Greetings and Happy May to You!
May is probably the most beautiful month here in Florence, Oregon, aka “The City of Rhododendrons.” The plants grow wild here, and the wild ones have pinkish-purple blossoms. However, rhodies (as they are affectionately known around here) come in a lot of different colors from pink to red to yellow to white, purple, and variegated combinations. We actually have an annual Rhody Days weekend the third week in May, complete with a carnival and a big parade with marching bands from all over the state as well as floats covered with colorful flowers, clowns, and much more. For some reason, the events bring in bikers from all over the place (that never quite makes sense to me, but it’s part of the tradition!), so you hear Harleys and other "hogs" roaring up and down Highway 101 all weekend. There is also a huge sale on rhodies, so I look forward to adding a few more to my collection! The photos at the bottom of this newsletter are some of my favorites from our yards!
Until the end of the eighteenth century, composers relied primarily on two options for career advancement: religious institutions or private patronage.
During the three centuries following Martin Luther’s death in 1546, Germany dominated the musical culture of the Western world and set a standard of excellence that many believe has never been surpassed.
During The Reformation, the organ was dubbed “the Devil’s bagpipe” or “the pope’s bagpipe” and organists were sometimes vilified as a seducer of the flock.
New Reviews: We have another mixed bag of reviews for you this month - both albums and singles. I didn’t review any new sheet music, but Steve Yip did a really fun article called
Virgin Rock: Transcending Classical Music NerdDom on YouTube. You can find links to all of them
here.
In 1324 or 1325, Pope John XXII issued the first papal decree dealing solely with music. In Docta sanctorum partum, the pope railed against “disciples of the new school, concerned with dividing the beat” and who “fabricate new notes which they prefer to sing more than the old ones.” The pope didn’t prohibit polyphony, but wanted to see it limited and tried to steer composers toward his preferred intervals: the octave, the fourth, and the fifth.
Critics initially applied the term “baroque” as an insult, deriding the fussy intricacy and extravagant individualism of the aesthetic vision and contrasting it with the holistic elegance of the renaissance. The label was later legitimized and became a term of praise.
By 1300, many major cities in Europe had one hundred thousand or more inhabitants. The city councils in these locales became significant employers of musicians, relying on them for practical services as well as pomp and ceremony. It seems that there might have even been some competition between bishops and city leaders in their attempts to gain prestige from their musical entourages.
New Interviews: I have two new interviews for you this month! The first is with Wayne Gratz, an artist I first interviewed over the phone in 1993! It was great to catch up with him! The second interview is with John Zechiel, who, as many of you know, is an excellent sheet music transcriber. Doing the interview was a lot of fun and it gives some interesting insights into how music goes from a recording to sheet music. You can find both interviews
here.
The two groups of women most closely associated with singing during the medieval period were nuns and prostitutes.
New Orleans gave birth to jazz at a time when it was also the unhealthiest major city in the US, with an average lifespan for an African-American resident of thirty-six years.
Love is the inspiration behind about 90% of our most cherished melodies.
Music Holidays and Observances: If Mother's Day and Memorial Day aren't enough reasons to celebrate this month, here are some others!
All month it's International Drum Month
1 - National Tuba Day
2 - National Play Your Ukulele Day
3 - National Public Radio Day
4 - Dave Brubeck Day
5 - National Concert Day
9- World Belly Dance Day
14 - National Chicken Dance Day
15 - Relive Your Past by Listening to the First Music You Ever Bought No Matter What It Was No Excuses Day
20 - National Band Director’s Day
22 - Buy a Musical Instrument Day & National Title Track Day
23 - International Jazz Day
25 - National Tap Dance Day
27 - Old Time Player Piano Day
Francis Scott Key started the poem for “The Star-Spangled Banner” on the back of an envelope while watching the battle for Baltimore’s Fort McHenry. The battle went on for twenty-five hours before the British gave up, but Key didn’t finish the poem until a few days later in the Indian Queen Hotel.
The ancient Romans loved the bagpipes! Emperor Nero is said to have been a bagpipe virtuoso, playing it regularly at public functions. The Romans carried the bagpipe all over the world, but most of the world rejected this musical gift - except the Scots.
The most-recorded musician in history is Lata Mangeshkar (1929-2022), also known as “Nightingale of India.” Her career spanned eight decades and she recorded songs for the soundtracks of more than 2,000 Indian films. She also recorded more than 30,000 songs in 20 Indian languages and was also credited with having sung more than 40,000 songs.
May Birthdays: Here are some musical birthdays to celebrate this month! The people without the birth years are artists that I know (you're welcome!).
1: Lisa Downing, “First Lady of Radio” Kate Smith (1907-1986), Tim McGraw (1967)
2: Italian Composer Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
3: Kathleen Ryan, Calvin Jones, Bing Crosby (1903-1977), Pete Seeger (1919-2014), James Brown (1933-2006)
4: Piano inventor Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) and Randy Travis (1959)
5: Tammy Wynette (1942-1998), Adele (1988)
6: Louis Landon, Bob Seger (1945)
7: Grayhawk David Gibney, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
8: Ricky Nelson (1940-1985), Jazz Pianist Keith Jarrett (1945)
9: Billy Joel (1949)
10: Bono (1960)
11: Richard Shulman, Irving Berlin (1888-1989), Carla Bley (1936), Eric Burdon of the Animals (1941)
12: Joe Kenney, Gabriel Faure (1845-1924), Burt Bacharach (1928), Steve Winwood (1948)
13:Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900), Gil Evans (1912-1988), British flutist Ritchie Valens (1941-1959), Stevie Wonder (1950)
14: Bobby Darin (1936-1973)
15: Eddy Arnold (1918-2008), Brian Eno (1948)
16: Reis Taylor Dixon & Trysette Loosemore, Woody Herman (1913-1987), Liberace (1919-1987), Betty Carter (1929-1998), Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, (1965), Janet Jackson (1966)
17: Erik Satie (1866-1925), Enya (1961), Trent Reznor (1965)
18: Gregg Karukas, Perry Como (1912-2001), George Strait (1952)
19: Pete Townsend of The Who (1945)
20: Michael Borowski, Joe Cocker (1944-2014), Cher (1946), Busta Rhymes (1972)
21: Fats Waller (1904-1943)
22: Michelle Qureshi, Richard Wagner (1813-1883), Sun Ra (1914-1993), Peter Nero (1934)
23: Kostia Efimov, Artie Shaw (1910-2004), Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002),
24: Igor Lisul, Bob Dylan (1941), Patti LaBelle (1944), Rosanne Cash (1955)
25: Adam Andrews, Beverly Sills (1929-2007)
26: Al Jolson (1886-1950), Peggy Lee (1920-2002), Miles Davis (1926-1991), Stevie Nicks (1948), Lenny Kravitz (1964)
27: Ramsey Lewis (1935)
28: Peter Kater, Gladys Knight (1944), John Fogerty (1945)
29: Ira Stein, Danny Elfman (1953), Melissa Etheridge (1961)
30: Benny Goodman (1909-1986), Wynonna Judd (1964), Idina Menzel (1971)
31: Shambhu Vineberg & Jeff Oster
Happy Birthday to all of you!!!
Devoted fans of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) were known to bake her toe shoes and eat them!
Liberace had a replica of the Sistine ceiling in his bedroom.
Country music legend Loretta Lynn married at the age of 15 and became a grandmother at the age of 29.
That should bring us up to date for this month! Wishing all the moms a very Happy Mother's Day! Have a great month!
Kathy
Before dropping out of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, Willie Nelson sold Bibles door-to-door, worked as a disc-jockey, and taught Sunday School.
Quadraphonic sound was introduced in 1972 with the release of Hugo Montenegro's "Love Theme from 'The Godfather'" and "The Fantastic Philadelphians, Volume 1." The format died when consumers refused to buy new equipment to play the music with!
Barbra Streisand's mother wanted her to be a secretary, but Barbra grew her fingernails long to avoid typing so she could pursue her singing career.
To the best of my knowledge, the "trivia" items are true, but I can't guarantee it.
