Happy Halloween

There's something terribly creepy about the words "boneless arm roast" under the words "Happy Halloween." In my mind's eye, I see abstract images of boneless human arms being roasted, like marshmallows. (Thanks to Michael, who got out of the car and took the picture.)

More Alice Herz Sommer Interviews

Here are some more YouTube clips of Alice Herz Sommer: a two-part BBC interview, and another video of her talking about music and playing. What a terrific pianist!

A Film about an almost 107-year-old Pianist Named Alice

UPDATE: It seems that after getting millions of views (literally), the trailer for the film has been removed from YouTube, but the whole film is available on line. Please go to this post to see more interviews with Alice Herz-Sommer on line (where you can also hear her play).

The cellist in the film Dancing Under the Gallows is Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, one of only two cellists who played with the Women's Orchestra at Auschwitz between April, 1943 and October, 1944. Here's a page about Alice's son Raphael Sommer.

Crazy Wild Asses!

This is normally played on two pianos!

"Individual Sound"

I can't really understand this violinist's concept of sound. I could dismiss this as a joke, but, if you watch further, beyond the first piece (which, for all I know, could be written call for a sort of vibrato that is hyper-extended in both directions), you will hear (if you can stand it) that it is her "individual sound" (as a conductor describes it at 2:51). I just don't get it. What are these people talking about?

Have Some Lousy Apples? Make Apple Crisp!

There is little as disappointing for me as the sensation of biting into what I think will be a crisp apple, and finding mush in my mouth, so last night I made apple crisp.

This recipe is so good that it must be shared, and I'm going to copy it here (with a few personal modifications--because I want your apple crisp to come out as good as mine did):

Preheat oven to 375 F
Core and peel and slice 5-6 sub-standard apples (mine were sub-standard Jonathan).

Mix

1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup brown sugar

in

1/2 cup water, and set it aside.

Mix

1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tablespoon soy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

and add it to

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt

For later: Earth balance (or another kind of margarine or butter)

Place the apples in a covered glass casserole dish and pour in the cornstarch mixture. Sprinkle the oat and flour mixture on top of the apples, cover the casserole, and bake it for 15 minutes. Remove the cover, dot the top with bits of Earth Balance, and bake it uncovered for another 30 minutes.

(The recipe I linked to has baking powder in it, which I managed to unwittingly leave out. The linked-to recipe also has allspice, which I didn't have, so I doubled the nutmeg).

Ever Forward: Micro and Macro

When I was a kid my father used to mock us by saying, "But what have you done for me lately?" I guess he was, in his own way, remarking on the fact that we have short memories of the ways in which people have been nice to us or supportive about what we do or have done. We also have long memories of times we were wronged, times we were ignored, times we have been taken for granted, and times we were not respected. At least I do.

It is kind of the same way with work. Sometimes I feel, with all the different things that I do, that I am on a train, chugging away, and then I switch to another train, and chug away on it. After something is finished, I leave it at the station (the end of the train line, perhaps), and I get on another train. Whatever it is that I have finished seems, whether it be my work or work I am doing for someone else, to remain only as a vanishing point somewhere "back there."

Oh how I admire people who can tout their accomplishments. I can barely remember mine, because there is always the next thing. Because it is my habit, there is always a next thing, even if I have to make it myself.

I see these things subjectively and on a small scale in my life, and I see it objectively and on large scale when I observe way people take the accomplishments of our president and his administration for granted. That makes me think that it might just be part of human nature to dismiss and belittle, and then wait for the next thing to dismiss and belittle.

I see how reticent we are to celebrate the fact that certain choices made by smart people have made it possible for our economy (and the world economy) not to fall apart, for people to have the chance at getting health care who would not have the chance due to preexisting conditions (especially children), and for us to have a chance at having a country that does not discriminate against various portions of its population.

I suppose the only thing to do is to get back on one of the trains, and keep plugging forward. It's a lot better than standing still and doing nothing, and far better than going backwards (which is, thankfully, impossible to do).

Beautiful Proof that Classical Music is Not Dying

Hearing young people play Brahms like this gives me hope and courage. The music and the sentiment behind the music (and there is a huge amount there) is not "dated" in any way. As you can plainly see and plainly hear, this music is eternally relevant, eternally meaningful, and eternally beautiful.

The Aesthetic Experience Versus the Anesthetic Experience

Sir Ken Robinson hits the nail on the head in his evaluation of our current system of public education:

Thanks, once again, to Carrie for sending it my way. Here's the long version of this talk, and another related short talk.

Jackie and William

Such joyous sight-reading! Such wonderful music making! Thanks Emily for pointing me towards this 6-part series about her life.

Perhaps God Works in Mysterious Ways

Not to get all religious on you, but here's something to ponder: The other night, while Michael and I were playing for Shabbat services, the F natural on my D string started buzzing. He was worried that there might be something wrong with my instrument, but I assured him that the problem probably had something to do with my bow arm, since it was a stopped note and not an open string. Oddly, a similar thing happened at the last Shabbat service, but it never seemed to happen in my normal practice (in normal-to dead acoustics).

The first thing Saturday morning I tried to figure out what the problem could be, and then I realized that it had something to do with the position of my upper arm relative to the timing of the string crossing. It took me a few enlightening hours of practicing Kreutzer and Bach to fix the problem, but I fixed the problem, and it made all sorts of improvements in my playing (and in good time too, since I had a concert to play today).

If this problem hadn't occurred in shul, I might not have noticed it, and therefore I wouldn't have fixed it. Hmm.

He is the Very Model of a Modern US President

Thanks for this Ben!

Britten and the Physicality of String Quartet Writing

I have just now discovered the wonders of Benjamin Britten's string quartet writing, and thought I would share this example as proof in spades that the physical experience of the musicians who are playing a piece can be as important as the musical material itself. In this case, and without the intrusion of any non-functional theatrics, they are pretty much one in the same.

Alexander Bernstein Remembers His Father

My sister has said that his real ambition was to connect, in one way or another, with every person on the planet. For having lived only 72 years, he didn’t do a bad job of it. My father loved people and made love with multitudes. He never stopped learning. His appetite for knowledge and life was insatiable. Not only did he read constantly, but he would stay up all night with a group of students talking about music, love, and religion. He would drink them under the table and still be ready to rehearse at 10 a.m.

It's hard to believe that today is the 20th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein's death. Here's the rest of Alexander Bernstein's personal tribute to his father.

December 2023 UPDATE: I wish this article were still available as a link. You can find the above text here, but you will need to search through a pretty long text file (made in 2010/2011) to find it. I would suggest copying some of the above text and using the find command to search through the PDF. You can also find other interesting writing about Leonard Bernstein there.

Banjar Plays Shortnin' Bread and Bonaparte's Retreat

Our son Ben Leddy and his friend Claire Johnson, who perform together under the name of "Banjar," played a concert the other night at the Krannert Center in Urbana (for Krannert Uncorked) and surprised us all with this inventive pairing of tunes. The second tune begins about halfway through.