Happy Easter from Irving, Fred, Judy — and Silver Birch Press

EASTER PARADE

Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin

(Excerpt — listen to Judy Garland and Fred Astaire perform “Easter Parade” from the 1948 movie at youtube.com)

In your Easter bonnet

with all the frills upon it,

you’ll be the grandest lady

in the Easter Parade…

Oh, I could write a sonnet

about your Easter bonnet

and of the girl I’m taking 

to the Easter Parade.

Note: Fred idolized Judy (“She was simply wonderful…”) and Judy adored Fred — and you can see their mutual devotion in every scene of this classic musical.

Happy Easter to all!

The Library Belongs to You, Quote by Keith Richards

“When you are growing up, there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you.” KEITH RICHARDS 

Many of you have heard the story of how Keith Richards was injured a few years ago when he reached for a book about Leonardo da Vinci in his home library and the bookcase fell on him. What many people don’t know is that Richards is a bibliophile and his first career choice was to become a librarian — according to his his memoir Life (2011), available at Amazon.com.

Full Disclosure: I am a dedicated Rolling Stones fan…

Photo: Keith Richards relaxing in his home library  (they’re his books, so it’s his business if he smokes).

Glenn Gould, Poem by Stanley Plumly

GLENN GOULD

Poem by Stanley Plumly

I heard him that one night in Cincinnati.
The concert hall, 1960, the same day
Kennedy flew into town in perfect sunlight
and rode the route that took him
through the crowds of voters and nonvoters
who alike seemed to want to climb
into the armored convertible.
Gould did not so much play as address
the piano from a height of inches,
as if he were trying to slow the music
by holding each note separately.
Later he would say he was tired
of making public appearances,
the repetition of performing the Variations
was killing him. But that night
Bach felt like a discovery, whose repetitions
Gould had practiced in such privacy
as to bring them into being for the first time.
This was the fall, October, when Ohio,
like almost every other part of the country,
is beginning to be mortally beautiful,
the great old hardwoods letting go
their various scarlet, yellow,
and leopard-spotted leaves one by one.

“Glenn Gould” by Stanley Plumly, from Orphan Hours. © W.W. Norton & Company, 2012.

Listen to Glenn Gould (1932-1982) play J.S. Bach’s “Goldberg Variations“ here.

Sublime Messages, Quote by Socrates with Music by Chopin

“I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you would find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.” SOCRATES

Photo:  Alice PopKorn

Speaking of sublime messages…when I turned on the radio this morning, I heard Vladimir Horowitz playing Chopin. Listen to the master(s) here.

The Pause that Refreshes: A Bach Break

Yesterday, the Silver Birch Press blog included a post with praise for J.S. Bach from notables past and present. Thought we’d start our day with some more quotes about this musical master.

“Why waste money on psychotherapy when you can listen to the B Minor Mass?” MICHAEL TORKE, American composer (b. 1961)

“Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance…poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music…Bach and Mozart are never too far from physical movement.” EZRA POUND, American expatriate poet and critic (1885-1972)

“[Bach was] the immortal god of harmony.” LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, German composer and musician (1770-1827)

“I think that if I were required to spend the rest of my life on a desert island, and to listen to or play the music of any one composer during all that time, that composer would almost certainly be Bach. I really can’t think of any other music which is so all-encompassing, which moves me so deeply and so consistently, and which, to use a rather imprecise word, is valuable beyond all of its skill and brilliance for something more meaningful than that — its humanity.” GLENN GOULD, Canadian pianist (1932-1982)

Listen to the wondrous Glenn Gould play Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 at youtube.com.

Illustration: J.S. Bach’s monogram, as found on a postcard from the good folks at zazzle.com.

Bach’s Biggest Fan Listening to the Brandenburg Concertos

Regular readers of this blog are familiar with my cat Clancy and his love of Bach — especially the Brandenburg Concertos. (Listen to the joyful sound here — with Glenn Gould at the piano.) Every time we hear this sublime music via KUSC-FM (which is currently holding a fundraising drive), I try to shoot a picture of my in-bliss feline, while his ears move to the music and his eyes narrow until it’s hard to spot his pupils.

Clancy’s reaction (and mine) to the music made me wonder what people of note had to say about composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) — and I’ve found some interesting (and moving) quotes below.

“Bach opens a vista to the universe. After experiencing him, people feel there is meaning to life after all.” HELMUT WALCHA, German Musician (1907-1991)

“Creativity is more than just being different…What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” CHARLES MINGUS, American jazz bassist (1922-1979)

“Any species capable to producing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach cannot be all bad.” LEWIS THOMAS, American physician/poet/essayist (1913-1993)

“It may be that when the angels go about their task praising God, they play only Bach.” KARL BARTH, Swiss Theologian (1886-1968)

“Once I understood Bach’s music, I wanted to be a concert pianist. Bach made me dedicate my life to music…” NINA SIMONE, American jazz musician/singer (1933-2003)

“To strip human nature until its divine attributes are made clear, to inform ordinary activities with spiritual fervor, to give wings of eternity to that which is most ephemeral; to make divine things human and human things divine; such is Bach, the greatest and purest moment in music of all time…He has reached the heart of every noble thought, and has done it in the most perfect way.” PABLO CASALS, Catalian cellist/conductor (1876-1973)

“…in his [Bach’s] works we will search in vain for anything the least lacking in good taste.” CLAUDE DEBUSSY, French composer (1862-1918)

“Harmony is next to godliness.” JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, German composer/musician (1685-1750)

Happy Birthday, Janis Joplin

Born on January 19, 1943, Janis Joplin left us in 1970, but continues to lift our spirits and bring us joy through her music. Yes, Janis (“Pearl”) Joplin would have turned 70 today! Ms. Joplin was an inspiration to many — especially women — showing that a female could front a rock band. To me, she was the female equivalent of Jim Morrison — a gifted, charismatic, one-of-a-kind artist that no one before or since has come close to matching.

My favorite Janis Joplin tune is one she penned herself called “Kozmic Blues.” Listen to this brilliant song in a brilliant 1970 performance here.

Joan Jobe Smith named her literary journal Pearl in co-honor of Janis Joplin (the other honoree was Smith’s mother, Margaret — a name that means “Pearl”). Visit Pearl Magazine online at this link. Founded in 1974, Pearl Magazine will celebrate its 50th edition in 2013.

Photo at top: Janis Joplin, New York City, late 1960s — all goodwill and benevolence.

Eight Line Poem by David Bowie

EIGHT LINE POEM

by David Bowie

The tactful cactus by your window
Surveys the prairie of your room
Mobile spins to its collision
Clara puts her head between her paws
They’ve opened shops down West side
Will all the cacti find a home
But the key to the city
Is in the sun that pins the branches to the sky 

###

Happy birthday to David Bowie, born on January 8, 1947. Yes, music legends Bowie and Elvis share a January 8th birthday!

Photo: “Cactus on Windowsill” by Jenelopy, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

To Be Alive, Poem by Gregory Orr

TO BE ALIVE

by Gregory Orr

To be alive: not just the carcass

But the spark.

That’s crudely put, but…

If we’re not supposed to dance,

Why all this music? 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gregory Orr is a professor of English at the University of Virginia, where he founded the MFA Program in Writing in 1975, and served from 1978 to 2003 as Poetry Editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review. He is also a columnist and editor of the magazine, Sacred Bearings: A Journal for Survivors. Featured on National Public Radio’s “This I Believe,” Orr has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Photo: “Dancing with Myself” by Surya, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

“To Be Alive” is found in Concerning the Book That Is the Body of the Beloved, available at Amazon.com.

Christmas in the Heart, Album by Bob Dylan

When Christmas in the Heart — an album of Christmas tunes sung by Bob Dylan — was released in 2009, I played samples of the songs from Amazon.com over the phone to my mother in Chicago. She summed up the effort, saying, “All the songs sound alike.” (I have to agree.)

As a mega Dylan fan, I enjoy Christmas in the Heart — mainly because I think it’s so funny. With a traditional choir backing him, Dylan sounds…well, the sound is indescribable.

In honor of Silver Birch Press, I’ve chosen “Silver Bells” as the musical selection I will link for you here. Listen and try to keep a straight face.

The 15-song album also includes: 

Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Little Drummer Boy
O Come All Ye Faithful
The First Noel
O Little Town of Bethlehem

Christmas in the Heart is available at Amazon.com.

Note: Bob Dylan donates his royalties from Christmas in the Heart  to several charities, including Feeding America.