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
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
ReplyDelete