Goodbye...for now

I began this blog on November 16, 2020, and now comes the time to bring it to an end. Or at least put it on hiatus. November 16, 2021, is the day we are moving out of our apartment and heading for Indiana where we have purchased a home near Fort Wayne. As you might imagine, things are pretty busy around here and trying to bring the blog up to exactly a year is unmanageable.

I’ve written three pieces each week and have covered a lot of territory – music, literature, poetry, art, the Bible, and much more. I’ve enjoyed doing it and have discovered things I never knew before. 

Will I return after our move is complete and we’ve settled into our new digs? Quite frankly, not a lot of people read this blog and I’m not sure it’s worth all the work to please myself. I’ll take the whole thing under consideration. In the meantime, you can always go back and check out the posts you might have missed that look interesting just by clicking on a month and scrolling around.

Thank you to the few of you who have been faithful readers. I appreciate your interest. So long and thanks for all the fish. 

 

St. Jude

Back on March 29, 2021, I wrote about St Jude, talking about the book Jude by Liz Trotta. His feast day is tomorrow, October 28. There’s little I can add about him so let’s pray this popular pray to him.

“O most holy apostle, Saint Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honoreth and invoketh thee universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, and of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, who am so miserable. Make use, I implore thee, of that particular privilege accorded to thee, to bring visible and speedy help where help was almost despaired of. Come to mine assistance in this great need, that I may receive the consolation and succor of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (here make your request) and that I may praise God with thee and all the elect throughout eternity. I promise thee, O blessed Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor thee as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to thee. Amen.”

 

On this day in history...

Let’s check in and see what happened on this day in history.

 

1400: Death of Geoffrey Chaucer.

1415: Battle of Agincourt – Henry V’s forces defeat French army

1621: Governor Bradford bans sports on Christmas day in the Plymouth Colony. Good thing the NBA wasn’t around.

1760: George III becomes king in England. Hilarity ensues.

1764: John Adams marries Abigail Smith.

1780: John Hancock becomes the first governor of Massachusetts. So there.

1825: Birth of Johann Strauss Jr.

1838: Birth of French composer Georges Bizet.

1854: The Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.

1875: The first performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1^st Piano Concerto.

1881: Birth of Pablo Picasso.

1888: Birth of Richard Byrd, polar explorer.

1902: Birth of Henry Steele Commager, American historian (Civil War).

1906: Georges Clemenceau becomes Prime Minister of France.

1911: London’s last horse-drawn omnibus takes its last run.

1912: Birth of Minnie Pearl.

1919: Birth of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, last Shah of Iran.

1921: Death of Bat Masterson.

1928: Birth of Jeanne Cooper (The Young and the Restless) and Marion Ross (Happy Days).

1932: Mussolini says he’ll be dictator for 30 years. He only made it for another 11.

1955: Tappan sells its 1^st microwave oven.

1962: John Steinbeck wins the Nobel Prize for Literature.

1964: The Rolling Stones appear on the Ed Sullivan show for the first time.

1978: John Carpenter’s “Halloween” is released.

1980: Death of Virgil Fox, premier organist.

1986: Death of Forrest Tucker (F Troop).

1987: Minnesota Twins win their first World Series championship.

1992: Death of Roger Miller (King of the Road).

1993: Death of Vincent Price.

2001: Windows XP becomes available.

2015: Lewis Hamilton wins the US F1 Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas. Yesterday he lost to Max Verstappen.

 

American Popular Song 6

Begin the Beguine by Cole Porter is a difficult song to sing with accompaniment. Without it would be next to impossible. Except for Sammy Davis Jr. It’s not exactly acapella because it does have a drum accompaniment, but of course that wouldn’t give him any clue as to the tune. Yet, this extraordinarily talented man sang it perfectly. 

Porter wrote the song in 1935 and it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway show Jubilee. Probably the most famous version was recorded by Artie Shaw and his orchestra in 1938. Other great singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald also had hits with it. 

So, what is a beguine? It’s a music and dance form like a slow rumba. Alec Wilder talks about Porter’s version in his book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators 1900 – 1950 (see my post of October 13) saying “a maverick, an unprecedented experiment and one which, to this day, after hearing it hundreds of times, I cannot sing or whistle or play from start to finish without the printed music.” But Sammy Davis Jr did and here he is singing Begin the Beguine from his album Sammy Davis Jr Sings “What Kind of Fool Am I” and Other Show Stoppers. Enjoy!

Shakespeare's Sonnets: XVI

This poem seems to be a continuation or in the same vein as Sonnet XV, but by the middle of the poem, the poet decides that he really can’t immortalize the young man and goes back to encouraging him to marry and have children to carry on his name and memory.

Sonnet XVI

But wherefore do not you a mightier way

Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time?

And fortify yourself in your decay

With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?

Now stand you on the top of happy hours,

And many maiden gardens, yet unset,

With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers,

Much liker than your painted counterfeit:

So should the lines of life that life repair,

Which this, Time’s pencil, or my pupil pen,

Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,

Can make you live yourself in eyes of men.

                To give away yourself, keeps yourself still,

                And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.

 

St Luke

St Luke – the beloved physician – was the author of one of the three synoptic gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, a first-hand account as he traveled with St Paul during many of his journeys. October 18 is his feast day.

St Luke’s gospel is the only one to tell the details of the Annunciation and the Nativity. It is thought that he spoke with the Blessed Virgin Mary because this part of his gospel has a more Aramaic tone, the language she would have spoken. Here are the beautiful words from the angel Gabriel, “Hail, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee” and Elizabeth’s greeting “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” We read about the journey to Bethlehem and the angels’ visit to the shepherds proclaiming the good news, the presentation of the infant in the temple, and finding the child Jesus teaching in the temple. It’s such a joy to learn about the earliest days of Jesus.

The Acts of the Apostles tells us about what happened during the travels of the Apostles, the conversions of the Gentiles, Stephen the first martyr, and Pentecost. St Luke was the last of the disciples to stand with St Paul before his (Paul’s) martyrdom and leaves us a wonderful account of the history of the earliest days of the Church. St Luke is the patron saint of physicians and surgeons. St Luke, pray for us.

St Teresa of Avila

Today is the feast day of St Teresa of Avila (1515 – 1582). Beatified in 1614 by Pope Paul V, she was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. In 1970 Pope Paul VI declared Teresa and St Catherine of Siena doctors of the Church, the first two women to be so named.

St Teresa was instrumental in reforming the Carmelite order and started many convents. Her focus was on mental prayer and she wrote several books including an autobiography, Interior Castle, and The Way of Perfection. Teresa said, “Contemplative prayer, in my opinion is nothing other than a close sharing between friends. It means frequently taking time to be alone with Him whom we know loves us.”

St Teresa, pray for us. Help us to make time for Jesus and to cultivate a friendship with Him as you did.

 

American Popular Song 5

To explain the history of the American Popular Song, there's probably no better book than American Popular Song: The Great Innovators 1900 – 1950 by Alec Wilder (1907 – 1980). Wilder was a composer of popular songs, operas, musicals, film music, and chamber music. He also had a radio program in the 1970s that I loved listening to on our local classical station.

The book traces the beginnings of American Popular Song back to the 1880s through WWI as it transitions from Stephen Foster to the songs of Tin Pan Alley. Wilder uses many examples of songs and lyrics throughout the book. It’s helpful to be able to read music, but not absolutely necessary. When he mentions a song, one can readily find it on YouTube and listen to what he talks about. His credentials are outstanding, being a composer himself and knowing many of the people he writes about. You’ll find everyone from Harold Arlen to Vincent Youmans and be astounded by how many great songs were written during this time that have become standards still sung today.

Written in 1972, the book talks about composers who were still alive and still writing. Alas, they are all gone now. Fortunately, recordings of their music are available via CD or streaming.

We’ll hear Frank Sinatra sing one of Alec Wilder’s most well-known songs, I’ll Be Around. Enjoy.

 

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

I wasn’t sure at first whether I was going to like Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. It was episodic and didn’t seem to be going any place. But about halfway through I realized that life is episodic and often seems as though it’s not going anywhere. That’s when I settled in and got to know the characters for who they were.

They were just ordinary people living ordinary every day lives. Although they might not achieve greatness as the world sees it, they live a rich, full life, meaningful to themselves and the people around them. From the first Jayber resists other people’s suggestions that he “make something of himself.” Why should we try to make something of ourselves when we already are somebody? 

Port William is a fictional town in Kentucky that Berry came back to several times. This book tells Port William’s story through the life of Jayber Crow, the bachelor barber, who says little, listens much and comes to know and love its people. Jayber, born in 1914, is orphaned at a young age and ends up in an orphanage away from Port William. Eventually he makes his way back in his early 20s. He and the town live through the Depression, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and into the 70s. Mostly a farming area, Port William goes through the changes the country does during all this time, and, like many rural small towns, suffers from modernization with children leaving for the big city, businesses folding for lack of anyone to carry on, schools closing to be consolidated with other towns, and mechanization taking over from the older ways of doing things. Still, people do their best to continue living their lives as best they can. People are born, grow up, marry, have children, watch the elders die, and eventually die themselves. But it’s what we do in between and how we treat other people that makes our lives meaningful.

It's a challenging book in that it makes one consider how they think about life and whether change, although inevitable, is always good. What is the good of war except to fill graveyards? How does life go steadily on when someone who meant so much to many people dies? How does one stop “progress?” And that’s what a good book does. It makes you think.

 

Verdi!

Tomorrow, or maybe the next day, is the 208th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, born the 9th or 10th of October in 1813.

His operas are as popular now as they ever were, maybe more so. Look at this list: Aida, Otello, Falstaff, Nabucco, Il trovatore, La traviata, Rigoletto, La forza del destino, Un ballo in Maschera, and his great Requiem, which I have had the privilege of singing many times (in the chorus, not solos).

To write an opera that stands the test of time is one thing. To write so many that are still in the repertoire years after composition is astounding. 

There are many arias or choruses one could choose to represent Verdi, but the one we’ll hear today is the one that people lining the streets for Verdi’s funeral procession sang in honor of the great man. Here is “Va, pensiero” from Nabucco. 

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Tomorrow (October 7) is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. In 1571 the Christian forces were fighting the Ottoman navy and were heavily outnumbered in manpower and ships.  Pope Pius V called on all the Christians in Europe to pray the Rosary and he led a rosary procession in Rome. A legend says that the Blessed Virgin gave St Dominic the Rosary as a weapon against heretics. Whether that really happened or not, the rosary has always been seen as an effective tool for invoking the help of the Blessed Virgin. It certainly worked in the case of the Battle of Lepanto where the Christians defeated the forces of Islam and kept them from overrunning Europe. (Unfortunately, the pagans now have accomplished there what the Moslems couldn’t.)

The rosary depicts events in the life of Jesus and Mary. Each decade begins with the Our Father, followed by 10 Hail Marys, concluding with the Glory Be. Meditating on each mystery while reciting the prayers is a way to deepen your spiritual life and become ever closer to God. 

The Joyful Mysteries are the Annunciation, the Visitation, the birth of Jesus, the presentation of the infant in the temple, and the finding of the child Jesus teaching in the temple. The Sorrowful Mysteries are the agony in the garden, the scourging at the pillar, the crowning of thorns, the carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion. The Glorious Mysteries are the Resurrection, the Ascension, the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Assumption, and the crowning of the Blessed Virgin. Pope John Paul II introduced the Luminous Mysteries which include the Baptism of Jesus, the miracle at the wedding feast at Cana, the proclamation of the kingdom, the Transfiguration, and institution of the Eucharist (and the Priesthood).

Whether by yourself or with your family, praying the rosary every day will not only enhance your spiritual life, but the life of the Church in fighting the forces of evil. Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us. Help us in our devotions to you and your Son. 

Shakespeare's Sonnets: XV

Whether a plant or an animal (and man), all things are subject to the laws of nature: first bloom, growth, decline, death. In a slight difference from the other sonnets in which the poet urges the young man to marry and have children so to carry on his memory, the poet now suggests that he in writing about the youth can “engraft” or cause him to be remembered by his poem.

Sonnet XV

When I consider every thing that grows

Holds in perfection but a little moment,

That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows

Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;

When I perceive that men as plants increase,

Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,

Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,

And wear their brave state out of memory;

Then the conceit of this inconstant stay

Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,

Where wasteful Time debateth with decay

To change your day of youth to sullied night,

                And all in war with Time for love of you,

                As he takes from you, I engraft you new.

 

St Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower

Therese of Lisieux – the “Little Flower” – died on this day in 1897, just 24 years old. We celebrate her feast today. Rather than recite a biography that many people know or can read here, I’ll just offer this prayer.

St Therese, little flower, help us to be like you and focus on the little things we can do everyday to love Jesus. Help us swallow our pride and become little. Help us to smile at those we don’t like or who don’t like us. Help us to patiently bear all our sufferings, whether physical, mental, or spiritual. Help us to turn to Jesus and His blessed mother for all our needs. Let us offer up the smallest things to accomplish great things. St Therese, pray for us.