Tuesday, July 5, 2016

RUMBLING FOURTH




This post is going to be bland and uninteresting. You're forewarned. I suppose I need a break after writing two good posts (Wild Ride 
and Echos of Distant Summers).

I haven't written anything caustic, controversial, or nerve wracking in over a week. I figured I'd give everyone a breather.

I just heard a big collective sigh of relief from my apprehensive readers - - who are sweating blood and have bitten their fingernails down to the quick.


Rumbling Fourth?

Yup. The thunder is rumbling tonight as I write this and had been intermittently rumbling all through Independence Day. There was a severe storm warning just as I was eating my 4th of July dinner. Now, late in the evening, an eerie fog has rolled in and it's raining furiously with growls and groans of thunder. No fireworks tonight, except those provided by Mother Nature.....
.....or Father Nature, if you want to be politically correct.

I've been in Tennessee well over a year and a half, and have never felt the humidity more ruthlessly intense. This was a cheerless and miserable holiday.

Despite the storms, I had a seedless watermelon


So, how did I spend my cheerlessly miserable holiday? Working around the house, cursing the rain, watching the weeds grow, swatting insolent wasps and flies, and dealing with three rambunctious cats - who have been intent on chasing a hapless but quick and evasive mouse.

After an extremely long period of depression, indifference, and an I-don't-give-a-crap attitude, I'm finally making the house look decent and livable - - or as livable as a small place with a trio of felines can look.


 The weeds yield curious flowers

I spent part of the afternoon going through my sizeable collection of piano music and arranging it on shelves - - - rejoicing over the ones the movers didn't "lose" and lamenting over those I'll never see again. 

Most of my personal music manuscripts are intact (I think about a dozen are missing).

All of the piano music that had belonged to my mother and grandmother is gone. Well over 100 pieces - mostly first editions. This loss, to me, is a death.

I haven't touched either of my pianos since I moved here. I've been too depressed. They are battered and out of tune - much like myself. This has been my longest absence from the keyboard. Ever.

It is difficult to convey the fact that music once was my entire life. The piano, in essence, was my spouse. I was a professional. I had an extremely vast repertoire. I seldom write about this on my blog because - - I feel so completely disconnected from my musical past. 

Rather than bore you with my words, I'll bore you with some photos.

 This is my oldest piano, which my parents bought when I was ten. It's the piano that my mom always played, and the one on which she gave me lessons.

 An old photo of my mom by that same piano.

Here's a bunch of my music manuscripts, photographed yesterday afternoon. Please try to contain your excitement.

 Some of my Schirmer editions



 I have a huge collection of the G. Henle Verlag editions......and the Edition Peters.....

 
....and, of course, the colorful International Music Company editions


 My cat Scratch, completely overwhelmed by the music, finally rolled over and went to sleep.



I appreciated all your comments on my previous post. I usually like to respond to them, but this time I was too lazy.
Don't be duped by my indifference - - I still love you. 
 

39 comments:

  1. I recognize many of those pieces by their titles alone. hungarian rhapsody #2 has always been one of my favorites.

    give scratch a belly rub for me.

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    1. Scratch is always ready for a belly rub. I was certain that you'd recognize the music. I used to play several of the Lizst Hungarian Rhapsodies - and they are DAMN difficult!

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  2. Play again, even out of tune it will feed your soul

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    1. My soul seems to be out of tune - - but you're right.

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  3. I have a degree in music. Never used it to support myself. But I never left it in one way or another. My last involvement was shape note 'sight singing' to go over potential music for the Amherst Music Festival. It seems to me there would be a lot of sacred harp in your area. Give it a go, you might meet a kindred spirit. (just don't pick up any snakes!)

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    1. I'm sure I could find a kindred spirit around here if I looked hard enough. None of the snakes seem to be musical....
      I have long been impressed by the Amherst Music Festival.

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  4. I hope you can get the pianos tuned and start playing again, or at least one of them. It's very therapeutic to do something artistic and creative like this.

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    1. Once I finally get all the work completed around this house I'll eventually start tickling the ivories again. It is indeed extremely therapeutic.

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  5. I LOVE looking at your photos. Unlike mine, that are usually of no interest, yours seem to reflect your soul, your melancholy thoughts. I loved seeing a painting hung at the correct height (over your piano). I loved seeing your mom. She looked like a Jackie Kennedy model. I studied Scratch, showing his complete indifference to your missing music. We can learn a lot from their acceptance of what matters. Food, and a comfortable place to lay their head. My best to you, my dear new friend. I think your refusal to tune the piano is probably a defensive move on your part. Do you fear having them tuned then being shocked at how much dexterity and ability you have lost? Just picking your brain with mine.....and I'm not that bright. lol

    ReplyDelete
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    1. One good thing is that I never seem to lose my keyboard dexterity. - no matter how long I abandon it. It only takes a little practice for me to get back in shape.

      Long ago, we had a family friend named Gertrude Zeth Brooks who was an author. Among other things, she wrote a book called "Famous First Ladies of the White House." She was also a personal friend of Jackie Kennedy. She always said that my mom's looks and mannerisms were very similar to those of Jackie Kennedy (my mom always said that was one of the nicest compliments she ever received).

      She also said that my mom was actually better looking than Jackie, because Jackie was "bow-legged" and had big feet (she wore a size eleven shoe.....my mom wore a size five).

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    2. BTW - my mom had naturally light hair, but she had dyed it dark one time just to see how it looked.

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    3. Jackie was "bow-legged" and had big feet (she wore a size eleven shoe) - get outta town! REALLY? WOW!

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    4. I'm not joking - it's true!

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  6. Sometimes you need a day like that! Meanwhile with the exception to your description of the cat and mouse chase, the cats looked over the going ons. All I see is sleeping cats.

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    1. I finally caught the damn mouse this morning and I took him way out to the cow meadow and turned him loose.
      The cats are disappointed....but I'm a sweetheart.....

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  7. Jon,

    You had a lovely mom. And you should play again, although I haven't written a poem or story for a long time; I know your feelings. By the way, do you think Father Time is married to Mother Nature?

    Lar

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    1. Being overwhelmed with personal problems can often knock the creativity out of us. I'm sure I'll start playing the piano again eventually.

      I strongly suspect that Mother Nature and Father Time had an affair....

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  8. My two cents--get the piano tuned...just in case. ;)

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    1. Your two cents is worth a lot....and you're definitely right.

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  9. One of my great regrets, that I never learned to play the piano. I'm impressed with anyone who can play the piano proficiently.You impress me Jon.
    Ron

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    1. Ron, nowadays I don't impress very many people. I'll take that as a big compliment.

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    2. I've always been impressed with your many talents Jon. You are blessed.

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  10. To me, anyone who can sit or pick up a musical instrument and produce music (beauty) is something of a wizard, magical. I (and my kids) have zero talent....Emily, the youngest took violin lessons for three years. Her cat, when seeing her open the violin case, would arch her back and hiss.
    The flower above on the right is what we call Black-eyed Susan in Montana.
    Cheers,
    Mike

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    1. I honestly think music talent is largely inherent. My mother was a brilliant pianist and she was my first teacher. It's amazing how intelligent and perceptive cats are. Unfortunately , music doesn't always serve to sooth the "wild" beasts.

      I initially thought those flowers were black eyed Susans, but I wasn't sure. I remember them LONG ago when I was a child.

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  11. Damn, but that metronome gives me flashbacks. I took piano lessons for 8 miserable years ... to little avail. How I wanted to destroy that miserable little ticker.

    I agree, your mother looks remarkably like Jackie O. in that picture. Not just the physical resemblance, but her aura of class. That's not something one can fake.

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    1. We had that metronome since I was 10 yrs. old and I never used it. It is a detrimental device that makes piano playing completely artificial. There's no way that one can properly play with a mechanical beat.

      You hit the proverbial nail on the head with your observation about my mother. She truly did have an inherent sense of style and class. I swear, she never purposefully tried to be that way - it just came naturally.
      You're right - it can't be faked.

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  12. The mechanical concert of capstan, whippen, felted hammers and strings amazes me, but not nearly so much as the music produce by them. There is a history of beauty still resonating in that piano, Jon, and in you.

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  13. Sometimes beauty gets overshadowed by the hideous eclipse of reality - - but you're right, Geo., the beauty is always there....and it still exists in my soul...

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  14. It's tragic that your mothers and grandmothers piano music was all lost to you. I can't begin to imagine how that would hurt .... then again, I can relate a wee bit. We had our storage containers and vehicle broken into during a transatlantic move with everything stolen. I hope you play piano again. You're blessed with humongous talent.

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  15. Losing treasured, irreplaceable possessions is always a tragedy - but it hurts even more when they are stolen (as in your case) or "lost" at the hands of incompetent movers (as in mine - and I wasn't insured).
    ALL of my diaries and journals were also "lost"....

    I will indeed play again. I'm not sure how soon, but I will.

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    1. We had insurance which cost a small fortune,yet it was futile trying to claim any loses. The German port officials said everything left intact, while the French Canadian port officials said everything arrived intact. Someone lied big time. So insurance isn't always going to benefit. I thought moving companies had their own insurance against losses, even if you didn't purchase extra ? Course money can never replace your diaries and journals ... what a shame !

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  16. Jon,thanks for your visit,it made me want to carry on.Plus the offer in my comments is real if you should ever come this way.

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    1. If I'm ever in London we will definitely have an Indian feast.

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  17. your music manuscripts are an impressive lot. You are fortunate they survived the move. I feel so sorry for your devastating loss. (of the music that had belonged to your mother and grandmother.) It has to be like a knife in your heart. So upsetting. As for the 4th, an eerie fog rolled in here after the fireworks, making it just my kind of night.

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    1. It actually seemed more like Halloween than the 4th of July - and I liked it.

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  18. PS) Here's hoping an idle piano and talented musician may suddenly find their way back to each other. Silence can be displaced by all that BEAUTIFUL music you will make together.

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  19. Kitzee could never be
    bland and uninteresting :)

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    1. You're right about that. Kitzee thinks I'm boring.......

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  20. Jon, you've gotta get that piano tuned, and play! You say you've been too depressed to play? I say playing will pull you out of that depression. Music is such an important part of who you are. It'd be a shame to deny yourself the pleasure and transcendence playing can give you.

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I love comments. Go ahead and leave one - I won't bite. But make sure you have a rabies shot just in case.