13 April 2023

Memories of Music

 Music Memories March and April 2023

Thursday 16 March: I Stand All Amazed, hymn #193 in current LDS hymnal. It use to be really hard for me to sing this without getting chocked up and eyes wet. The longer I’ve been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the more we have sung it has lessened the immediate impact. The phrase ‘rebellious soul’ is a good fit for me and I do stand all amazed at the love offered by our Redeemer. 

Monday 20 March: Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky was one of family favorites not only at Christmas time. When I was in the third grade our class put on a talent show. I was taking ballet classes at the time and parents asked the teacher to make up a short dance for me to do. The music was from the Nutcracker Suite. The whole ballet class learned the dance. There were two performances of the talent show. Mom made one but Dad wasn’t able to make either one. We marked the cut on the LP and the first show went well. The second show, the student putting the record player on did not put it on the correct section. All I remember was the very beginning after that my mind blanked out, the music wasn’t the right one. Mom said I did the dance well even if not the right music. Muscle memory?

Thursday 23 March: Big Girls Don’t Cry by Four Seasons hit number one in November 1962. You use to be able to listen to records at the store before buying. I was standing listening to something and a classmate was listening to Big Girls Don’t Cry. She had recently broken up with boyfriend and the song had tears running down her face.

Monday 27 March: Grand Canyon Suite by Grofe was another family favorite. The sweeping music captures the grandeur of the area. It paints pictures with the music. You can see the donkeys on the trail and feel the rain in cloudburst. I always wanted to ride a donkey down the canyon.

Thursday 30 March: 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack. Johann Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz and Richard Stauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra are the two standouts. The music weaves in and out of the movie scenes. The opening sequence and then the Pan Am space plane and space station are the most memorable. It came out first year of college and was discussed among the science students.

Monday 3 April: Anna of Thousand Days soundtrack. This was my introduction to Renaissance music. It is a favorite along with Celtic music and other folk music.

Thursday 6 April: Gotta Get Out of This Place by the Animals, this was our ‘anthem’ going through Officer Candidate School.

Monday 10 April: Super Massive Black Hole, this is the music for the baseball scene in Twilight movie. It is awesome and so fitting for the scene.

Thursday 13 April: folk songs of 50’s & 60’s, especially Kingston Trio, The Merry Minuet. So many good songs/ballads from some great groups. The main memory is from a birthday or Mother’s Day gift in 1959 to mom. She especially liked The Merry Minuet by the Kingston Trio. She liked the whimsy of the song and bit ironic as how much of it was kind of true. My brother and I went to record store to find the record to give to her for either her birthday or Mother’s Day. We found the album with that song, Live at Hungry i. Some other good songs on the album. She liked the gift and the whole family enjoyed the album.

Monday 17 April 2023 – added a book to that list.

Thursday 20 April:  Star Wars: A New Hope. John Williams’ music was magical – a bit fantasy, a bit inspirational. Luke watching the two suns set wishing to be someplace else. The Sand People and Jawas. Princess Leia’s theme. Imperial March. Later SW movies, then the Harry Potter movies. And the Olympic Games. Indiana Jones movies. SW was the start of my noticing John Williams. Also got me paying more attention to the music composers for movies in general.

Monday 24 April: movie/theater soundtracks and TV themes in general. No specific memories, but enjoy many that are not necessarily musicals. A particular piece brings to mind the movie or show.

Thursday 27 April: added to book memories

 

‘Favorite’ singers/composers/group: Kingston Trio, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, Elvis, Beatles, Richard Searles, New Christy Ministrels, Mamas and Papas, John Williams, Carter Burwell, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Rogers and Hammerstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber

 

1 comment:

  1. What amazing memories thank you for sharing them. So many of the songs that you said I recognized and felt in my head and sing them along with them as I read the rest of your memory what a clever way maybe that's what I should do just to share it with my nieces and nephews~CJ

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