABSOLUTE_ favourites among todays singers, who I also had the privilege of meeting in New York in March of 2005, Miss Susan Gritton, sings several roles in the Hickox recording. So why not have a go at _BOTH_ if you wish, but, if you would only have one, I would now _MARGINALLY_ lean toward the Hickox, hoping Mr. Noble, whose performance still remains _WONDERFUL_ and whose son might pay this blog a visit, will not mind.

If you can stand it, I must not close without a word about language, since, after all, we are about dignity here in the House of Old-School. It is often said that Bunyan's language was quite colloquial in keeping with his tinker's background, but I personally have a hard time on most occasions feeling that way, unless I am always reading "sanitized" versions (which I would like to think I am not). For me, Bunyan is quintessentially about dignity, decency and deference alongside his Theological arguments, and thus he is _MOST_ welcome here, particularly on this special-for-me day!!!

To close, I hope all the parenthetical notes in this writing have not been too tedious. I have re-arranged some of them so as not to interrupt the main flow, but some of them still inevitably do, and I leave them in the hope that these explanations will help you better understand what I am writing about, especially those with a non-Classical-music background. I personally wish for people to look beneath the mere surface of such music, and thus I hope I have not offended those who mainly like to just be entertained by their music.

J. V.

Honours And Greetings

2006-06-09T15:20:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

As owner of The House Of Old-School, I hereby confer the designated honours upon the below-named individuals for reasons set forth in the following citations:

For suggesting that I should have a blog of my own, and for, with a right-good will, creating and setting up all things necessary and desirable for the well-functioning of said blog, Mrs. Suzanne Lanoue is hereby created Honourary Patroness of The House of Old-School. She has accepted appointment as such. She, having Internet access, may be posting comments to this blog if and when she might wish.

For good work for my late mother during her and my early years of residence in the building wherein I now still live and for returning to work for me following her death, for splendidly living out the basic premise of this blog, for her ongoing support of me even when I was in some personal difficulty, and for being one of the finest African-American women, if not women overall, it has been my privilege to know, Mrs. Mary Cupid is hereby created Honourary Co-Patroness of The House Of Old-School. She has accepted appointment as such. She has neither computer nor, it would naturally follow, Internet access.

For, even though he had a folksy, etc., side, living out the basic premise of this blog, for his love, to a degree, of ritual and ceremony which is so much a part of my life, for his support of what I feel were and are good, conservative causes, for being a force for good in our family, especially when a firm hand and voice was needed, and for being my personal-favourite relative and one of the finest individuals it has been my privilege to know, the late Mr. John Henry Davidson is hereby created Honourary Patron of The House of Old-School. Mrs. Mary Cupid, here being created Honourary Co-Patroness of this blog, by virtue of authority delegated to her by me as Temporary Co-Owner hereof for the purpose of joining me in making an appointment, _HEARTILY_ joined me in making this appointment, and Mrs. Marion Davidson, his sister-in-law and his surviving next of kin, has accepted said appointment on his behalf.

In the name of The House Of Old-School, I extend warm and hearty greetings to all individuals associated with the various and sundry organizations, etc., Internet links to which have been set here for the edification and hoped-for pleasure of any and all who might visit this house in future, and to all such to which links might be added from here in times to come.

Gratefully, respectfully and _JOYFULLY_ submitted,

J. V.

Owner

The House Of Old-School

So What Means This "House Of Old-School?"

2006-06-02T11:25:00.000-04:00

Greetings!:

I bid such as already share the basic proposition of this blog a _MOST_-hearty welcome to the House of Old-School! To such as do not, do not necessarily, or who would consider it, may whatever visits you might make to this cyber-house cause you to at least think upon it. Further, when matters which do not necessarily relate to it are being discussed (and they indeed _SHALL_ be), may all find, when variously intended, edification, inspiration, and, yes, _ENTERTAINMENT_ in its hopefully-best form!

So what exactly, to be avowedly unoriginal in my phraseology, is this basic premise of which I write? As you saw when you arrived, it runs thus:

"Dedicated to the basic proposition that dignity, decency and deference need not die." Again being avowedly unoriginal, let us consider each of these three virtues (as I would call them) in order.

DIGNITY--A point, made by the woman who was most kind to set up this blog for me, and by others before and alongside her, that the English Language has changed significantly over the years, must be conceded. After all, we do not now speak nor write in the English spoken and written from the Language's origins in the first millennium of the Christian (or, if you would have it, Common) Era, nor in the language of Chaucer's time, nor, in the main, in that of Shakespeare's. Yet, I ask you, is there not something _BEAUTIFUL_ at the core of this English Language, even after all the changes through which it has passed? In all honesty, I do not care personally for much American slang and colloquialism (though I suppose most of us use at least a little of it), and regret the influence it is increasingly having upon the United Kingdom, particularly England. If only the UK, being the older culture, could retain its old-world dignity, leaving the US, if it wishes, to follow a more casual course, then one, and I in particular, could have a clear choice as to the culture in which one would wish to live. I personally would connect what I believe to be a deterioration of the language to what I believe to be a deterioration in the cultural, moral and social aspects of our modern society, further manifestations being in dress and personal appearance (if we both spoke and looked like gentlemen and ladies, might there not be more of a chance that we would _ACT_ like such as well?). So let us look now at our second virtue, and find out if we can tie it in with the first toward a greater whole!

DECENCY--I need to be honest here. One day in late July of 1995 I was tuning around on my little radio, and came upon the one television channel I could pick up on it. And there, it being the early afternoon, was what is politely called a daytime drama, yes, what is generally just called a soap. I was drawn to a court case being covered that day, returned for some subsequent episodes, and, as is said, became hooked on _The_ _Young_ _And_ _The_ _Restless_ (_The_ _Bold_ _And_ _The_ _Beautiful_ would follow in 1998 if memory serves)! This type of programme often runs _COMPLETELY_ contrary to what had been, and hopefully still remain, my views on decency and morality, but sometimes that is the way matters play out as it were, and I may indulge this indeed-guilty pleasure of mine in this house from time to time. Yet I still, in the face of presumed charges of gross hypocrisy which are obviously not without merit at _VERY_ least, wish that, in the real world, we could embrace the concept of one man for one woman within the bounds of matrimony for one life, and be quit of all this divorce, re-marriage and pre-marital sex! As for the controversial issue of homosexuality, I have been hitherto opposed to it, but a book I recently read, _The_ _Good_ _Book_, written about the _Bible_ by Professor Peter J. Gomes of Harvard University, a man I have come to admire (he can be colloquial/slangy when he wishes to be, but, in the main, he has a dignity in his speaking style which I find _MOST_ refreshing!), has me _AT_ _LEAST_ re-thinking this position, though I do not presently recall him covering one or more seemingly-clear passages in the Old Testament where we are told that a man should not lie with mankind as with womankind. Yet he is right in observing that the Lord Jesus never mentions this issue, though we must look long, hard, and hopefully perceptively, at those passages where St. Paul speaks of it. But we must move on, possibly to return to this at a later time. Decency can and should have many manifestations, but one in particular has re-engaged me of late as it did in my early adulthood if I am not misrecalling. We return to the matter of language, but a specific sort, what is commonly called profanity. I recall someone recently suggesting to me that the, in my opinion at least, ever-increasing use of this nowadays is yet another manifestation of our seemingly-ever-growing casualization of the language. This may be so, and people who are not of an old-line Christian or other conservative religious tradition may give no, or little at very least, thought to the meaning of what they are saying when using such language. Yet is it good to speak of placing a curse on someone (what the moderns might call the "D word,"), speaking of things, and sometimes things that are good, as "a h--- of a thing" and otherwise using that ubiquitous word which should, at least in some opinions, strike real fear into the heart, etc., speaking of things as if they were bodily waste, making one's rear end more ugly than it would need to be, an ugly sexual act, or, in some ways worst of all to those who value reverence, light, or sometimes cursing, references to the Deity. And as for that guilty pleasure of mine, it must be reluctantly admitted that a certain amount of that language features prominently thereon, but _PLEASE_, when we are discussing these programmes on message boards, in blogs, and indeed in person-to-person conversation, can we not somehow rise above that seemingly-lower plain to try to bring the best we can to not-always-good situations? Though, once again in my view, the relative lack of certain decency in our modern world stems ultimately from our attitude, etc., toward the Higher Power, I feel that it, no matter how legitimately gained, would make for a more civilized world, and that an atmosphere of decency should contribute to one of dignity and vice versa! Yet there is one more piece to this tri-partite puzzle as it were.

DEFERENCE--This is something about which I feel _PASSIONATELY_! Yes, we now live in a world where at least certain elements are trying to break down barriers that divide. To a certain extent, I expect we all must agree that such is desirable. Yet, when it comes to personal relationships, I still feel that being allowed to address one by one's first name should be an earned privilege, not an assumed right as is, most regretably in my opinion, the all-too-prevalent and trendy practice nowadays! What, I ask, is wrong with some good, old-fashioned courtesy, and should not people get to know one another somewhat to determine, to the extent possible, if each individual is someone with whom one might wish to be in full friendship and with whom one shares sufficient interests, etc., for such? At such time, should it come, as one has actually _EARNED_ the privilege of being on closer terms with another, might not one feel a sense of accomplishment, that one has, as it were, won a valuable privilege, and might not one, as a result, feel it desirable to maintain that privilege by maintaining good character, etc.? I for one would like to think so! So one, while maintaining deference, has earned a greater privilege by decency, and all has hopefully been done with dignity! Further as per deference, we indeed now live in a more egalitarian world than our forebearers, and yet, when it comes to professional relationships in particular, there still is what one could call a chain of command, and does not one owe one's superiors, whether in professional or family contexts, yes, obedience to lawful authority and orders, and ought this not to be done in an atmosphere of respect and deference? To be personal for a moment, I get most annoyed by radio and television news reporters in particular who first-name virtually everyone (to be sure, if one is to use a name publically nowadays, one must avoid giving information that might get into the wrong hands to the hurt of any whose names have become known) and, on another subject entirely, seeming to spend more time jesting around instead of doing what one is there to do, report on the news, traffic and/or weather. While the occasional tasteful jest can hopefully be tolerated, if not embraced by some, I wish it were not such a regular feature of our broadcast media as I feel it gets in the way of what one is supposedly trying to get from one's newscasts, etc. I wish to feel _RESPECT_ for, and give _DEFERENCE_ to, those I hear on the radio/television due to their professionalism, etc., not necessarily feeling that they are such with whom I would wish to go straightaway to the nearest watering hole and put down a few or more brews with them, etc.! But, as is said, I digress. So, returning to the matter of deference, superiors should also earn this deference and respect as well by their good qualities, their knowlege of and hoped-for expertise in the areas over which they bear lawful authority, and by the care and concern they exhibit for those committed to their charge! Here in the House of Old-School, as in my other writing, I will generally, if not entirely, refer to individuals, whether fictional or real, by title and last name.

Thus, again in my view, dignity, decency and deference need not die--they should be _ALIVE_ and _THRIVING_!

Despite my advocacy here for often-untrendy practices in our contemporary world, I admit to engaging in some of them myself from time to time, one of these being frequent (Perhaps even more frequent than usual) use of underlining, full capitalization and tripple exclamation points to add emphasis to what I am saying (in place of smilies, etc., which I do not use, partly due to legal blindness and partly because I personally do not prefer such). Yet, this being the House of Old-School, I have, at least in this initial post, decided to use these more selectively than I now often do so as to give this house more of its intended touch. Hopefully this will not be construed as a lack of passion for the subjects concerning which I have written here.

Yet, to use full capitalization, underlining and tripple exclamations right here, _MANY_ thanks are due to Mrs. Suzanne Lanoue, Owner of the TV Megasite, etc., for proposing that I establish a blog and for initially setting this one up for me!!! She may not necessarily share its full vision, and she and I are opposites in a number of ways, and yet somehow we manage, at least from my perspective, to get on quite well! And strangely, the matter of deference was _NEVER_ an issue between us, and _NEVER_, even when presumably she did not know of my preference for old-fashioned etiquette, was she _EVER_ unduly familiar with me!!!

Once again greeting such as have seen fit to pay this House of Old-School a visit at the outset of its existence, or who are visiting later and beginning said visit with this initial post, hoping you share its basic premise discussed here, and further hoping you will see fit to return often for our mutual good, I am

Respectfully and sincerely,

J. V.