Greetings!
What a wild and crazy month February has been! I hope March will be much easier! Mom was in the hospital for ten days after breaking her hip in a fall on January 28th, so we needed to make a lot of adjustments to the house as well as to our regular routines. I’m very happy to say that we saw the surgeon yesterday, and he said Mom is healing so well that she can put her full weight on the right leg to help it get stronger without doing any damage to the hip! Everyone is just amazed at how well she’s doing, and life is gradually getting back to some kind of normal (is there such a thing???). Thanks so much to everyone who has reached out about Mom. I know all of those positive thoughts and caring have made a big difference. AND we both really appreciate it!
When Haydn died in 1809, there was a simple funeral since Austria was being invaded by Napoleon's troops. A couple of amateur medical students secretly stole Haydn's head and put the skull in a little black box with a white silk cushion. They wanted to read the bumps on his head. In 1820, Prince Nicolaus Esterhazy had the body exhumed. When he discovered that the body had no head, he tracked down the thieves, and demanded it back. They had already donated it to a Viennese musical society, and gave him someone else's skull. It wasn't until 1954 that Haydn's head was buried along with the rest of his body.
Franz Schubert's friends called him "Schwammerl" or "Tubby." "Schwammerl" is actually German for "little mushroom.”
People of Beethoven's time often paid composers to dedicate pieces of music to them.
New Reviews: I didn’t get nearly as many reviews done in February as I usually do - mostly due to the need to attend to Mom as she heals. However, the doctors have said she’s doing great - and she is! - so I should be back up to speed in March. Even though the numbers weren’t as large as usual, February reviews include David Lanz, Michael Whalen, Wayne Gratz, Peter Calandra, Matt Johnson, David Lindsay, Soul Improvisations, Ryoka Hagiwara and Bruce Springsteen! I also reviewed new sheet music from David Lanz and a new songbook by Lynn Tredeau. Check ‘em all out
here!
In mythology, there were nine Muses who were supposed to be the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Each Muse represented one of the arts. There were three who represented music. They were Euterpe, who was the general muse of music; Polyhymnia, who was the muse of sacred poetry and hymns; and Terpsichore, the muse of choral song and dance.
When Beethoven was 8, his father arranged a concert to show off the boy’s talents. To make his playing even more impressive, Mr. Beethoven advertised that his son was only six.
Actor Gary Oldman didn’t know much about playing the piano, so to prepare for his role as Ludwig van Beethoven in the film, Immortal Beloved, he hired several piano teachers, and studied the piano relentlessly for three months straight, eight hours a day. He was also able to co-conduct the London Symphony for the film’s soundtrack.
New Interviews: I wasn’t able to do any interviews in February, but I’m working on one with Wayne Gratz and have a few others up my sleeve, so keep checking back!
When the waltz was introduced in Vienna in 1754, it was considered indecent. The word “waltz” actually means “revolving.”
In 1913, the audience at the premiere of Igor Stravinksy’s “Rite of Spring” was outraged by what they thought was a musical joke. Heckling and fistfights broke out. Today, the piece is considered a classic that ushered in 20th century music.
When JS Bach lived and worked in Leipzig, Germany (from 1723 until his death in 1750), he produced 265 church cantatas, 263 chorales, 14 larger works, 24 secular cantatas, 6 concertos, 4 overtures, 18 keyboard and violin concertos, 365 organ works and 162 pieces for keyboard instruments.
March Birthdays: Here are some musical birthdays coming up this month!
1st: Glenn Miller (1904-1944), Harry Belafonte (1927), Roger Daltrey (1944), Justin Bieber (1994)
2nd: Kurt Weill (1900-1950), Karen Carpenter (1950-1983), Jon Bon Jovi (1962)
3rd: Mark Kroos
4th: Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
6th: Wes Montgomery (1923-1968), Stephen Schwartz (1948)
7th: Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), Isadar
8th: Mickey Dolenz (Monkees) (1945)
9th: Samuel Barber (1910-1981), Ornette Coleman (1930-2015), Mickey Gilley (1936), Christopher Boscole & Tijs Ven
10th: Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931), Carrie Underwood (1983) & Matthew Shell
11th: Lawrence Welk (1903-1992), Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), & Bobby McFerrin (1950)
12th: Al Jarreau (1940), Liza Minnelli (1946), & James Taylor (1948)
14th: Johann Strauss I (1804-1849), Quincy Jones (1933) & Jim Ottaway
15th: Lightnin’ Hopkins (1912-1982) & Zachary Bruno
16th: Brian Kelly & Eric Bikales
17th: Nat “King” Cole (1919-1965), John Sebastian (1944) & William Ogmundson
18th: Charley Pride (1938), Wilson Pickett (1941-2006), Bill Frisell (1951), & Queen Latifah (1970)
19th: David Cullen
20th: Marian McPartland (1918-2013), Michael Martinez, Patrick Lee Hebert & An Vedi
21st: Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Eddie Money (1949), Heidi Breyer, Ken Pedersen, & Summer Swee-Singh
22nd: Stephen Sondheim (1930) & Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948)
23rd: David Frishberg (1933), Michael Nyman (1944), Ric Ocasek (1949), Chaka Khan (1953) & Bob Adern
25th: Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957), Bela Bartok (1881-1945), Aretha Franklin (1942), Elton John (1947), & Paul Long
26th: Diana Ross (1944), Steven Tyler(1948), Teddy Pendergrass (1950-2010), Kenny Chesney (1968), Chad Lawson & Mark Pinkus
27th: Mariah Carey (1970)
28th: Reba McEntire (1955), Lady Gaga (1986), Catherine Marie Charlton, Steven C (Anderson) & Hovig Nassanian
29th: Pearl Bailey (1918-1990), Michael Brecker (1949-2007) & Kris Baines
30th: Eric Clapton (1945), MC Hammer (1962), Tracy Chapman (1964), Norah Jones (1979) & Trine Opsahl
31: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Herb Alpert (1935), & I can't leave out my brother, Loren Oakden-Parsons!!!
A very Happy Birthday to all the March “kids”!
Piano rags can be a challenge to play with the fast jumps on the left hand and the often complex syncopated patterns on the right. This undoubtedly contributed to the demand for player pianos.
In 2017, the complete piano works of Scott Joplin were performed at Carnegie Hall to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death.
The three cities mentioned most often in song lyrics are New York City, London, and Los Angeles.
March Holidays and Celebrations: Here are some music-related events you can celebrate this month!
All month: National Music in Our Schools Month, Play the Recorder Month, Sing With Your Child Month
Weeks: March 16-22: International Teach Music Week
March 24-31: World Irish Dancing Week
3/1: National Black Women in Jazz and the Arts Day
3/3: National Anthem Day
3/4: National Marching Band Day & National Dance the Waltz Day
3/14: National Urban Ballroom Dancing Day
3/10: International Bagpipe Day
3/21: Play the Recorder Day
3/22: National Sing Out Day
3/27: National Acoustic Soul Day, Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day, World Theater Day
3/29: World Piano Day (the 88th day of the year!)
3/31: Dance Marathon Day
Don't miss World Piano Day!!!
Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) was an American poet who wrote the words to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" to replace those of "John Brown's Body."
Movable type became the method of printing music that was used most often after 1750. No new methods of "engraving" a musical score were introduced until the 20th century. First there was the music typewriter. More recently, computer-controlled printers came into being.
In a moment of creative genius, one of my former piano students suggested that criminals should have to listen to unpracticed piano lessons for hours on end. Speaking from experience, that could be ruled as "cruel and unusual punishment," but I love the idea!!
Wishing everyone a great March, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and lots of inspiration!
Kathy
To the best of my knowledge, the "trivia" items are true, but I can't guarantee it.
