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Here is a list of musical suggestions to enliven your July 4th festivities.
Cash, Johnny. America.
Edwards, Sherman. 1776
Gershwin, George. An American in Paris. Rhapsody in Blue.
Rodriguez, Daniel. Spirit of America.
Sousa, John Philip. Marches.
Various Artists. America's Greatest Hits.
Various Artists. Leonard Slatkin Conducts American Portraits.
Have you seen the new Summer of Love exhibit about psychedelic art and the times that influenced it at the Whitney Museum? In the lingo of the times, it’s a real blast man. Strolling through the exhibit, I began to wonder just what the library’s video collection could offer to those reminiscing or learning about those times besides Hair, a too obvious choice. So here are just a few ideas.
Our movie collection offers such classics as Easy Rider featuring a soundtrack filled with songs of the times and Alice’s Restaurant. The hottest movie of 1967, The Graduate, certainly alluded to the changing times. Later movies such as The Rose staring Bette Midler featured a character based on Janis Joplin and The Doors focused on the life of another 60’s music legend, Jim Morrison. And there are videos on two artists closely associated with the times, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. Of course, if you like animation, choose the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine.
Naturally, the collection also includes documentaries produced about the first Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock. For those interested in the life and musical poetry of Bob Dylan we offer No Direction Home and Don’t Look Back. And as I learned at the Whitney exhibit, lore has it that the phrase flower power was coined after the popular beat poet Allen Ginsberg encouraged peace marchers to use “masses of flowers” as a symbol of protest.
So get out your tie -dyed shirt and torn jeans (or borrow them from a hip teenager) and watch one of the films mentioned above.
Yesterday's gorgeous, cool weather beckoned us to go into New York City and walk through Central Park. It appeared that other people had the same idea as the park was jammed. Along with the strollers, runners, bicyclists, and rollerbladers were the street musicians playing an assortment of instruments. One who particularly caught my eyes and ears was a xylophone player. The bin that he had used to transport his instrument said "Property of the Juilliard Percussion Department". I wondered if being a street player or busker constituted an approved performance activity.
This incident reminded me of the recent Washington Post experiment where world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell played for 43 minutes at the L'Enfant Plaza metro station in Washington D.C. during the morning rush hour. This was videotaped by a hidden camera since the newspaper wanted to see the public's reaction to luminous music performed by an unknown violinist on an extremely valuable instrument out of context. To my surprise, over 1,000 commuters walked by and did not acknowledge him; a small handful stopped to give him a donation as a token of their appreciation. It was probably the only time in Bell's career that he was ignored and not applauded for his efforts. One may say that we are just too busy to appreciate the beauty in life.
Two of the pieces that he played were J. S. Bach's powerful "Chaconne" from the Sonata #2 for Solo Violin and Franz Schubert's haunting Ave Maria. For those interested in the phenomenon of street performers, the Library has Patricia J. Campbell's Passing the Hat: Street Performers in America.
The American Film Institute (AFI) has discovered that film tastes change every ten years. On a televised program hosted by Morgan Freeman, they revealed their 10th anniversary edition of of 100 Years, 100 American Films list punctuated by interviews with noted directors and actors. My husband was a very happy man when it was announced that Raging Bull moved up 20 slots from number 24 to number 4. I however, was not pleased to see E.T.’s ranking fall. New to the list were The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Saving Private Ryan, Titanic and The Sixth Sense.
Don’t despair for filmmaker Steven Spielberg, even though Close Encounters fell off the list. With five, he still has the most number of movies on the list.
Drum roll please! Citizen Kane is now number one on the list, followed by The Godfather and Casablanca. The buzz among movie critics is that it is the story behind the movie, the charisma and gall of a young 25 year Orson Welles that appealed to the voting audience of filmmakers, actors, writers, critics and others in Hollywood.
Don’t pull any punches on today’s quiz. Which two actors were the most represented, tying at five movies apiece on the list? Think you can pull a rabbit out of a hat? Name the films.
Summer was officially welcomed today with an early morning celebration at the Stonehenge monument in England. It is particularly fitting for us to join in and sing the 13th century summer canon, "Sumer Is Icumen In". According to Grove Music Online, this musical round was quite advanced for its time as it is a canon in four parts sung over a two part "foot" or bass line. This song has been preserved throughout the ages and is indicative of a prior existence of a highly developed musical culture.
As you stroll at the beach or wander through the woods, you may want to listen to the melodies of summer. The Library has Nat King Cole's "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer", Bob Dylan's "Summerdays", George Gershwin's "Summertime", Joe Jackson's "Summer in the City", and Frank Sinatra's "Something Wonderful Happens In Summer". In the meantime, enjoy this rendition of "Sumer Is Icumen In".
Can you believe it? My favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney, turns 65 today and has just released a new album, Memory Almost Full.
As he is now a "senior citizen", he has made major changes with the release of this new work; after 45 years with the venerable company EMI, he has moved to the new emerging label Hear Music. Hear Music has made Memory Almost Full available as both a compact disc and a digital download. McCartney has received lots of publicity and airtime thanks to the promotion of his work at Starbucks stores. Additionally, the music video has premiered on YouTube. This 65-year-old youngster is not nostalgically looking back to his days as a Beatle but is astutely utilizing and maximizing new technology and new distribution systems to expose and promote his music.
The Library invites you to not only sample McCartney's music but read about his life and work.
He was quite prescient in his song "When I'm 64."
"When I get older,
Losing my hair,
Many years from now.
Will you still be sending me a Valentine,
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?
If I've been out
Till quarter to three,
would you lock the door?
Will you still need me,
Will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four?
You be all the true
And if you say
I could be handy
Mending a fuse,
When your lights are gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside.
Sunday morning go for a ride.
Doing the garden,
Digging the weeds,
who could ask for more?
Will you still need me,
will you still feed me,
when I'm sixty-four?
Every summer we can rent a cottage in the isle of Wight
If it's not too dear.
Grandchildren on our knees
Vera, Chuck and Dave.
Send me a postcard,
Drop me a line,
Stating point of view.
Indicate precisely what you mean to say.
Yours sincerely wasting away.
Give me your answer,
Fill in a form,
mine for ever more.
And you still need me,
you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four."
If you are looking for a symphonic experience that showcases Fairfield County's talented young professional musicians, the American Chamber Orchestra is the group for you.
This 65-member ensemble founded in 2003 by Music Director Christopher James Hisey and Associate Conductor Carl Serbell, will be performing this Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Fairfield. The program consists of Finlandia by Jean Sibelius, Violin Concerto in E-Minor by Felix Mendelssohn with soloist Edita Orlinyte, and Symphony #9 "From the New World", by Antonin Dvorak.
Recordings of Finlandia conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy and Malcolm Sargent, the Violin Concerto performed by Nathan Milstein, Michael Rabin, or Isaac Stern and the Symphony #9 conducted by Istvan Kertesz may be procured at the library.
Shiver me timbers, there’s another pirate movie bringing in the doubloons at the theatres. Hate long lines and sticky floors or rather wait for the DVD? There are plenty of pirate tales to choose from in the audio visual section of the library. Johnny Depp’s is not the first dazzling smile to gleam from the screen. He follows in a long line of dashing swashbucklers. Errol Flynn starred as Captain Blood, crossing swords with Basil Rathbone in this 1935 classic and as the greatest of all land based pirates Robin Hood in Shiver me timbers, there’s another pirate movie bringing in the doubloons at the theatres. Hate long lines and sticky floors or rather wait for the DVD? There are plenty of pirate tales to choose from in the audio visual section of the library. Johnny Depp’s is not the first dazzling smile to gleam from the screen. He follows in a long line of dashing swashbucklers. Errol Flynn starred as Captain Blood, crossing swords with Basil Rathbone in this 1935 classic and as the greatest of all land based pirates Robin Hood in the 1938 film. Once again he matched wits and foils with Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisbone. Even Burt Lancaster dashes his way through 16th century Spain as the Crimson Pirate. (The movie is a lot of fun, even if Burt doesn’t fit your idea of a pirate.)
For kids, there’s a cute selection ranging from the Princess Bride to many versions of Peter Pan including Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman in Hook. Don’t forget the many filmed versions of the classic story Treasure Island. In the mood for a little Gilbert & Sullivan? Then check out The Pirates of Penzance starring Linda Rondstadt and Rex Smith fresh from their stage version.
Finally, if you like swashbucklers of any type, don’t forget about Zorro fighting for injustice in the Americas, The Prisoner of Zenda fighting for the throne or the many versions of The Three Musketeers where they find any excuse to cross swords. Who is your favorite screen swashbuckler?
If you've never experienced music under the stars, here is your chance. Tomorrow night marks the 40th year that the Metropolitan Opera brings free opera to Central Park in New York City. Friday night June 22 will be the 20th year that this program has been expanded to New Jersey. This year's offerings include Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème and Charles Gounod's Faust.
Puccini’s love story includes soprano Hei-Kyung Hong as Mimì, soprano Mary Dunleavy as Musetta, tenor Roberto Aronica as Rodolfo, baritone Dwayne Croft as Marcello, baritone Jeff Mattsey as Schaunard, and bass Andrew Gangestad as Colline. Gareth Morrell conducts.
Gounod's chronicle of the philosopher who sells his soul to the devil will be conducted by Maurizio Benini with soprano Katie van Kooten as Marguerite, mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey as Siébel, tenor David Pomeroy as Faust, baritone Hung Yun as Valentin, and bass James Morris as Méphistophélès.
All you have to do is bring a blanket, a chair, bug spray, a picnic dinner and a sweater. This is a golden opportunity to experience opera in an informal setting.
Be sure to come to the library to checkout the libretto or music from these famous works.
According to Grove Music Online, a shanty is a work song sung by sailors that is intended to to alleviate the arduous efforts expended at sea. Shanties, which are comprised of solos and boisterous choruses, can be traced back to ancient times; however, most texts and tunes date from the 19th and 20th centuries. Although steam power at sea ended the need for them, the tradition continued on land.
Connecticut's own Mystic Seaport is proud to present the 28th Annual Sea Music Festival this weekend with concerts, demonstrations, and lectures. A noteworthy event will be the commemoration of Stan Hugill's contribution to maintaining the tradition of the shantey and sea music.
If you can't attend this musical event, feel free to hear Malcolm Arnold's Three Shanties for Wind Quintet, op. 4, James Galway and the Chieftains, Over the Sea to Sky: The Celtic Connection, or Alan Lomax's recording of Sea Shanties from Sicily.
MovieLine is pleased to announce that two Academy Award nominated films will be shown in June in the library’s McManus Room.
On June 12th at 7:00 p.m. come watch Venus a film released in late 2006 staring two British greats of the screen, Peter O'Toole and Vanessa Redgrave. It is directed by Roger Michell and written by Hanif Kureishi. This movie has a runtime of 85 minutes and is rated R.
On June 26th there will be two showings of the Movie Volver starring the beautiful and talented Penelope Cruz. The movie will show at 2 p.m and again at 7 p.m in order to accommodate viewers who prefer either the afternoon or evening time slot. This film has been rescheduled from a previously announced time and has a runtime of 121 minutes, is in Spanish with subtitles and is rated R.