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Hi Rick, Thanks for sharing that. It's a powerful piece, definitely pulls on my emotional strings. Music, it's such a wonderful thing. It can just grab you and take you away to another place and time. Thanks again, Andre On Mon, January 5, 2009 6:50 am, Rick Walker wrote: > My apologies for the plethora of off topic posts here at L.D.lately but > I just feel really close and safe in this > community and wanted to share with you all. I'll knock it off, if > anyone is bugged by the OT nature of some of them. > > (((((()))))))) > anyway: > > I came back home tonight in a very melancholic mood. > > The great Russian poet, Yevtushenko, said, "It's good to have a > healthy melancholic attitude > towards life." > > My father and I both loved that quote and both had a strong sense and > love for things, melancholic > in life and, particularly, in music. > > Anyway, I was missing my dad tonight, big time and wanted to share with > you > all some of my musical memories of his influence on both mine and my > siblings' life. > > My dad was a clarinet player, professional, in a small big band that > toured around > Texas during World War 2. He loved orchestration and he had a very > strong mentor > in a university professor who turned him on to the world of Classical > orchestral arrangement........ > > ........He told my father, "If you love Benny Goodman, you have to > come listen to this." > and proceeded to show my father the score and play for him, a recording > of "Le Sacre Du Printemps" (The Right of Spring) > by Stravisnsky. He went on to teach him about classical music and my > father fell in love with > Bartok, Mozart, Stravinsky, Dvorak, Beethoven, Bach, Debussy, Ravel, > Ralph Vaughn Williams, Charles Ives, and > Aaron Copland, amongst many many others. He had an encyclopedic > knowledge of Classical music which was > amazing given his humble roots growing up in a small town in East Texas > during the depression. > > He, along with a wonderful 3rd grade teacher , Mr. Balantine (who > made us chill out every day for 30 minutes in school and gave a short > lecture on the history of a different classical music > composer giving me tons of knowledge for a child of 8/9 years of age) > gave us an incredible education about classical music. > > Thinking about him, I asked my wife if she had ever heard the > exquisitely sad and beautiful, Aaron Copland 'Concerto for Clarinet' > which was a piece of music that my father dearly loved and turned me > onto. I played clarinet myself , formally, from the ages of > 8-13 in the school orchestra....................that was, until, I was > seduced by the rebellious energy of Rock and Roll and started to > teach myself how to play the drums at the onset of puberty. > > She said no so, I found this marvelous and emotional clip of > Michael Tilson Thomas conducting this beautiful sad piece > with the amazing Richard Stotzman playing the lead clarinet. > > 'Andante' section for 'The Concerto for Clarinet' by Aaron Copland > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACO5DjpS8YM > > If you have a moment, please listen to it > I love it and I wish to pay homage to my wonderful and dearly departed > father. > > If you enjoy this music and don't know Copland very much, I"d highly > recommend that you eschew the things he was most famous for > (including things like the ballet for 'Billy the Kid") and head > straight for the masterful '3rd Symphony' and , of course, > 'Appalachian Spring' > > If you still want a bit of a melancholic fix......................look > up 'The Lark Ascending' by the 20th century British neo-classicist, > Ralph Vaughn Williams (his 3rd Symphony is also a masterpiece of > melancholia imho). > > Andre Donawa Barbados Guitar School Woodside Gardens Bay St. St. Michael Barbados 11157 Tel: 246-228-2480 (Office) 246 436 8294 (School) http://www.andredonawa.com http://cdbaby.com/all/andredonawa http://www.myspace.com/andredonawa