Behind the Music

What does “The Odd Couple” have to do with “La Traviata”?

February 1, 2024March 27, 2017 by debisimons

Maria Callas as Violetta; image accessed via Wikipedia

Here’s the storyline of Verdi’s La Traviata (“The Fallen Woman”): Alfredo, a young man from the provinces, has come to Paris and fallen in love at a distance with a woman of rather uncertain reputation named Violetta Valéry, finally getting to meet her face to face at a party she’s giving. He’s the one who leads the festivities with the chorus, “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici”– “Drink from the joyful cup.” (I’ve sung this chorus with my own choir on a program that featured selections from opera–it was great fun.) Then everyone except for Violetta moves into the next room for dancing, but she’s having a coughing fit. (Ominous foreshadowing here.) Alfredo comes back to find her and declares his love in the lovely “Un dì, felice, eterea”– “One day, happy and ethereal.” He leaves, Violetta declares that she must be “sempre libera”–”always free,” but we know she’ll get together with Alfredo when we hear his voice as he goes down the street outside, giving an encore of “Un di.” And that’s the end of Act One.

What’s the Origin of the Phrase “Pennies from Heaven”?

October 11, 2023March 3, 2017 by debisimons

photo credit: Wikipedia

You wouldn’t believe the highways and byways I’ve traversed trying to get the full scoop on this one little phrase. I started out by googling, as usual. Of course the movie by that name came up—I’ll get to that in a minute. For the phrase itself, there was a lot about angels dropping coins from Heaven as a way of showing support and sympathy. Or departed loved ones doing so. Or both. It was a little confusing. The Oxford English Dictionary entry said: “pennies from heaven: money acquired without effort or risk; unexpected benefits, esp. financial ones.” It said that the phrase’s first use, at least in a printed source, was from something called Ghetto Messenger by A. Burstein, published in 1928. Well, I thought, that’s easy. I’ll just look it up on Google Books. Alas, they didn’t have the entire story but just part of the page with the phrase. There seemed to be a group of little boys involved, so I assumed that they were messenger boys, probably African-American, living in an inner city. I found the book in my library system and put it on hold, finally got it last week, and found out that my assumptions were pretty much wrong.

Why Is Randall Thompson’s “Alleluia” So Mournful?

December 12, 2020March 3, 2017 by debisimons

Isn’t the word “alleluia” supposed to be a shout of joy?

First, the occasion: the opening of the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood. Let’s see–”Tanglewood” is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, an outdoor concert venue in rural Massachusetts. The Berkshire facility (which at some point was renamed as the Tanglewood Music Center) opened in 1940 under the leadership of Serge Koussevitsky, the BSO’s music director at the time. The Tanglewood venue had been active for three years, and Koussevitsky saw an opportunity to expand the facility into a summer music camp for students. He decided to commission a piece by an American composer for the student body to perform at the opening ceremonies.

The Story of Eric Whitacre’s “Sleep”

August 24, 2024February 18, 2017 by debisimons

In a sense, Mr. Whitacre has already done my work for me. You can read the charming story of his writing this piece to the words of the Robert Frost poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and then finding out that the poem was no longer available for use, putting the song “under his bed,” and then getting his friend Charles Silvestri to write new lyrics, by going to his website and reading the story here. I’ll give you just a taste here to whet your appetite for the whole thing:

This was an enormous task, because I was asking him to not only write a poem that had the exact structure of the Frost, but that would even incorporate key words from “Stopping,” like ‘sleep.’ Tony wrote an absolutely exquisite poem, finding a completely different (but equally beautiful) message in the music I had already written. I actually prefer Tony’s poem now.

A Supposed Wardrobe Malfunction in “Cheek to Cheek”

December 11, 2020February 12, 2017 by debisimons

Somewhere in my magpie mind I had a memory of a story about the dress that Ginger Rogers wore during the famous dance sequence of “Cheek to Cheek” in the movie Top Hat. All I could remember was that something had happened with the feathers coming off the dress and that Fred Astaire’s wife, who had trouble saying her r’s, had said, ““Fwed will be so embawassed.”

Well, there are two versions of the story. The first one with the commentary from Astaire’s wife Phyllis says that the dress was covered with red feathers and that Phyllis, who had come to the set with David Niven to watch the filming and who was a little jealous of Rogers, said “She looks like a wooster.”

Four Questions about “John Saw Duh Numbuh”

February 17, 2021January 16, 2017 by debisimons

144,000 with Trumpets, 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld, public domain

The arrangement that my choir sang in 2017 is by a couple of true powerhouses in American choral music: Robert Shaw and Alice Parker. Just about everyone has heard of Robert Shaw and his chorale, but I hadn’t ever heard of Alice Parker.

What does “hang your head over” mean in “Down in the Valley”?

December 11, 2020January 12, 2017 by debisimons

I’m sure I sang “Down in the Valley” in grade school, and I know I’ve had a picture in my mind of someone on the edge of a cliff overlooking a valley, lying face down and literally hanging her head over the edge, with her hair falling over her face and blowing in the breeze. (I guess I always thought it was “her” since I pictured long hair.) The image seemed pretty strange to me. Why would anyone do that?

So when my choir sang an arrangement of this song I decided it was time to step up and find out just what was a-goin’ on. It’s been a fascinating journey.

Does the “All Night Vigil” Last All Night?

November 4, 2024November 21, 2016 by debisimons

Yes. A full performance of the entire special service in the Russian Orthodox Church can indeed last pretty much all night, but be aware that the time is filled with much more than music–litanies (petitions and responses), Scripture readings, prayers, etc. A composer wouldn’t have to come up with hours and hours of music. Also, the service is often/usually cut, with the full version being performed very rarely.

I ran across a fascinating article describing a 1911 performance that reproduced the long form. It lasted from 6:00 PM to 1:50 AM the following morning, so almost eight hours. If certain parts of the service had been performed in an even earlier form, it would have lasted three or four more hours. Here’s a little snippet from the article:

What’s the Source of the Hebrew Text in “On Justice, Truth and Peace”?

December 11, 2020November 14, 2016 by debisimons

What a wonderful message is contained in this song! Let me answer the question above first, and then I’ll cover some other issues. So the Hebrew words “Hine ma tov uma naim shevet achim gam yachad” are from Psalm 133 in the Hebrew Bible. I have always loved this psalm, and since the entire thing is so short I’m quoting it in full:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (KJV)

Does the Word “Tibi” Have Anything to Do With Your Tibia?

February 16, 2023November 7, 2016 by debisimons

No. Your shinbone is named after an ancient Greek wind instrument, sort of like a flute.

Everybody got that? Maybe it’s just me, but I’m very distractible. So it’s good for me to get that out of the way. What does “tibi” mean? Basically, “to you.” Latin nouns and pronouns have various forms that determine their use in a sentence so that you don’t have to use a preposition. And you don’t have to worry about word order. You just have to learn all six types (called “cases”) of nouns and pronouns. Then you have to learn tense, voice and mood for each verb, and degrees of comparison for each adjective . . . and don’t get me started on the adverbs. It’s very complicated. How did the Romans have time to conquer the world when they had to learn all this grammar? Beats me.