Music For A Sunday Morning

Simple Gifts by Aaron Copland
Pictures by Ansel Adams
Scenery by God


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Have A Wonderful Day!

Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco was born at Roncole di Busseto, in the Duchy of Parma, the 10th of October 1813, the son of Luigia Uttini, a spinner, and Carlo Verdi, landlord of an inn.
Carlo came from a family of farmers in the Piacenza area. He had put aside some money and opened a modest tavern in Roncole where he divided his time between his role as a landlord and working in the fields. From an early age Giuseppe had music lessons from the church organist and practised on an old spinet that his father had given him. These musical studies were carried on in an irregular manner until Antonio Barezzi, intervened. He was a rich local tradesman, businessman, and music lover. President of the local music Society he was fond of the Verdi family and young Giuseppe in particular. He welcomed Giuseppe into his own home and paid for his regular academic studies.

Verdi acquired experience in the church at Busseto, but already the little village was becoming rather confined for him. Helped by Barezzi he decided to enrol at the Milan Conservatory, which would later named after him. However he was unable to pass the entrance exam because of “an incorrect position of the hand while playing and having exceeded the age limit”. He was 18 years old. However he didn’t give in, and thanks to a grant from the Monte della Pieta in Busseto and further economic assistance from Barezzi he began to frequent the world of La Scala, taking private lessons from the harpsichordist, Vincenzo Lavigna, and attending performances.

Read more about his life here.

Verdi wrote 29 Operas.  Here are a few choice samples from his works.

Grand March - Aida


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La donna e mobile - Rigoletto
(The Three Tenors)



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Libiamo ne'Lieti Calici - La traviata
(The Three Tenors)



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Va, pensiro - Nabucco



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200 years ago a child was born that would give the world such wonderful music.  Music that will endure until the end of time.

Some Humor To Start Your Day

With all the tension in the world we sometimes forget to stop and laugh at life.

Here is a little ditty to put a smile on your face.

The Pussy Cat Song



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I hope you enjoyed this.

A Song To Jerusalem

A tribute to the City of David, Jerusalem from Latma TV.



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Smart Ways to Live

A parody of the viral hit "Dumb Ways to Die" from The Maccabeats


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These are only some of the many Smart Ways to Live! Leave more in the comments.

When Musicians Were Worthy Of Our Adoration!

I received this from my good friend Poppy.  She is from Galesburg, Illinois and now resides in Scotland.

When Sousa came to Galesburg

 

All over the country, this July 4th, bands will be playing the music of John Philip Sousa, and espe­cially his “Stars and Stripes Forever,” the “National March” of the United States and what some would say is the best march ever written. Sousa wrote that march in 1897, and citizens of Galesburg were among the first to hear it, with the composer conducting, when Sousa and his band performed in Galesburg on a winter evening in 1898.

Sousa, an America-born son of Portuguese and Bavarian emigrant parents, studied music from an early age, including violin and music theory. Also from an early age, he began to perform and compose music of a sort we would now call “light clas­sical.” He also grew into a profi­cient conductor – of theatrical orchestras, of the U.S. Marine Band starting in 1880, and then of his own group, Sousa’s Band, starting in 1892.

From the beginning, with his own band, Sousa hired the best musi­cians available, many of them European and many with expe­rience playing in profes­sional orchestras. Before long the group’s repu­tation was such that it was the aspi­ration of many a young American musician to play in it. Sousa himself even­tually became a celebrity, known for his dramatic conducting. (Otis Skinner said that Sousa was “away ahead of all of us” as a performer, though the great actor noted that Sousa’s skilled musi­cians had some­thing to do with his success.)

At the time he performed in Galesburg in 1898, Sousa had reached a high point in his career. His band had become an immense success, and it would soon start a series of European tours. Sousa was, for a time, “The world’s most widely known musician,” according to the “New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musi­cians.” When they came to Galesburg, Sousa’s band was on a tour that had already taken them through New England, part of Canada and now the Midwest.

The Evening Mail adver­tisement for the Galesburg perfor­mance, billing Sousa as “The March King” (an appel­lation still used today) notes that the band would perform at the Audi­torium on North Broad Street in Galesburg on the evening of February 10th, 1898. The adver­tisement also includes a picture of the conductor and says that tickets for the perfor­mance, part of the band’s “Twelfth Semi-Annual Tour,” are $1 for the Lower Floor, 75 cents for the Balcony and 50 cents for the Gallery.

The glowing account of the concert in the next day’s Evening Mail notes that the band played to “a packed house,” “won enthu­si­astic applause” and played twelve encores, “an unusual concession for any profes­sional Company.” The encores, though, were part of Sousa’s usual, crowd-pleasing practice. His printed program often listed only about 10 pieces, but the band’s custom was to perform encores after almost every scheduled selection.

That evening’s program was described as mostly “popular” music, though it included band arrange­ments of music by Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt, and perfor­mances by a “violiniste,” Jennie Hoyle, and soprano Maude Reese Davis. There was also a trombone solo by Arthur Pryor, Sousa’s assistant conductor who was to go on in later years to lead a popular band of his own.

No doubt the concert included many examples of Sousa’s specialty, military marches. Only a few are mentioned in the news­paper account, including “El Capitan” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” (That title was later to be used for a movie based on Sousa’s life).

The Evening Mail account ends with praise for Sousa the conductor and his “rare exhi­bition of skill. The great band plays as one piece, in perfect time and harmony.” Sousa’s music and the skill of his band in performing it made him immensely popular. Perhaps it captured the nation­al­istic spirit that was building in the country at this time.

Only five days after the Sousa Band’s appearance in Galesburg, the battleship Maine was sunk in Havana harbor, beginning the Spanish-American war. In the months ahead, the band would play patriotic concerts for wildly enthu­si­astic crowds in many cities. In May, in Cleveland, they accom­panied the Ohio National Guard unit to the depot as the troops left for the war, one of the few times Sousa’s ensemble func­tioned as an actual marching band.

Sousa went on for many years as America’s most popular band­leader and patriotic music composer, though his best marches, such as “Semper Fidelis,” “Wash­ington Post,” and “Liberty Bell” were all composed in the late nine­teenth century. They are still familiar to millions of amateur musi­cians who play in high school or municipal bands.

While in Galesburg, the Sousa Band appar­ently stayed at the Union Hotel, across the street from the Audi­torium. The desk clerk at the hotel, James Otway, kept an auto­graph book, now in the Galesburg Public Library’s Special Collec­tions Room, in which Sousa left a memento of his visit. There is the signature of “the March King” and above it the musical notation for a few measures of his newly composed and now immortal “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

That was a time of patriotism, a time in which love of country was not an obscenity.  It was a time in which our musicians promoted the idea of nation, of country.  Instead of looking at the past in terms of "Ugly American", they saw the promise that this nation gives.

Our so-called celebrities could learn a lesson from John Philip Sousa.  Instead of damning America, they should get down on their knees and thank G-d that there is an United States of America.  Especially on July 4th.  And every day.

A Bit Of Joy To Have With Your Morning Coffee

Just a little bit I saw at Simply Jews. Watch the reactions of the children.




How long did it take you to recognize the tune?  It took me 22 seconds into the video.

Wonderful music never ages and always brings a smile to your face.

Have A Wonderful Day!

My Girl's Pussy

Born Harry Lipman in Stamford Hill, London, England in 1900, Henry Roy was an early big band leader.  He and his brother Sidney formed a band which they called The Darnswells, with Harry playing saxophone and clarinet and Sidney on piano. During the 1920s they performed in several prestige venues such as the Alhambra and the London Coliseum, under names such as the Original Lyrical Five and the Original Crichton Lyricals. They spent three years at the Café de Paris, and toured South Africa, Australia, and Germany. By the early '30s Harry was fronting the band under his own name, and broadcasting from the Café Anglais and the Mayfair Hotel. In 1931 he wrote and sang "My Girl's Pussy", which has since been the subject of many covers and remakes. In 1935 he married Elizabeth Brooke, daughter of the white Rajah of Sarawak, with whom he appeared in two musical films, Rhythm Racketeer (1937) and Everything Is Rhythm (1940).

During the war years, Harry toured around with his band, Harry Roy's Tiger Ragamuffins. He was at the Embassy Club in 1942, and a little later, toured the Middle East, entertaining troops. In 1948 Harry went to the U.S., but was refused a work permit. Returning to England, he reformed his band and scored a big hit with his recording of "Leicester Square Rag".

By the early 1950s the big band era had come to an end. The band split up, but Harry still drifted in and out of the music scene. In the 1950s, he ran his own restaurant, the Diners' Club, but it was destroyed by fire. In 1969, Harry returned to music, leading a quartet in the London Lyric Theatre's show Oh Clarence, but he was by then in failing health and died in London in February 1971.

For your enjoyment:

My Girl's Pussy

Now For A Musical Interlude

With Egypt collapsing, Jordan having riots, Rockets striking the Negev and Europe disintegrating into Multiculturalism  Hell, I have decided that you my gentle truthseeker, need a break

On the good side of the news, a judge in the great state of Florida had the wisdom and foresight to not only strike down the mandate provision of Obamacare as UNCONSTITUTIONAL, but strike the whole bill as such.

For you enjoyment today I have selected an oldie from the Age of Swing. So let your feet kick up a rug to the wild beat of:

The Benny Goodman Orchestra


Sing Sing Sing (With a Swing)

Have A Great Day!!!

Music For A Sunday Morning

Regardless of your faith, good music will stir your soul. Especially this rendition of a classical favorite I just happen to stumble across.  It left me with a deeply spiritual glow that I just had to share it with you.

ENJOY!

Ave Maria

Election Day Interlude

Today is Election Day. It could be the start of a new beginning or a big thumbs up to the same lies of the Obama Regime.  Either way it will be an eventful day.

Instead of the usual postings, today I give you music to vote on.

Enjoy!!

Ray Stevens - Throw the Bums Out




Impossible Dream




The Ventures Live: Wipe Out




Simple Gifts from Appalachian Spring

Overnight Music

Just a little number to uplift your spirits and brighten your evening.

Sunrise-Grand Canyon Suite by Aaron Copeland

Music For Sabbath

This week a blast from the past:

American Patrol

Big Band to honor the Greatest Generation.

Have A Great Weekend!

Music For Shabbat

Once again I bring you a selection of music from the vault. Today it is:  Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik [Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major](A Little Night Music).

Written in 1787, this is usually performed by a string quartet (2 violins, a viola, and a cello) but is also performed by orchestras.

It has 4 Movements.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Born 27 January 1756 Died 5 December 1791, was one of the greatest composers of all times.

Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty; at 17 he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position, always composing abundantly. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of Mozart's death. The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons.

Mozart learned voraciously from others, and developed a brilliance and maturity of style that encompassed the light and graceful along with the dark and passionate. His influence on subsequent Western art music is profound. Beethoven wrote his own early compositions in the shadow of Mozart, of whom Joseph Haydn wrote that "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years."

Enjoy the music!

Have a good weekend!!

Music For The Sabbath

I could be blogging about all the evils in the world, but instead I give you these for your enjoyment.

First up is The Tribe with their weekly report.




Now Yo-Yo Ma playing Elgar Cello Concerto, 1st movement

Have a good Sabbath!

Music For A Sunday Morning

Hat tip to 2.0 blogmocracy (Little Green Footballs 2)

Tim Hawkins - The Government Can



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Have a great day!

Music As Torture?

Some music can be torture to my ears. Especially Rap Music. I just don't like it. But that is my personal choice and others have different opinions. But now many musicians are upset that the CIA has been using their tunes as a "torture device".

Blaring from a speaker behind a metal grate in his tiny cell in Iraq, the blistering rock from Nine Inch Nails hit Prisoner No. 200343 like a sonic bludgeon.

"Stains like the blood on your teeth," Trent Reznor snarled over distorted guitars. "Bite. Chew."

The auditory assault went on for days, then weeks, then months at the U.S. military detention center in Iraq. Twenty hours a day. AC/DC. Queen. Pantera. The prisoner, military contractor Donald Vance of Chicago, told The Associated Press he was soon suicidal.

The tactic has been common in the U.S. war on terror, with forces systematically using loud music on hundreds of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, then the U.S. military commander in Iraq, authorized it on Sept. 14, 2003, "to create fear, disorient ... and prolong capture shock."

Now the detainees aren't the only ones complaining. Musicians are banding together to demand the U.S. military stop using their songs as weapons.

A campaign being launched Wednesday has brought together groups including Massive Attack and musicians such as Tom Morello, who played with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and is now on a solo tour. It will feature minutes of silence during concerts and festivals, said Chloe Davies of the British law group Reprieve, which represents dozens of Guantanamo Bay detainees and is organizing the campaign.

At least Vance, who says he was jailed for reporting illegal arms sales, was used to rock music. For many detainees who grew up in Afghanistan — where music was prohibited under Taliban rule — interrogations by U.S. forces marked their first exposure to the pounding rhythms, played at top volume.

The experience was overwhelming for many. Binyam Mohammed, now a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, said men held with him at the CIA's "Dark Prison" in Afghanistan wound up screaming and smashing their heads against walls, unable to endure more.

"There was loud music, (Eminem's) 'Slim Shady' and Dr. Dre for 20 days. I heard this nonstop over and over," he told his lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith. "The CIA worked on people, including me, day and night for the months before I left. Plenty lost their minds."

Ruhal Ahmed, a Briton who was captured in Afghanistan, describes excruciating sessions at Guantanamo Bay. He said his hands were shackled to his feet, which were shackled to the floor, forcing him into a painful squat for periods of up to two days.

"You're in agony," Ahmed, who was released without charge in 2004, told Reprieve. He said the agony was compounded when music was introduced, because "before you could actually concentrate on something else, try to make yourself focus on some other things in your life that you did before and take that pain away.

"It makes you feel like you are going mad," he said.

When done to prisoners at Gitmo is suppose to be torture. When done to parents by their teenage children what is it then? These guys have it easy. Just imagine what every parent of a teenager goes through, hour after hour, day after day, month after month. No relief ever to be in sight.

Not all of the music is hard rock. Christopher Cerf, who wrote music for "Sesame Street," said he was horrified to learn songs from the children's TV show were used in interrogations.

"I wouldn't want my music to be a party to that," he told AP.

Bob Singleton, whose song "I Love You" is beloved by legions of preschool Barney fans, wrote in a newspaper opinion column that any music can become unbearable if played loudly for long stretches.

"It's absolutely ludicrous," he wrote in the Los Angeles Times. "A song that was designed to make little children feel safe and loved was somehow going to threaten the mental state of adults and drive them to the emotional breaking point?"

Some musicians, however, say they're proud that their music is used in interrogations. Those include bassist Stevie Benton, whose group Drowning Pool has performed in Iraq and recorded one of the interrogators' favorites, "Bodies."

"People assume we should be offended that somebody in the military thinks our song is annoying enough that played over and over it can psychologically break someone down," he told Spin magazine. "I take it as an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that."

Actually that whole show is designed to drive parents insane. And it does it very well. These CIA agents understood that. After all they probably have children, and know how annoying that song can be. Played day after day while a toddler sings it. And people wonder why women kill their kids.

The band's record label told AP that Benton did not want to comment further. Instead, the band issued a statement reading: "Drowning Pool is committed to supporting the lives and rights of our troops stationed around the world."

Vance, in a telephone interview from Chicago, said the tactic can make innocent men go mad. According to a lawsuit he has filed, his jailers said he was being held because his employer was suspected of selling weapons to terrorists and insurgents. The U.S. military confirms Vance was jailed but won't elaborate because of the lawsuit.

He said he was locked in an overcooled 9-foot-by-9-foot cell that had a speaker with a metal grate over it. Two large speakers stood in the hallway outside. The music was almost constant, mostly hard rock, he said.

"There was a lot of Nine Inch Nails, including 'March of the Pigs,"' he said. "I couldn't tell you how many times I heard Queen's 'We Will Rock You."'

He wore only a jumpsuit and flip-flops and had no protection from the cold.

"I had no blanket or sheet. If I had, I would probably have tried suicide," he said. "I got to a few points toward the end where I thought, `How can I do this?' Actively plotting, `How can I get away with it so they don't stop it?"'

Full Story

Me thinks these guys won't get away with this complaint. All the CIA would need is a judge who is a parent of a teenager. Then again a judge could declare this a form of torture and ban it. The upside of that is that every parent could then stop the music in their own home. Torture is torture.

A full list of the songs is here.

The most annoying song is below. Listen at your own peril.



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