I went to the theater in Boston on February 13 to see "Red Eye to Havre de Grace," a play with music about the last days of Edgar Allan Poe (who, I was surprised to learn, was born and raised in Boston, the son of actors who had immigrated from England). It showed his impecuniousness, and his attempts to present his latest ideas about the origin and destiny of the universe, which he had spelled out in a book titled "Eureka." While there is, as the playwrights note, some slight foreshadowing of the Big Bang theory, mostly it came across as incomprehensible. On the lecture circuit, where he tried to present his theory, audiences were more interested in hearing him recite "The Raven," which he found very frustrating. All the while, he was haunted by the death of his wife. After a lecture in Philadelphia, he was supposed to go to New York, but he was seen headed south on the train going to Havre de Grace. Several days later he died in a hospital in Baltimore. It was fascinating to see the depiction of this unfold.
Amazingly, perhaps, I've only been to one concert during this time: the Boston Symphony on February 20. But the BSO has only given one other on a Thursday in that time, namely, "Salome" on March 6. I had a ticket for it but exchanged it for the concert on March 18, when they'll play Beethoven piano concertos and one of the Leonore overtures — part of a series which will include all 5 piano concertos, all 3 Leonore overtures, and the triple concerto. I'll get to all of them. As for the Harvard Musical Association, they had a concert on March 7, but I forgot about it until it would have been difficult to get there.
But I have been making plans. My 50th college reunion will be May 29-June 1 in D.C. I've registered for it and made my flight and hotel reservations. I've also made arrangements to spend June 23-27 at the monastery I thought of joining shortly after college. It will partly be a spiritual retreat, and partly a visit with my old friends. At some point in the summer, I'll go to PEI to visit my cousins and see some of the festivities marking the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference. And I'm very much looking forward to meeting (former?) fellow blogger Peter when he visits Boston for a Pops concert conducted by John Williams.
I went to the movies a couple of days ago and saw "12 Years a Slave." It's a powerful depiction of the evils of slavery in the pre Civil War South.
If you're interested in hearing what the Carter Family actually sounded like, here are some links.
Bury Me under the Weeping Willow, the first song they recorded. This may be a later recording of the song, but it gives the full flavor of what they could do. (Some of the accompanying photos, with children, are for a spread that was made for Life magazine in the fall of 1941. It was preempted by the attack on Pearl Harbor and never got published.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCniFuHlPG0
Wildwood Flower, which became one of the signature tunes for Maybelle and her daughters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4xjqpARrHM
The Storms Are on the Ocean, the fourth song recorded the first day in Bristol, Tenn. (That's Jimmie Rodgers at the left in the photo, which dates from several years later.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-iXemfEkFw
The Poor Orphan Child, third song they recorded. I hadn't heard it until this year, and it became an earworm for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-EkYhJR3gs
When the World's on Fire, with a tune that Woddy Guthrie later used for This Land Is Your Land. The Carters also used it for Little Darling Pal of Mine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxo-zayI6tE
Farther On, sung by Sara in about 1966-7 on a reunion album with Maybelle (but this is a solo by Sara, at age 69), nearly 40 years after the original recordings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OSxpkNHshw
You'll see links to lots of other videos. God Gave Noah (pron. Noay) the Rainbow Sign contains the line, "the fire next time." The later ones with Sara and Maybelle have their own interest. I find the 8 minute one especially interesting — it contains some reminiscences by Sara along with footage of the two performing.
2 comments:
Fifty-year reunion. That must be so surreal. Hope you have fun!
I recently saw "12 Years a Slave" as well, and found it all the more poignant for some recent genealogical research I've been doing. Quite a film.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Growing old is an interesting thing. When I was a little kid, I thought people in their thirties were old. When I was in my twenties, people in their sixties and seventies seemed old. But I realized in my thirties that I didn't feel any older than I had in my teens.
We remain ourselves through the years. We have experiences, we learn things, we develop interests, but it's the same "we" inside.
I don't mean that we can't change. I used to be extremely shy. For example, in stores, I'd get what I wanted, bring it to check out, pay, and leave without saying a word to the clerk. Thanks to some well-advised group therapy about twenty years ago, I've become less insecure and more outgoing. I can banter cheerfully with the check out clerks. But it's still the same me.
Occasionally younger people think old people are not "acting their age" when they behave in ways young people do, but really they are just being themselves. People's bodies may weaken, making it impossible to act like kids anymore, but, based on my own experience, I'd say that the youthful spirit can remain all through life.
IOW, getting to my 50th reunion feels a lot different than I expected 50 years ago. It'll be great to see classmates whom I haven't seen for years, and there's a pretty full plate of events that look pretty interesting. http://reunion.georgetown.edu/2014/thursday.html I'm planning to get to all the Class of '64 events as well as a lot of the presentations. I'm looking forward to seeing the campus again, both my old haunts and the new construction since 1964.
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