Back to index of "this and that in my life" pages by Donald Sauter.
Dedicated to the proposition that every thought that's ever been thunk may be of interest to some crazy fool . . .
THEE: Re: beatle games
Yeah...I'm sorry--I WILL send the money. With the risk of having
you hear "too much infor-MA-tion" here, I work for a funeral home
and the old joke, "people are dying to get in," really holds true
right now. We've been swamped. We're thinking of taking off the
sign, "We put the 'fun' in funeral!" HA...that's a joke...
Please forgive my tardiness, but I do want two games--one for my
feller, and one for my feller's best friend. (One can't have a
Beatles thing without the other one having one, too...haha.)
ME: I had some very nice holidays. I think I stumbled on a new
New Year's tradition. After watching some fireworks with a
friend, I baked a cake. Not intentionally, it went in the oven
right when it would be done at the stroke of New Year's. I
should have called the newspaper and offered them the story of
the first cake of the new millenium. (Actually, I belong to the
2000 camp.)
My email service with the Detroit Freenet is on the fritz now, so
I can't revisit your last email, but I remember some sort of mild
dig at southern-types who can't handle the cold and snow. Man oh
man did you touch a hot button there (exaggerating for humorous
effect). Take a look at my hardest-hitting web page, an open
letter to Northerners.
http://www.donaldsauter.com/northerners.htm
ME: next on the agenda...
Thanks for the visit the other night. Things that occurred to me
later were: With all the discussion of evolution, we still need
to discuss that guy's lengthy email. I'm very curious as to
whether we could draft a response together. One time I wasted
about an hour and wasn't satisfied with what I wrote. My claim
is that he declared victory for his side without saying a single
thing to support his side. How do you say that to someone
politely?
About trees losing leaves in the winter to conserve water: if
that's an explanation, why do trees have leaves at all? Then
they could conserve water year-round.
I took another look at the red light camera article and we need
to revisit that for a few more minutes. I also didn't get to a
few observations on the rhythmic body, after bringing it up.
ME: hey ol' friend
All the holidays were nice. In the Christmas season I played
duos with my guitar friend Bob at a Festival of Lights in this
area. People really seemed to enjoy it - got lots of applause.
I hope they realized it was all volunteer, especially whenever I
hit a clinker.
For New Year's I saw fireworks with a friend. I declared they
were "the best ever." I've said this about fireworks dozens of
times in my life; and whether they really keep surpassing
themselves or whether it's an artifact of my good-for-nothing
memory, I'm not sure.
I don't know if ever mentioned me getting bitten by the opera bug
about a year and a half ago. I would have never believed it could
happen, but I'm having a great time with it. I got hooked by
tracking down some recordings of opera pieces that I play guitar
transcriptions of - and the rest is history. I've bought tons of
old opera records at book sales and thrift stores - more records
than I had bought previously, actually. It's easy to do at 25
cents a pop, or maybe a whole bagful for 5 bucks on bag day.
Most recently I saw "Ha"nsel und Gretel" at the Baltimore Opera.
Seems lots of people stumble on my web page listing my guitar
findings from the Library of Congress, and several of them have
asked if I could search up something for them. Generally, I'm
glad to, especially if it's something sort of related to things I
look up there (19th C. American guitar.) One contact was thrilled
to find her great-grandfather on my web page. He was a
tremendously prolific - but forgotten - composer and arranger
named W. C. O'Hare. One man needed a copy of "Weber's Last
Waltz" since it figures in Poe's "Fall Of The House Of Usher",
and he's writing a symphonic piece based on the story. In the
story Usher plays "perversions" of Weber's Last Waltz on his
bizarre talking guitar. I ended up sending him 12 different
editions dating from Poe's time.
Last year my Beatle web pages won an award from the Mining
Company (about.com now, I think), so I tell myself I ought to
whip up a few more this year, in case there's another poll.
Me and pop music have almost completely parted company. Trying
to find something listenable - never mind enjoyable - on the
radio has long been a form of self torture. It finally dawned on
me that I don't have to do it. The Beatles will always be in my
heart, but I'm still disappointed there isn't a body of fans who
think like me that it would be fascinating, fun - and easy - to
pull together all the primary source material on the Beatles.
Instead, we get ever more retellings.
On a downside note, I've had an unbelievably nasty run-in with a
crazy lunatic on the internet. This creep gives new meaning to
the words slander and harrassment. And I was only peripheral to
his main target, which was a friend of mine. He was quite
literally trying to drive her insane (and hasn't stopped yet).
We naively tried to take legal action, which led to nothing but
untold frustration - and a big waste of money. We discovered
first hand what everybody else already knows - that lawyers are
bigger crooks, liars and idiots than the criminals themselves. I
spent months of my life documenting what this jerk was doing on
the net. It hasn't been fun.
I also haven't been successful in getting a job working with kids
in the public schools. Or, I did - but it ended in a crash and
burn. You can read about it in this web page. There's no links
to it for strangers to find; it's for interested friends only.
http://www.geocities.com/donaldsauter/???.htm
This is in complete contrast with my job at the same school at
the end of the previous school year, which was a total joy. I
absolutely can't understand my treatment this school year.
On the plus side, I'm "working" with a couple of 6th-grade boys
once a week. A friend of mine teaches the class (of two) in a
private school. They wanted to learn chess and she asked if I
would come in and teach them. We all have a good time with chess
and Scrabble and Boggle and you name it.
ME: I have to apologize for not keeping up with Beatle books
anymore, so I'm not familiar with Jorie Gracen's. Do you know
about some landmark court case involving Jorie and her Wizard of
Oz plates, or something? My friend Hself discovered this when he
was at law school 5 or so years ago. I'm afraid I don't keep up
with Beatle children anymore, either. What's Heather up to? [Me
confused about Heather. See further down.]
P.S. Guess what today's mail consisted of.
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A Val-Pak!
THEE: Your tablature
Some time back I came across all the work you have done on the F.
Campion Scordatura. I downloaded quite a few pieces, and
although I managed to print them out more or less OK, I found
myself getting very confused with lines and spaces and only five
strings, etc. I have therefore been redoing them using Alain
Veylit's Stringwalker program purely for my own consumption, but
having done them, I would like to make them available on the net
(free), either through the Stringwalker site or another early
music site. I know they're not strictly yours, but Minkoff claim
worldwide copyright on their fac-similes under Swiss law, and as
it's your work I'm copying, I wanted to check that you have no
objection.
THEE: Roof Ball
I can't believe I found this site. Last spring my college
buddies and I came up with a version of roofball, very similar
to, but different from yours. I just put up some stuff on my web
page about it, and looked for it, and found yours. I'm glad
roofball has been providing fun for many since before we came up
with our version. Anyway, in our game, we play with either a
basketball or a 4 square ball (depending on the house) and you
must jump, catch the ball, and throw it back on the roof in mid
air. Scoring occurs when the ball hits the ground, or is served
out of bounds (but there is second service in some games) anyway,
we had a tournament and everything.
For more information, check out psuedosport page on
http://communities.msn.com/DCTTUCKERMEETSWORLD
This is really cool.
ME: Whenever you get a chance, mention to Hself that "Donald
thinks you're our only hope for getting our money back from our
crook of a lawyer, and for giving Hself2 what he's got coming."
When Hself's gone, there will be no hope.
THEE: Subject: roofball mania
Just now saw your message. Can't get over the fact that roofball
is getting so popular. Anyhow it kind of puts me in the mood to
play a little roofball.
Did you see Ravens today? Man they are hot! We are superbowl
bound. Team of destiny. How else do you explain a team going this
far and the offense scoring maybe 10 points all year?
Were you familiar with John Steadman? Greatest sportswriter and
person Balto will ever know. He just died this week. Very big
deal around here.
THEE: We have just been so busy here...hiring computer geeks to
clean out computer and replace modem and hard drive. Our three
feline children decided to use it as a toilet. I kid you not!
Soaked the innards to the hilt and the whole thing went down like
a lead balloon!
Gosh, got such a kick out of the ending of your novel, Val-
pak...the actual, true spelling. I was also exhausted when I
wrote the Christmas letter and really butchered the name of the
corporation my father help found. No one would be able to find it
under Valpac.....lol....At least you were smart enough to catch
it!
Well, dear "e-mail/letter" friend, I can't fault you for falling
for operatic music. It tends to come with age for some of us.
We rather like what we call "light" operatic music: Sarah
Brightman, some of Celene Dion's duets with Andrea Bocelli and
the like. But, we aren't musicians or singers ourselves so we
can't appreciate it as fully as you.
The only Beatle news I get is through a dear friend in Florida
who kindly sends me updates on what's new and what Paul is up to.
Speaking of Paul, the Heather I was speaking about is younger
than his real stepdaughter and happens to be a woman (well, most
of us use stronger language when describing the gold digger...)
of questionable quality shall we say... Heather Mills of jolly
old England who has managed to lure poor Paul into her web,
whilst using and dumping one man after the other throughout her
life... When he weds this one (and strong rumor has it that he
will), hope he has an ironclad pre-nup or she'll take him to the
cleaners within two years -- GUARANTEED! And, don't get me
started on lawyers. I've known a few...the stories would curl
your toes!
Know nothing about Wizard of Oz plates and Jorie? Perhaps it has
something to do with copyright infringement??? who knows. She's
a fabulous photographer, an extremely interesting writer, smart
and very nice person. Perhaps I'll ask her about the Wizard of
Oz thing!
You mention a contrast of treatment from the previous year?
Well, let me let you on a little secret. THERE ARE NASTY,
DESPICABLE PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD THAT CAN BE JEALOUS AND HATEFUL
AND WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO UPSET YOU! I was once a very
successful Realtor; a million dollar agent; a GRI working on a
broker's license. I worked for a top company and also a top
builder. By the time two very jealous "women" got through with
me, my life was nearly over. I was always hardworking, honest,
caring to a fault person. My undoing, I'm afraid. In order to
fight people of that sort you have to be like them--I couldn't
and I wasn't. I've gotten much stronger through the last ten
years as a result, but at the time, I just FELL APART!
ME: I don't think I ever told you about the most bizarre roofball
messages I got. Some guy from a government agency asked me when
I first put up my web page, I guess to establish who gets credit
in case of lawsuits (ha ha).
We saw some of the Ravens today, but I didn't see any good plays
in a half hour. I'm still calling them the Colts. Even Hself
called 'em the Colts.
Here's that roofball dialog:
HSELF: Subject: roofball.
When (dated) was your webpage to roofball first published. Do
you have any other dated documents on the sport. Do you have any
dated documents with a version using a racket or paddle? This
information is requested to add to office files about the sport.
Ex. Pierce
ME: It looks like I put my roofball webpage up in June 1999.
That's the date of a file that I downloaded to my disk of an
image I found on the web of 2 people playing their version of
roofball. I make mention of that picture in my webpage. I don't
have any other documents, but I'm sure you know of the roofball
website, which I added a link to at the bottom of my page. Nope,
it never occurred to me to use paddles - roofball always seemed
like a volleyball variant to me. I am more than a little
intrigued by your mention of "office files" on roofball. (Are
roofballers under government surveillance?)
HE: I work for Patent and Trademark Office. My group is
concerned with new type of games including those related to
tennis and the like. Copies of your web site are being added to
our files and we needed a date to put on them should they ever
become of use. Thank for you prompt response.
THEE: Thanks for everything - the magazine, tape and the e-
pistle. I've spent quality time with Street Rat-Bag, and Guitar
Running Through It... and plan to spend more. Also have in mind
a few friends to share them with. Best for me so far in the mag
is the crazy Pyramid Schematics, the interview with John Doe and
the Scottsboro pamphlet. Got a kick out of seeing Dawn
Culbertson in the credits on the tape. I know her as a
Renaissance lutenist. She played once for our guitar society in
D.C. We also played together in a drop-in ensemble once, though
I doubt she remembers me. I first met her when she was playing
her lute at a Md. Renaissance Festival in the early '80s. In the
Dec 1985 Soundboard magazine I found this curious little notice
of a work in progress: "Mr. D.C. Culbertson has announced the
imminent availability of his English Lute Songs Index. He
invites inquiries at the address cited above." (Don't ask me why
I thought all this about Dawn might interest you. I went on
longer than I intended.)
After reading your last email, it became inaccessible on the
Detroit Freenet's full disk. I hope they don't clobber it. Your
story of the $1000 pain-killer shot burns me up probably as much
as you, except that I'm not staring at a $1000 bill. My spin
on the situation is a libertarian one - insurance obliterates
market forces. If it weren't for insurance, and by extension,
government forcing insurance on us directly and indirectly,
supply and demand would keep health care affordable. Otherwise,
doctors would go out of business. As it is, doctors can charge
anything they want since the (insured) patient isn't paying for
it (at least he doesn't think he is.) People believe their
employer is "giving" them health coverage as a "benefit", when it
really means hundreds and hundreds of dollars per month that
*could* have been part of the paycheck. I strongly suspect that
2 out of 3 health care dollars go to the non-productive middle-
man insurance industry. At least I have figures showing that's
the way it is with auto and home insurance. Insurance encourages
maximum dishonesty in everybody involved. About the Canadian
system, I only know what I used to read in a very conservative
newspaper, but that is that any Canadian who wants state-of-the-
art treatment in a timely manner comes to the U.S. for it. No
doubt that's an exaggeration, but . . .
You wrote, "I'm against SLAVERY!" The way the rant plays in my
mind is, "Everybody's got you over a barrel; you don't have
anybody over a barrel." If you try to fight an injustice, nobody
even goes to the trouble to say "get lost"; they just don't
respond. Like that letter I wrote about my experience at the
school - I never heard a single word back from anyone I sent it
to. That consumed 2 weeks of my life.
In recent years, for the first times in my life, I've had reason
to go to our justice system for help. Everybody - judges,
lawyers, courthouse employees - treats *you* like the trouble-
maker, or at best a retarded moron.
You refer to basic, text-only pages as "low-level web design" and
the other stuff as "sophisticated". Well, be that as it may, I
hate the "sophisticated" stuff - makes my daily dose of junk mail
(USPS) seem like fine art and great literature by comparison.
How can people look at the web without wanting to pull their eyes
out? On the down-side, nobody designs with us Lynx browser users
in mind. And nobody upgrades Lynx to handle the latest and
greatest HTML advancements. I wish there was at least a small
core of text-only people, so that we wouldn't be forgotten.
When I say "text-only", I mean pages that are understandable by
their text, and show where to click for such-and-such a picture
or sound-file, if you're curious.
No, Ms. Hself didn't "deserve" her whacking. :-) I remember
that you were talking and she asked you, politely enough, to go
to the end of the lunch line - and you went berserk. I have a
very clear mental image of you wildly smashing her with your
lunch box, and her not lifting a hand in defense. She didn't
raise her voice and just said, "Michael! Michael!" with great
concern, but no anger. Of course, this crystal clear memory may
have nothing to do with the reality.
Yeah, a Skippy man is the guy who sells Skippy peanut butter.
You laughed as you explained this to the guidance counselor in
response to *his* question, "*What's* a Skippy man???"
You floor me the way you rattled off works by composers like
Foss, Cage and Kagel. Here I thought I knew something about
music! I've never even heard of Kagel. I'm in correspondence
with a woman for whom I'm tracking down some works by her
composer-arranger great-grandfather at the Library of Congress.
When I mentioned having seen a play by Zora Neale Hurston (of
whom I had never heard before) she starts discoursing on
everything Hurston ever wrote, and her co-writers, even! When I
mention Scott Joplin's opera Treemonisha (a personal fave of
mine), she goes off on a great bio of Joplin by Ed Berlin (whom
she knows well) and interesting reviews of Treemonisha I should
read, etc. Is there anything I know that everybody else doesn't
already know 10 times as much about? I won't even mention my
ignorance of Rabelais.
I'm still kicking myself for not picking up a batch of Spike
Jones 78s at a book sale in Baltimore last fall. All in all, I
did pick up 176 records (mostly LPs) those 2 days. My mom has a
record player that plays 78s well - *and* has a built in
cassette. So I'm good to go, 78-wise. I can play once, and
listen ad infinitum.
I'm not a Tom Lehrer fan but I picked up an album at the local
library bookstore the other day because it looked old and cool,
like maybe a collectible, even. I'd say it dates from 1959, and
would guess it was his first one. The ordering info on the back
was from him directly! Anyhow, the songs were much "tougher"
than I would have expected. There were 4 in a row that tied in
directly with things I had just been reading in the Street Rat-
Bag.
You mentioned Jack Dean's collection of dirty jokes. I remember
one that Leo told to Mr. King's class - not that it was really
dirty, just mildly shocking to my 5th-grade sensibilities. In
fact, my brother and myself got some good mileage out of it.
It's about a man who never wears any clothes, and to repeated
questions from his friend about how come he doesn't have on
shoes, or socks, or a shirt or pants, he always answers, well, I
live alone and I *never* get any company. Finally his friend
asks, so how come you wear a hat? The guy says, "Well, you never
know." Great!
Your diagnosis of me being a "sensitive" is right on the bean.
To change that would require a DNA transplant, I'm afraid.
This'll make you wanna puke, but last year I tried to pick up
some money by doing the censuses. I had a friend who said how
much fun it was. I also kidded myself it would be good practice
in dealing with strangers. (By the way, I don't think the census
is of much value. It *could* be, but it's not, being about
income and the way you heat your house, good grief.) I stuck it
out about 2 weeks. Everybody was so nasty, or at best, cold or
completely distrustful, that I would shuffle along in near tears,
hoping no one would answer at the next door.
When you asked, "How soon they forget, eh?!" (in reference to
Arbeit macht frei), that brought to mind a song I heard on the
local college station (WMUC) recently. The singer says, "I don't
mean to throw a wet blanket on everybody's party, but am I the
only one who remembers the bomb?"
My page on dreams would not necessarily interest you at all.
It's not about the meaning of dreams, but about the
*impossibility* of dreaming the things we do.
http://www.donaldsauter.com/dreams.htm
Funny thing, just this morning that I'm sending this (Monday) I
had one of the most bizarre dreams of my life. I had become a
complete nonentity - nobody knew me; I didn't know them; they
were using my stuff like I didn't even exist, very twilight
zoney-like - and what explained it all is that I was a clone! I
was shocked and devastated, and frustrated that I couldn't find
out who or where the real and original me was.
ME: campion tab
Glad you had some fun with my Campion tablature. Sure, you have
my blessing to make it available wherever you want in whatever
form you want. I'm happy to see it made available to a wider
audience. One day, when I have access to a more up-to-date
computer, I'd be interested to take a look at your work.
By the way, others have converted some of my tablatures into a
nice format using modern software. I guess your work is done,
but I wonder if it wouldn't be easier to work from my data files
that I feed into my own ascii tab generator, instead of the
output tablature files themselves. Keep that in mind if you ever
intend to do any more.
ME: beatle questions
I'm glad you like some of the questions in my Beatles game. Like
I say, I'm a very generous sort of guy and invite people to quote
my site to their heart's content - all *except* for the Beatles
game, which took years out of my life. I still haven't given up
complete hope that a business sort of guy might see the potential
rewards for getting Beatle Significa into stores nationwide, if
not worldwide.
ME: Everybody knows Patrick Henry said, "Give me liberty or give
me death", which is correct, but most people also know that he
said, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my
country", which is wrong. That's the one Nathan Hale said.
ME: Subject: Re: Darr
Yes, I'd be happy to take a look for Darr, Brand and Bayer at LC.
If I can trust my memory and my notes, I don't think I've seen
any Darr there so far. He is not in the M127.D box, which has
separate, original pieces for guitar. There are other places to
be searched, of course. You noticed I already have some editions
by Brand and Bayer? Do you need them? I guess you know about
the Soundboard editions with a Darr article and some solos and
duos? They were SB XII/2 (sum85), SB XIII/1 (spr86) and SB
XIII/2 (sum86). (I see you joined the GFA a few years later.) I
only have one modern Darr edition in my collection, "Rondino"
(Berben, 1973).
Let me know what your deadline is. I doubt that I'll find too
much at LC, maybe nothing more than what I've already found.
THEE: Fwd: Aargh!
>Got a kick out of seeing Dawn Culbertson in the credits on the
tape.
Yep, Dawn was also in the aleatoric big band that Neil feather &
I cofounded in B-More. We have 1 LP out on Wafer Face Records
that Dawn's on & quite a few tapes (+ a bit on the 1st Stree Rat
CD).
>I came up with an idea of a tape for you. It'd be folly to try
to put together something that tries to impress, either quality-
of-music-wise or guitar-virtuosity-wise
Just to hear you play wd interest me - especially if you have a
scholarly & obscure repertoire that can expand my horizons..
>Your story of the $1000 pain-killer shot burns me up
Ah ha! If only the billing had stopped there! I've since gotten
another bill bringing the total charges up to $1,300! Naturally,
I have no intention of paying it! If it had been reasonable (say
$30) I wd've pd it immediately but given that they've decided to
try to rob me I'll resist them just as I wd any other crook! I
could go on at great length about doctors, lawyers, & insurance
companies but the person whose computer I'm using has just come
home so I shd probably speed up this message writing.
Sorry to have to make this so brief but I look forward to
further correspondence!
Live fast & die old,
tENT
THEE: Re: an odd and end
I've got an extra day off from work this week, and I have all
kind of ideas about what I want to get done. The ideas add up to
about 100 hours! So, I'm just doing a few things that I want to
do. I looked up printing in our one-volume-encyclopedii, (I keep
buying them because they seem like a good way to have a lot of
knowledge handy.) All three explain gravure printing and the
rotary technique, which could be used together apparently, but
none put the words together to form "rotogravure". Could that
word have taken on a different meaning in common usage, like
"kleenex", to mean color pictures? The vague connotation I
recall for it involves a group of pictures that make up a
travelog and keepsake memories of travel and personal events.
Does Ringo's song, that you mentioned, give a clue?
Well, on to my next project...writing our first newsletter. I
think I've composed the perfect one. Unlike the perfect country
music song, our mom does not get run over by a train in the rain
the day we got out of prison driving in a pickup truck. But, it
does have some of those same elements. It is the perfect blend
of pathos, humor and exaggeration. I've learned the style from
our cousins' and friends' tabloids. I'll send you a copy.
p.s. Just used spellcheck and they've never heard of "gravure".
But they don't know who Ringo is either so they can't be too
smart.
THEE: inspite of all those spelling tests...
I'm getting around to this message late and I can't remember
what the "alot" was about. If you feel like it remind me. I'm
curious.
ME: I got the idea to go back to ebay and search on the word
"alot". There were 20,487 hits.
THEE: Subject: Darr
Thanks for your reply, I have already collected many of Darr's
works (over 1,000 pages). This includes guitar, zither,
liedertafel (maennerchor) and his operetta. For guitar he
wrote many works for guitar duo and trios and possibly large r
ensembles. He used guitars like quint, terz, prim and bass. He
also wrote for guitar and string quartet, (I have two pieces in
manuscript). It may be true that he never published his guitar
works in his life time. Is there a manuscript section in the LC?
Darr was also wrote quite a bit of Lieder. It would be a coup to
find any of this. I would like copies of any of Eduard Bayer's
works, I have a few things so let me know what you find.
Frederich Brand is a littler more difficult. I do want anything
that has F. Brand on it. The problem is that their was a F.
Brand that was born before 1815 in Wuerzburg. I don't care if it
says Brand I want it. Besides Solo works Brand wrote works with
other guitars, strings, pianos and orchestras.
Now we come to Darr other (more prolific?) side, the "ZITHER!"
I have copies of most of Darr works published by Hoenes, some by
Heckel and only one piece by Anton Boehm (& Sohn). Kabatek
(Leipzig) was his other publisher I have none of these.
Heres what I need.
Zitherschule Hoenes pre 26th edition. Always looking for the 1st
edition. Hoenes is the authorative
4 Tonstucke, (pl. n. 49a/b)(see zither and other
instruments)(H) Submitted to Hoenes 9 October 1864?
Drei komische Lieder fur 1 Singstimme mit
Zitherbegleitung. (Hrn. V. Seiter in St. Ingbert gewidmet.)
(pl. n.82) (Hoenes) possibly concieved by 29 July 1865.Manuscript
sent on 11 Nov 1865
Irenen-Walzer(pl. n. 46)(Hoenes)Submitted to Hoenes, 9 October
1864
Reminiscenzen aus dem Gebirge (pl. n. 44)(Hoenes) Submitted to
Hoenes previous to 13 September 1864
12 Gebirgslieder fur 1 und 2 Zithern (12 Originallieder aus dem
Gebirge?) (pl. n. 47)(Hoenes) Submitted to Hoenes 9 October 1864
Alpenrosen, Landler fur die Zither (pl. n. 48)
(Hoenes)Submitted to Hoen es 9 October 1864
I need the title page to Walzer im Landlerstyl und Polka fur
1 und 2 Zithern (pl. n.50)(H)(see Zither Duos)Submitted to Hoenes
9 October 1864
I need the title page to Alpenlieder-Potpourri, [Zither Duo](pl.
n.55)(Hoenes) Submitted to Hoenes 9 March 1865 In Public by 9 May
1865
Der Sayoyardenknabe (Charkterstucke) (pl. n. 66)(Hoenes)
12 Morceaux de Salon.(Hoenes) No. 1. Espoir de coeur. Fantaisie
Eleg.(pl. n. 63)(Hoenes) Submitted to Hoenes 9 May 1865
No.2. Pastorale(pl. n. 64)(Hoenes) Submitted to Hoenes 9 May 1865
No.3. Rondoletto(pl. n. 65)(Hoenes) Submitted to Hoenes 9 May 1865
No. 5. Une soiree d'ee au lac de Walchen. Fantaisie
Elegant(pl. n.75)(Hoenes)
No. 8 Bolero(pl. n. 113)(Hoenes)
No. 10 L'oiseau au foret. Transcript.(pl. n. 115)(Hoenes)
No. 11. Gondoliera(pl. n. 116)(Hoenes)
No. 12. Souvenir de la Suisse. Fant. Eleg.(pl. n. 117)(Hoenes)
I need the title page to Reminiscenzen aus der Schweiz, Fantasie
(pl. n.93)(Hoenes)
I need the title page to 6 Unterhaltungsstucke, (pl. n.97)(Hoenes)
I need the title page to Valse Brillante und Festpolonaise(pl. n.
118)(Hoenes)
Notturno, Polonaise und Scherzo fur Flote (oder Violine) und.
Zither (pl. n. 127)(Hoenes)
20 Leichte Tonstucke (pl. n. 147) (Hoenes)
I Divertissement (pl. n. ) (Hoenes)
II Divertissement (pl. n. ) (Hoenes)
III Divertissement (pl. n. ) (Hoenes)
20 Tonstucke (Hoenes)Same as 20 Leichte Tonstucke?
Letzte Kompositionen (Hoenes)
Potpourri aus "Flotte Burschen" (Hoenes)
Potp. "Robinsonade" s. Opern-Alb. No.19(cat.)(Hoenes)
Potpourri aus Undine (Hoenes)
Reminiscenzen aus dem Gebirge (Hoenes)
Romanze
Walzer
Rondo gracioso (Hoenes) (Kabatek)
Sonate (Haustein) (Hoenes)1
Sta"ndchen s. Blm., Bd. V, H. 8. (cat.)(Hoenes)
I would realy like to get alot more stuff from Boehm. I believe
that these were his most folk like works.
My C. F. Heckel of Mannheim I have the following. If you have
something I don't I would like to know about it.
Jagd Rondo/ A. Darr Op.105/Mannheimer Zither Journal/II Jahrgang
22 Heft/Mannheim bei K.F. Heckel p.169-171/pl. n. 875/(1858)
Divertissement No. I/A. Darr/pl. n. 884/Mannheimer Zither
Journal/III. Jahrgang 4. Heft/ Mannheim K.F. Heckel/ pgs. 25-
30/(1859)
2tes Divertissement/Mannheimer Zither Journal/ 5.Jahrgang. 19.
Heft/A. Darr/ii. Auglage? pl.n. 1017/ Mannheim k. Ferd.
Heckel/pgs.145-152 (1861)
Divertissement (IIIs )/fur die Zither/ Seiner Schulerin dem
Fraulein/ Emilie v. Jordan/gewidmet von/A. Darr/Mannheim, K.F.
Heckel/pl.n. 1054
10 Unterhaltungs Stucke/ fur Zither componirt von/A.
Darr/Eigenthum des Verlegers MANNHEIM bei K.F. HECKEL/Seiner
Schuler Frulein Lina Lierheimer gewidmet/pl. n. 1181/
II Quodlibet/Zither-Journal 1873/16 Jahrgang Heft 7. pgs. 49-58/
no. pl. number (Heckel)
Damen-Schottisch (Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
Mein Oesterreich, Lied ohne Worte(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
Sechs nordische Originallieder ohne Worte(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
's Griawerl im Kinn. Lied ohne Worte(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
Erinnerung an die Jachenau. Sechs leichte Piecen(Ant. Bohm &
Sohn)
12 Tonstucke im leichten Style(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
Blumenlese, Lfg 1 bis 6(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
5 Piecen zur Hochzeitsfeier
Reminiscenzen aus dem Gebirgsleben(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
Original-Lieder aus dem Kornachthal(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
4 Unterhaltungsstucke fur die Bass-Zither(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
100 deutsche Volkslieder (ohne Worte)(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
Grusse aus der Heimath 4 diverse Piecen(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
Melodien-Album Enthaltend Marsch, Tanze, Lieder, Opern- und
Volksmelodien Lieferung 1-6(Ant. Bohm & Sohn)
Zither Duos
Elegie, (Kabatek) (see zither solos)
Gebirgslied und Jagerlied,(pl. n. 1324a/b) (H) (see zither
solos)
2 Lieder, (Kabatek) (see zither solos)
Lina-Walzer (Kabatek)(see zither solos)
Eligie (3 zithers) (Kabatek)
Eligie (1 bowed zither and 2 zithers) (Kabatek)
2 Lieder (3 zithers) (Kabatek)
2 Lieder (1 bowed zither and 2 zithers) (Kabatek)
2 Lieder (1 or 2 bowed zithers and 1 alt zithers) (Kabatek)
Lina-Walzer (1 bowed zither, 2 discant ziters and 1 alt
zither)(Kabatek)
Zither And Other Instruments
4 Tonstucke, (2Z and Guitar) (H) Nocturne Walzer Rondino
Andante
Music for other media besides Guitar or Zither
Augsburger Feuerwehr-Marsch (mit Ges. ad lib.), Orchestra,
(Kahnt.) Augsburger Feuerwehr-Marsch (mit Ges. ad lib.), Piano
score, (?)
Die Fruhlings zeit, lied (Lidertafel concert in Gotha).
Donald if you can fill up my zither hole the missing works of
Anton Boehm (& Sohn) I will certainly give you a copy of my work
and pay for your services.
Thanks, and may you have great luck.
ps. oh yea I would like a copy of your "Rondino" (Berben, 1973).
THEE: Subject: Deadline
I forgot. I am tring to finish up my work by May of 2001. I
have enough to write about now, but I could always use more.
Even one guitar work published during his life time would be a
very important find.
ME: Subject: new new math
I thought you might be interested in this website fighting "new
new math":
http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com
Did Hself tell Heidi that I thought her quartet "positively
sparkled" at the U of Md? (It'd be good for a laugh.)
ME: words mostly
What's "our first newsletter"??? Who is "our"??? What's the
occasion? Is it a monthly? I guess I'll find all this out when
I see it. I've never met a real person who could use the word
"pathos". I always steer clear because I'll never disentangle it
from "bathos". But maybe there's hope - I never would have
believed I could differentiate "exalt" and "exult".
My American Heritage dictionary doesn't hint at any alternate
definition of rotogravure besides the mundane printing process.
I'm wondering what similar word you and Hself are thinking of.
Hope to remember to do a web search on rotogravure before sending
this off. Ringo's album, by the way, doesn't have a song by that
name, or use the word anywhere.
The "alot" business is that we saw it on a punch bowl auction
page and you thought it was a finger slip and I said that I've
discovered many highly educated people in recent years who think
it's a word. The curious thing is that I absolutely don't recall
ever having seen "alot" before about 3 years ago, and now I see
it all the time. And people are very skeptical if you tell them
alot isn't a word. The standard response is, "Are you sure?"
Depending on the tone, this means they are willing to consider
the possibility, or else that they think you're crazy. Anyhow,
that night I searched eBay for "alot" and found 24,000 hits.
It's sad having to explain your jokes, but the subject line,
"inspite of all our spelling tests..." is funny because of
"inspite" ha ha ha.
Before it's faded forever from everyone's memory, ask Hself how
come that Raider td didn't count. I haven't met anybody yet who
could say, and I'm starting to wonder if we're dealing with the
Twilight Zone here, or something.
P.S. Update, from a web search:
In April of that year at Los Angeles's Cherokee Studios, Ringo began
work on the album which came to be called Ringo's Rotogravure. Ringo
had gotten the idea for the title from the Judy Garland song, "Easter
Parade." Ringo explained his title choice in a 1976 interview."You
know the song, `Easter Parade?' 'We'll get a photograph in the
Rotogravure' and I thought she was talking Russian or French...What's
she saying?... I have a book and I write odd things down and that was
one of them. So this year we did the album. It's a great title,
Ringo's Rotogravure. ...The tracks are like pictures in their own way.
Each track on the album is a visual."
So was Rotogravure a well-known photo magazine name?
ME: the quick note that grew
Nope, I wasn't "smart enough" to catch your misspelling of Val-
pak; I just copied the name off the envelope that I got that day.
Since your father sold out of Val-pak, I guess it won't hurt your
feelings that mine goes straight into the waste can unopened? I
am a very low-level consumer, yes indeed.
About opera, far be it from me to recommend any sort of music to
anybody, but my appreciation doesn't have anything to do with
being particularly musical, which I most definitely am not. It's
just a load of fun. You have to put some effort into it, like
studying the plot beforehand, but that all adds to the fun. I
probably didn't confide that opera is a more magical experience
for me (I think) with a record spinning away and a bunch of
reference books and librettos opened up in front of me on the
table, than real, live opera. There's lots of reasons for that,
although even that could change some day.
Like everybody else, I have the greatest mom in the world, the
exception being that, in my case, it's true. Just about every
time I go up to Baltmore for our Sunday get-togethers, Mom has a
few more opera boxed sets for me that she's picked up at thrift
stores. Is that living or what??? Just last Sunday she had
Turandot for me, which I really needed because I'll be seeing it
in Baltimore in a couple of months.
By the way, I don't think I thanked Chesapeake Va. properly for
being the home of the Dollar Tree stores, from which I bought
myself a couple of $1 Christmas presents in the form of
construction vehicle models, a bulldozer and a dump truck, whose
parts you punch out of 2 wooden boards and, with only mild head-
scratching, piece together without tools or glue (although I
highly recommend glue when you're all done.) They are really
neat!
Don't worry about not visiting my website - nobody who knows me
does! However, the web page I mentioned about Andre Stevenson
falls into a slightly different category, being a sort of open
letter describing a recent experience in my life. I had to write
it for several reasons, one of which is that didn't want to
repeat the story to everyone who was curious, and while I could
have said a lot more than what I wrote, I didn't want to say
anything less in answer to the question, What happened? It might
sound bigheaded, but I can't imagine them finding anyone anywhere
who'd have more of a chance of helping Andre join the human race.
I don't want to build up my hopes too much, but I spoke with a
principal at another school who seems genuinely enthusiastic
about bringing me on board. I'm waiting for the final word.
I'm still laughing over me confusing Heathers and the way you set
me straight ("Speaking of Paul, the Heather I was speaking about
is younger than his real stepdaughter...) I hadn't heard
anything about her prior scheming. My friend Hself gives me his
Beatlefans when he's finished with them - and he's always a year
or so behind in his reading backlog.
Yeah, ask Jorie about the Wiz. I mean, I guess there could be
two Jorie Gracen's out there involved in the visual arts...
I have to apologize for not going into details about the internet
jerk. The story about Andre is 8 pages. The material I've
collected on the lunatic is now over 400 Kb - and that's only
part of the story since his activity extends to phone, fax,
regular mail and involves not only his main target but her family
and friends.
THEE: Subject: ANDRE
Would love to meet this child's family! This kid
needs to be isolated for a period of time with trained
psychologists (and reading what you wrote, you probably could
pass for one) who would maintain a strict reward and punishment
system WITHOUT FAIL for a determined, useful block of time. Once
this child had the new roadmap etched into his little brain,
perhaps progress could be made with him as far as group
interaction, one-on-one interaction in full view and alone, and
educational strides to meet his actual age and supposed grade
level. Above all, he needs to be removed from his home
environment totally and perhaps permanently. My guess is that
this family is educationally bankrupt, on welfare with no one
productive in the family and many children by perhaps more than
one father, and possibly a home headed by females. Stereotypical,
I know, but am I close? Drugs, alcohol, prostitution? This
child had to learn how to be deceptive and manipulative. Where
did he learn that? Where is this child when he's completely
absent for weeks at a time? What does he do when he's in his
home environment? Wouldn't you like to know these things? My
guess is that you have no way to know, to visit or to find out.
AND FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK AND EFFORT, you get canned.
RIDICULOUS!
Wouldn't give you a red cent for the people running that school.
Frankly, you are better off OUT OF THERE and putting that KID
behind you and MOVING ON as soon as possible. YOU--EVEN IF YOU
COULD HAVE STAYED ON, WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HAVE A LASTING
AND IMPORTANT IMPACT ON THAT CHILD GIVEN THE LITTLE AMOUNT OF
TIME WITH YOU VERSUS THAT FAMILY AND THE REST OF THAT PERMISSIVE
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT. Somebody is AFRAID to get down to the nitty
gritty with this KID and it is likely (although I dislike the
term but it is a fact of life today more than ever) a racial
consideration. FEAR in the hearts of the teachers: whites afraid
of some sort of retribution from black organizations and blacks
simply protecting their own because that is their only way to
have the power and strength they feel they have long been denied.
MINE RIGHT OR WRONG and BLAME EVERYONE BUT OURSELVES. That's
just too easy, and frankly, that attitude makes me angry and is
just a cop-out of the biggest proportions. But Andre is without
question a victim of all of that! And you, my dear friend HAVE
BEEN AN EVEN BIGGER VICTIM.
Time to dust off your clothes, pat yourself on the back and tell
yourself that you are a dedicated, caring professional (even if
they don't want to pay you what I think you are worth) who will
one day be appreciated and noticed for his contributions with
children and education.
Ps: If I'm totally wrong about Andre's background and ethnicity
then IT'S TIME FOR ME TO PUT MY YEARS OF STUDYING CRIMINAL
JUSTICE (3.2 YEARS) INTO THE TRASH. In my earlier, Cinderella
incarnation, I wanted to be a probation officer working with
juveniles--would you believe! I had the most fairy tale view of
what a major impact I could have and my term papers heavily
exhibited that idealistic view. I am at my "old" age totally
sober to the realities OUT THERE. Not a pretty picture and so
difficult to make even a little positive impact. The problems
are too big, too great and too pervasive. And for various many
reasons, many do NOT want these problems solved. So in the
25 years since, I've seen NO CHANGE FOR THE POSITIVE IN THE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM REALM OR IN THE CRIMINALITY ITSELF--
LIFESTYLE, FINANCIAL, FAMILY, MENTAL/PHYSICAL PROBLEMS, ETCETERA,
THAT CREATE OR FOSTER THAT CRIMINALITY.
ME: Subject: edited by j.m.miller
I had a great time talking with you today. Shortly after hanging
up, a nagging suspicion that I was telling you some nonsense
crystallized. Those LC pieces I was claiming were "from the
collection of J. M. Miller" are actually from a completely
different person. The little stamps I've seen on lots of old
European editions say, "Gift of J. B. Millet." Sorry about
leading you astray and maybe getting you all excited about their
connection with somebody who has a Mertz connection. During the
conversation, I was wondering to myself why, having seen those
stamps so many times, I had never previously made a mental
connection to the Miller guy connected with Mertz. Now I know.
This is the sort of stunt my brain pulls all the time when put
under the gun. (I'd be a total mess in the orals for a
doctorate!) The moral is to never trust anything I say without a
pile of reference material at my fingertips.
I found those Fiset letters in the Soundboard endlessly
fascinating, and reread them after digging out so much 19th C.
American guitar music from LC. That's why I had a memory of the
J.M. Miller footnote in SB XVII/4 p29 fn3. It surely made an
impression like, "Oh, so *that's* the story behind my Mertz piece
published here in America!" (Likewise, I impressed Peter Danner
by remembering a little mention by Fiset of the Stauss "Autograph
Waltzes" arr. by Backus. See his note at the end of SB XXVI p84.
I only caught it by rereading Fiset after having copied the piece
at LC.)
I hope your thesis explains why the Schirmer edition of "I
Montecchi..." has the exact same (almost) intro as the European
edition of "Die Zigeunerin". With all of your research, that
question's probably child's play. Don't laugh, but I might
wonder if Miller didn't slap the Zigeunerin intro on Montecchi
and claim that as his "edit". Or maybe he's claiming the slight
modifications to the Zigeunerin intro as his contribution. (I
don't have the complete Mertz; these are the only 2 Opern-Revue
pieces in my collection.) In going back to the Fiset letters (SB
XVI/4 p21 col1) I found a funny littly thing. Fiset singles out
this very intro for praise: "Die Zigerinerim (Fine introd.)"
Anyhow, I will surely take another look at the Montecchi cover at
LC. I'll also see if I can find any Mertz manuscripts for you,
but I wouldn't get my hopes up. To be honest, after having spent
*lots* of time at LC over the last 19 years, I still don't have a
handle on how much 19th C. European guitar music they have.
Without having made a concerted effort to answer that question,
it appears to me to be a fairly small amount, relative to the
size of their guitar collection, and relative to the known
quantity of 19th. C European guitar editions, which is surely
huge. That's ok - they're not *obligated* to have any,
obviously. Still, the curious thing is that they have about a
*third* of the known 19th C. European works for guitar & piano.
I think that's very impressive, if not amazing. Could they
possibly have anything like that fraction of the works for solo
guitar? If they do, how come I haven't stumbled on it? If not,
how do we explain the over-representation of guitar & piano? I'm
baffled.
Besides the 2 Mertz arrangements discussed above, here are the
other places he pops up in my LC acquisitions:
Dabney/DABNEY'S FOLIO OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC FOR THE GUITAR
Mertz//Nocturne II
Dorn/Mertz/Barcarole
Gargiulo//A COLLECTION OF FIFTEEN SOLOS for guitar
/Mertz/Polonaise
/Mertz/Notturno
/Mertz/Flotow/Martha
Shide/Mertz/Deliciosa polka or Leonora polka
(I don't think this is "our" Mertz.)
Mertz//PORTEFEUILLE fu"r Guitarre-Spieler
(Nos. 1-18)
Sorry about the confusing "arranger/composer/title" notation
which I try to explain on my web page. The implication is that
Dorn and Gargiulo claim to have "edited" or "arranged" Mertz -
whether they really did or not - but Dabney presents Mertz's
Nocturne simply as a Mertz original. Anything there you need to
see?
ME: Subject: off to see the wizard
Thanks for another great visit. The album of 100 classical
snippets which had you groaning as you left had me swinging and
swaying. After it played out, I had to run both sides again.
My email friend Hself, whom I've been out of touch with for over
a year, and whom you know from the Standing Stone (I think) video
opening and closings, knows Jorie Gracen and will ask her about
the plates.
Was surprised to see the Yellow Sub Beatlefan dated from 1999.
Is that the same restored YS movie we saw last month? Or was it
re-restored? Or was there another round of hoopla because of a
theatrical release and/or dvd release?
Was also surprised to read about Ringo's Christmas album. Did I
know about that???
The author of my "Divas" book knows his Beatles history - so well
in fact that he felt it superfluous to mention Ringo's name.
"Miss Nilsson had a bout of pleurisy which kept her off the stage
for a year. Such attacks are not unknown among singers..."
My "Opening Nights At The Met" box set was still sitting there
the other night. I realize now I still haven't told you the
vaguely interesting story of how I came to get it.
ME: Subject: kids kids kids
I'm still plugging away trying to get on board with a public
school system that is one of the most troubled in the state,
maybe country. A principal from a nearby elementary school
seemed enthusiastic about my offer to work with the kids two at a
time for an upcoming standardized test. She called to say that
she's still working on it, but it hasn't happened yet.
I looked up Ed Berlin's review of Treemonisha, and along the way
found a review of Ed's "King of Ragtime." It was all very
fascinating. That business about Joplin heirs tossing out his
symphony and violin concerto and finalized Treemonisha made me
want to explete. Maybe I did. I was a little bummed to stumble
across negative comments here and there about Treemonisha. A few
people called it "boring". Gee whiz, I was swept away by the
delightful tunes. What operas is everyone else listening to that
are more jam-packed with hummable tunes?
I don't think I ever mentioned how floored I was by your
familiarity with Zora Neal Hurston. I had only ever heard of her
the day before, and you rattled off her life's work and history!
Maybe you'd better tell me what you *don't* know before I try
again to impress with my unbounded knowledge ha ha.
THEE: Re: kids kids kids
Thought of you as I caught a few minutes of the day's festivities
in WDC. Maybe next time. And, hey, when you make it to the
White House, I want an invitation . . . and a Cabinet post.
> I was a little bummed to stumble across negative comments here
and there about Treemonisha.
Exactly! One can't help humming or singing tunes like "We're
Goin' Around," "Good Advice," "Superstition," "We Will Rest
Awhile," "Aunt Dina Has Blowed the Horn," "Wrong is Never Right,"
and, of course, "A Real Slow Drag." I suspect some of the
critics are ragtime fans who only want piano rags, not opera.
One guy posted a comment on the ragtime listserv, referring to
Treemonisha as 4 hours, or as seeming like 4 hours. What an
idiot! The St. Louis production flew by in 90 minutes, with no
intermission; I was left craving more of the same.
I attended with Hself. He had gotten us free tickets in exchange
for writing the review. Only one show would fit his short
schedule in Missouri for the Joplin Festival. It was basically to
be the two of us and hundreds of school kids. "Ouch," we both
thought, but we had no choice. Opera staff was extremely
apologetic, but, as it turned out, the kids were the perfect
audience. Half or more were black middle school and high school
students. Many were actually reading the extensive program notes
prior to the production. Afterwards, several of the performers
came out on stage for an informal question-answer session. All
in all, it was marvelous. I've never seen a better adult
audience; in fact, I've seen some much worse.
If you want to read something *really* good, read King of
Ragtime. Much of it reads like a mystery. If the story of the
descendants' handling of Joplin's stuff affected you, read the
story of Joplin's lost opera, Guest of Honor...
THEE: Subject: Treemonisha
Finally got around to your comments on the Treemonisha book for
kiddos and to the remarks about plausibility. You'll love the
article I'm writing. It's a whole new spin on plausibility. I'm
telling you, every detail is there for a reason . . . . Within
the context of black folk religion, black educational history,
and Joplin's canon, it *all* makes sense.
THEE: Subject: Off to see the Microsoft Installation Wizard
The one casualty of my installing our new TV early last week was
the grounding wires for my turntables. Somehow, they jiggled
loose during all the moving and shifting. I hate grounding
wires! Why do we have them? Ask me what my favorite aspect of
CDs are and I'll tell you: No grounding wire! Hself had to reach
back and reconnect the wires--she's better with the light touch
than I am. I still hear a hum. I need to investigate further.
I'm looking forward to your report on what Jorie Gracen has to
say about those plates. Yes, I remember doing slow-mo with the
VCR to check out your friend at the McCartney premiere.
As you undertake your reading, you'll find that, yes, the super-
duper remastered "Yellow Submarine" did indeed come out back in
the late 20th century. So did Ring's Christmas CD. Somewhere in
one of those "Beatlefans," someone says that it was well on the
way to being the worst-selling Beatle-related album ever, which
is a pity, according to the writer.
In the 1987 film "The Untouchables," the opera singer is Mario
del Monaco. (1915-1982, according to
www.opera.it/English/Cantanti/Delmonac.html). He performs
something called "Vestila Guibba," which I assume is from "I
Pagliacci."
THEE: Re: edited by j.m. miller
What a fascinating conversation and email! Thank you very much!
Please promise your confidentiality regarding the Miller research
just until June or so. Yes I was thinking of that jb millet.
Another person you may have encountered is one Dayton C Miller, a
flute enthusiast w/ a substantial coll who corresponded w/ Ms
Bickford and apparently donated his coll to the LC.
As for the intro of I Montecchi, Mertz had no problems reusing
his material in distinct pieces. In fact parts of I Montecchi
are found in his magnificent Elegie and the Romanza Op. 13, No.
15 and one of the Weber's last thought fantasies (Chanterelle
issued all of these in the 80's). There was a second ed of I
Montecchi by Zimmermann in Germany ca. 1920 ed by H. Albert
which had the same intro but an extended finale. This was an
early work of Mertz that he reserved for his own use in concerts
and likely it evolved w/ time. I am listing all American Mertz
related documents, scores etc in my diss and I'm not sure if I've
seen the Dabney, Gargiulo or Shide/Mertz material.
Could I obtain copies from you-I would need all of the front and
back matter as well. Is the PORTEFEUILLE fu"r Guitarre-Spieler
(Nos. 1-18) in a volume? Ditson issued these in the late 19th c.
Is there a publisher listed (Aibl was the 1st publisher). I
thought the LC was missing some of the earlier numbers (#2) and
included numbers 19-21. Thus w/ this volume the LC has a
complete run of that series.
I found your observations regarding the curious quantity of
guitar and piano versus solo guitar lit. fascinating. I hope
this means you will someday discover some hidden treasures!
THEE: Subject: Walter Jacobs
Hope all's well. Just wondering if you'd found "Jacobs' Easy
Guitar Folio" and, if so, what you thought of it.
ME: Subject: send in the clowns
Although I might alert people to my school experience web page, I
absolutely do not authorized anyone to waste 8 pieces of printer
paper on it! Even if it's the back of scrap paper, it could have
been used for something else.
Yes, the tear-jerker is from (I) Pagliacci. If you copied the
spelling exactly, you've been duped 2x. It's "Vesti la giubba".
Sorry about the ground wire headaches. I know them well, myself
(the headaches, not the darn wires.) I remember thinking a
similar thing about cd players' ground wirelessness. In my mind,
it was more like, hey, this ain't fair.
Finished the complete Turandot today. It's got a pretty cool
story. Puccini died just before finishing up the music.
I put my car in the shop today. Looks like mostly good news.
The most serious problems will be covered by the service plan,
which expires in 8 days, which is why I bit the bullet and took
the car in.
ME: Subject: montagues and gypsy girls
No problem with the Miller research confidentiality - I'm not
sure I know anything to be leaked! Once again, sorry I got him
all fumbled up with Millet.
Thanks for the story on the intro of I Montecchi. Of course, I
had wondered if Mertz had just reused it, but I was kind of
hoping for an answer with more intrigue! Another reason I
thought it was bizarre that I Montecchi and Die Zigeunerin would
have the same intro is that I had assumed (naughty, naughty!)
that they were both part of the Opern-Revue series. You've set
me straight now.
I'm ashamed to admit that I only have one of the Chanterelle
volumes - Vol. IV Bardenkla"nge (Hefte 8-15). In truth, the
complete Mertz has long been number 1 on my guitar music wish
list.
I will gladly send you copies of Dabney, Gargiulo and Shide/Mertz
material, with the front and back matter (some of which may have
to wait until my next LC visit.) You left off Dorn because you
have it, I guess?
Yes, the PORTEFEUILLE fu"r Guitarre-Spieler (Nos. 1-18) is in a
volume. But bound by whom, I don't know. These were all
published by Aibl. When you say
> I thought the LC was missing some of the earlier numbers (#2)
and included numbers 19-21. Thus w/ this volume the LC has a
complete run of that series.
it makes me think there must be a second batch of them somewhere
at LC which I haven't come across.
THEE: Subject: Punk rock!
I'm listening to the Shaggs' CD, "Philosophy of the World"
tonight. It's really painful.
Thanks for the correction on "Vesta la Giubba." I'll have to
show you the credit at the end of "The Untouchables." it's hard
to read, even with our new super-duper TV.
I just started "A Day in the Life" by Mark Hertsgaard. So far,
I'm underwhelmed. He seems to be using Lewisohn as the basis for
a narrative history of the recording sessions. That's OK by me,
I guess, since I've noted in the past how Lewisohn avoids
narrative at all costs most of the time. One issue he raised
that piqued my curiosity: How did Ring and John avoid national
service, which was compulsory until 1960? Ill health and weak
eyesight?
THEE: Re: Darr
When you are looking for Darr's zither music, would you see if
there are any "Mannheimer Zitherjournal". published by K. F.
Heckel. I own Jarhgang I and IV. This is scored music for
zither solo and duos. I know Darr appears in other Jahrgang like
Jarhgang II. I would like copies of the Inhalt of all volumes
except I & IV. Also P.Ed. Hoenes publisher a "Zithersignale"
(text) I believe that there is a Biography in one of those
editions. Just a hunch. If you are ever in NYC the PUBLIC
LIBRARY has the complete run I believe.
ME: Subject: jacobs' easy folio
That was kind of you, to get back in touch about the Jacobs' Easy
Guitar Folio. Yes, I looked for it at the Library of Congress.
I couldn't find it in the most likely place, but that doesn't
mean it's not there somewhere. I did find Jacobs' Easy Guitar
Folio, Vol. 2 (1900). I copied a few pieces from it which looked
like the most fun (Happy Jap, The Pixies, and Bostonian March and
Two-Step), but, to be honest, most of the contents look like the
post-1900 Jacobs pieces I would regularly pass over when I was
going through the boxes for solo guitar arrangements. (I often
rationalized my decision by telling myself, "This is really just
guitar 1 of a duo, anyhow.)
I didn't want to put you to any trouble, but you do have me
curious about the first volume of Jacobs' Easy Guitar Folio.
Really, I wouldn't want you to send the whole thing, but if you
would copy the table of contents (or was that on the missing page
1?) and one or 2 of your favorites not listed on my web page, I
would be very appreciative. No more than 5 pages - which you can
send off for one stamp. Thanks!
ME: Subject: fiset...
I got a kick out of seeing the Fiset arrangement in the
Soundboard that came yesterday. Still chuckling about your
comment, "one might wonder about... Sheppard's reaction..." That
piece sure keeps you on your toes - even after a simplification
here and there.
Always keep in mind that anything in my collection from LC is
yours for the asking - don't be shy! Something that comes to my
mind is Foden's arrangement of Lange's Flower Song. It must have
been a very popular piece, based on the number of transcriptions,
and I think Foden's is the most artistic. Also, some readers
might have fun comparing it with Hildreth's Farewell To The
Flowers.
ME: Subject: darr
Yes, I got your wish list and I've put in a little effort looking
for Darr at LC. I'm afraid we're not going to find much there.
I was wondering if you'd like to give a call to talk a few
minutes about what I have and haven't found there. Phone calls
are cheap nowadays, and that would be much easier than trying to
communicate through our fingertips.
ME: Subject: mc
I've been to LC a couple of times lately, and it looks like we're
not going to find much mandocello there, at least as a featured
or solo instrument. I was wondering if you'd like to give a call
to talk a few minutes about what I have and haven't found.
ME: Subject: le nozze di baskerville
One more correction and I think we have it - Vesti la giubba.
Vesti with an "i".
Hey I could go for a Holmes opera, as long as it's written by one
of them Verdi/Bellini/Rossini boys who weren't afraid to throw in
a song here and there.
Mostly writing to ask about when we can get to the used book
store in Wheaton. This weekend is the last one of the month.
I'm free Saturday. Et, too?
Got my car back from the dealer's shop. Had 'em do everything
covered by the service plan. Makes you feel like you got $850
worth of work for $100 (the deductible.) That's if you forget
the service plan cost $500 (in 1996 dollars), and the $35 I paid
to have the plan transferred. Still, I can't complain.
Had a very nice time at LC today. Quick service; found most
everything I was looking for, and some goodies I wasn't. I'm
actually helping 4 researchers who found me on the internet find
things at LC.
I have another meeting with the principal at Seabrook elementary
this Friday. She wants to set things up with the 3rd grade
teachers whose students I'll be working with.
THEE: Re: jacobs' easy folio
You're welcome. Actually, I have little contact with other
guitarists, and I haven't met anyone in person who shows more
than polite interest in this stuff, so it's nice to have someone
to "talk" to about it. I'd be happy to send off the material you
request, and I'll respect your desire to limit paper, but I may
have to go to two stamps. A lot of volume one is arranged "for
one or two guitars" which seems to be essentially true; the first
guitar parts do work as solos, and the 2nd guitar is often little
more than what we would call chord vamps. If you could send me
what you have of volume two. . .
Much of Vol. 1 is also pretty insipid, such as the aptly named
"Sweet Pretty Waltz", but others like Boston Visit Valse and the
unfortunately named "Howdy, Darkies" are interesting. I'll send
them off as soon as possible.
Let me ask you about another matter. I've also got a copy of
Jacobs' Easy Folio for Mandolin Orchestra, laboriously made from
microfilm. It's missing the first 2 pieces of the first mandolin
score. I'm trying to work on them with a mandolinist friend, and
wonder if you might have seen this collection somewhere.
THEE: Up to my old tricks
I haven't replied from work to a message you sent home in a
while. Do you know how much trouble I had composing the previous
sentence?
Thanks for the message. I found it last night, after I got home
from Night One of teaching [esl] in this new semester. I had
trouble with that sentence, too. Class went pretty well. It's
the largest one I've ever had, and I always have large classes.
We had folding chairs down the aisles and along the sides.
Typically, the number of attendees drops off dramatically in the
first several weeks.
I continue to read Hertsgaard's "A Day in the Life." He
dramatically breaks no new ground. I think I've read 90 percent
of his sources. I did not appreciate reading today on the bus
that the lads smoked a jernt in the Buck Hose gents'. A
highlight of "Anthology" for me remains George's somewhat
quizzical expression when he denies that that ever happened.
Also, here's an old one: Are you (Mr. Hertsgaard) trying to tell
me that the Fabs accosted sailors for their rare 45s as they got
off boats from the U.S.? Are sailors known for their love of
rarities? Actually, Paul offers an awesome alternative
explanation for why the Fabs covered obscure tunes. The answer's
so obvious that i felt dumb not thinking of it myself. It's in
the "Run Devil Run" promotional interview in one of the
"Beatlefans" I just gave you.
THEE: Subject: impressed by your karma
dear donald i am a guitarist living in australia recently
completed my masters degree and first cd released am very
interested in flamenco and spent some time studying in italy at
the centro romano della gitarra under maestro regio notaro and
lucio dosso feel a little isolated in australia and would love to
bounce a few ideas off someone with a real passion for the guitar
in the pursuit of excellence soon vincenzo
THEE: Subject: Comments?
http://home.att.net/~liveletdie/Movies/hobby.html
THEE: Re: jacobs' easy folio
I just wanted to let you know that I'm having trouble finding my
copy of the Easy Folio (I play from my intabulatiions. Lute
players!). I hope to have time to do a better search over the
weekend.
ME:
You've got me curious! I promise I'll have no problems keeping
[whatever it is] under wraps. Thanks!
Donald
>I have just the thing in mind for you, but you have to promise
not to spread it around, ok? Almost none of it is in the public
domain, and it's all in manuscript.
THEE: Subject: misguided effort
Mr Sauter-- I was disturbed to see that your response to
increased trash pick up fees is to cease recycling. I do not
disagree with your assessment of the inappropriate trash fee
increase, but I strongly disagree with your "solution". Frankly,
county execs are not going to see the difference, and meanwhile
you propose to increase resource consumption and hasten our march
toward the day when we will pay far greater prices, either
monetarily or more likely in drastic reduction of living
standards for all, because we were profligate with our use of
natural resources. I think a far more effective effort would be
to attend and speak at PG County Board meetings, and bring
together a citizen group to increase media attention and force
the county to account for the fee increases, or change their
pricing policy. I will join you if you do.
THEE: Re: misguided effort
Thanks for your thoughts. I freely admit my proposal is more
spitefulness than solution. I have to wonder, though, if they
have to charge me for my recycling if there really is any benefit
to recylcing. Maybe filling up landfills and mining them
somewhere down the road - for a profit - is actually more
sensible. I already spend way to much of my life beating my head
against walls to attend PG board meetings - they've all heard
from me enough - but I'd be happy to my signature on a petition
someone else gets going. Also, I can assure you that my open
letter has had minimal, if any, effect. (Yours is the first
response ever.) As far as resource consumption is concerned, I'm
sure I'm in the bottom 0.01% (yes, I wrote that right) relative
to all Americans. I could write the book on the wonderfulness of
a minimally consumptive lifestyle. I think we're really in basic
agreement about resources and the environment, even if my testy
call for a recycling boycott would superficially suggest
otherwise. Again, thanks for your thoughts.
ME: Subject: lichner
Just wanted to say that I finally got together with my piano
partner after a long break and got a chance to hear Lichner's
Forget-Me-Not. You're right - it's very nice. Something about
it seems instantly familiar, even though I don't feel any other
specific piece trying to come to mind. I could believe it was
written by one of the "big boys" (Beethoven, Schumann,
Schubert...?) Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Hope the
transcription is working out. If you come up with a good one, I
suggest you send it to Richard Yates of Soundboard magazine.
ME: Subject: webers last waltz
I was wondering if you ever got the batch of Weber's Last Waltz
versions I sent in December? How's the tone poem going?
ME: Subject: our pal andre
Thanks for all your sympathetic feedback on my "open letter"
about my experience at the school.
>I just took the time to print and read all eight pages
Really, though, you weren't authorized to waste 8 good sheets of
printer paper on it! All your suppositions to fill in the gaps
in the saga were more-or-less right on. Yes, your 3.2 years in
criminal justice has held you in good stead. Here's a bit more.
>at what I'm supposing is a private school.
No, actually Glenridge Elementary is a Prince George's County
public school.
>I'm only too happy to learn that your school experience, with
what seems like an "autistic" child but is actually a child who
is very obviously highly manipulative for his own purposes,
wasn't about something that may have put you behind bars. Would
love to meet this child's family!
I don't think so. Andre's mother is missing and/or in jail much
of the time. The only other person in his house is a decrepit
great-grandfather. Andre's mother almost stabbed his father to
death. One of Andre's uncles was torched by family members.
Andre was sitting by another uncle on the porch once when someone
came up and blew the uncle's brains out.
The Ms. Hself in the story is a black woman who loves Andre and
has tried unsuccessfully to adopt him. She got to know Andre's
family, but admitted to being afraid for her life on her first
visit. She kept near the front door, ready to bolt. On other
trips to the neighborhood, she was harrassed by police, if you
can believe that.
Ms. Hself took me by surprise once when she said that a reason
that the school administration is so opposed to my means of
reprimanding Andre was not out of a concern for him, or a fear of
lawsuits, but maybe a concern for *my* well being. Apparently,
there was some school action taken against Andre one time that
resulted in a whole carful of Stevensons (Andre's family) showing
up one morning at the school. Not the best way to start your
day...
>This kid needs to be isolated for a period of time with trained
psychologists (and reading what you wrote, you probably could
pass for one) who would maintain a strict reward and punishment
system WITHOUT FAIL for a determined, useful block of time.
Thanks. Sorry if it sounds big-headed or obnoxious, but I don't
think there's a person in ten thousand who would have a better
chance to make a difference in Andre's life.
>Above all, he needs to be removed from his home environment
totally and perhaps permanently.
Right, although his mother won't allow it.
>My guess is that this family is educationally bankrupt, on
welfare with no one productive in the family and many children by
perhaps more than one father, and possibly a home headed by
females. Stereotypical, I know, but am I close? Drugs, alcohol,
prostitution?
Surely right on target, except that, as far as I know, Andre is
an only child.
>Wouldn't give you a red cent for the people running that school.
Frankly, you are better off OUT OF THERE and putting that KID
behind you and MOVING ON as soon as possible.
Great news! The principal at another school in my area listened
to my proposal and accepted it without modification. I am now at
Seabrook Elementary School working full-time with 3rd-graders,
two at a time in 45-minute sessions, expressly for the purpose of
raising scores on upcoming standardized tests. I enjoy it
immensely. Even going over the same material stays fresh when
you're working with different kids all the time. I work with 12
or 14 students a day. I could see doing this for a long time and
hope that it will lead to a salaried position. (Right now I'm
being paid as a substitute.) The school is only a 9 minute walk
from home - which is worth thousands of bucks a year to me.
Now about "putting that KID behind" me...
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SURPRISE!!! ANDRE HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED TO SEABROOK!
Yep, on my third day there, I look up and who's standing there
but my ol' pal Andre! It would take too much typing to go into
*that* story, but here are a few words. I was deathly curious
about how things were going at Glenridge with Andre after I left
- and now I know! Obviously, my departurre did not pave the way
for a new and improved Andre Stevenson. And you'll never know
the enjoyment I get watching Andre in action at Seabrook - now
that he's not my responsibility. They're still trying to
*lecture* him, fer crying out loud! Sometimes it's three on one
- and he just mows 'em down! Yeeee-haa! Hey, I wouldn't lift a
finger, or open my mouth, even, if I saw him lighting a stick of
dynamite. Not my job, ya know. Might get myself fired, ha ha.
ME: Subject: not much
Responded to a man in Beltsville who was displeased with my call
for a recycling boycott in PG. Tried to be conciliatory.
Anyhow, I don't see that I've been overly successful so far, ha
ha.
Thanks for the fine Post article on [beatle album] 1. I'd like
to think that the liner notes say more or less what the Post
writer said, but I doubt they do. By the way, is LMD really on
1?
Regarding Matt Busby, what is a "bombed out Old Trafford"???
Took me half way through the article before I realized we were
talking about football, and that Manchester United is a team.
I spent a large part of Saturday getting mailings off to folks
I'm finding things for at LC. Felt good.
Rousing game of Pictionary (my rules, of course) up in Baltimore
yesterday. Couldn't win that, or either card game.
THEE: Subject: You can say that again
Not much? Same.
We had another of our lazy weekends. I had to watch Oliver
Stone's film "Born on the Fourth of July" on Friday, in order to
write a CDNow review. The film is a master work, but unwatchable
at times.
I, too, found the Matt Busby article almost incomprehensible.
Now we both know more than most Beatle peedles about the late Sir
Matt.
Didn't "LMD" hit numero uno in the U.S.? I don't recall seeing
liner notes. What the booklet does contain is photos of tons of
foreign picture sleeves. I liked it.
THEE: Subject: LC music!
W-O-W! Was that ever worth the wait . . .
I grabbed the packet from my mailbox about 4:45, quickly thumbed
through it, and had to race from the house to take our dog to the
vet to have an ear infection treated. Sitting there waiting, I
kicked myself again & again for not taking the music with me
because I hadn't had time to see what was *really* there. Even
now, I haven't completely absorbed it, but I have thumbed through
the full contents.
THEE: Re: jacobs' easy folio
I still haven't found the Easy folio. I may ahve lent it out to
a friend. I did, however, find my photocopy of "Six Pieces for
Guitar and Piano", George Neville, London, 189(1?). I can send
that if your interested.
THEE: Subject: Guitar Music
I sent my last e-mail, went home, and found your kind package.
It made a great break from shoveling snow (not done yet). I
haven't had a chance to even really look at the music yet, but it
seems to me that a lot of it may not be "great" in the old,
European sense of "grand" or "transcendent", but it is great in
the newer, American sense of "this stuff is great" or "everybody
had a great time." Certainly, it has the potential to be as
great as much Renaissance lute music (Attaignant's "18 Basse
Dances" for example) for supplying hours of pleasure. And what
about so much of Sor and Giuliani? It seems to me that it is on
a continuum with all of that house music, a tradition that was
brought to an abrupt end with the invention of the phonograph.
One of the reasons that I was drawn to lute music in the first
place was for the window into a past world that it provides, and
19th c. American guitar music provides a similar window into our
grand- and great-grand-parent's quickly receding world. It's a
pity that so much of the guitar world suffers from virtuositis
brought on by too easy access to recorded music. Thanks again.
I'll wait to hear from you about the Neville guitar and piano
pieces, as you sound like someone who doesn't need excess paper
around the house. If I can't find the sheet music of the Jacobs
soon, I'll just send you some of my tab.
THEE: RE: webers last waltz
I did get the music. Thank you so much.
I've actually just decided to scrap the beginning and start over
with a new approach to the piece, so I guess that means it's back
to square one. But I have a lot of ideas and some things from
the middle and end will stay, so all is not lost. :)
ME: Subject: sump'n old sump'n new
Sorry I walked off with your video backlog list Friday night. (I
had laid it on top of the 50 guitars record, and grabbed them
both up.) Hope you survived the weekend without it. Next up was
Sorority Girl (1957, 61m). Corman quickie for AIP, *1/2. Give a
call if you need to know what to watch next.
Had a good day at LC yesterday. Called up all their solo guitar
music in their "rare" collection. Copied a baroque guitar book
from probably about 1680. Intend to put it up on the web in
modern tablature. Also copied some pages from a Russian guitar
book from about 1828. The Russian guitar has 7 strings and is
tuned differently from ours. Still, I always figured that by
retuning our 6 strings, you could do a good job with Russian
guitar music, and these pages confirm my theory.
On the other end of the spectrum, I found on the new books cart
called "The Amazing Music Pop Up Book". Besides all kinds of
tabs and windows, it had an electronic keyboard in the back.
Can't imagine any kid learning to read music from it, but it was
fun. Got some bemused looks from other users. Most of the
double-pages had a little group of guitar-playing bugs wrapping
up that lesson and telling you to go on. No points for guessing
the name on the drumskin - The Beetles.
Also found something in the main reading room that my mom needed.
She has a book about Bob Harrington that was missing 2 chapters.
She apparently sent them to other people for some reason. Now
she got curious about what those chapters were about. Chapter
one was a discussion with Blaze Starr (which you might enjoy) and
the other one was a debate between Harrington and Madalyn Murray
O'Hare. I think she's back in the news again. I saw a Post
article that said they finally found some bones.
I mentioned that I did a search on a couple of unusual names from
my Boys' Club Stephen Foster album. Forgot to say that one of
the names came right up as a singer for a Beatles sound-alike
group called the Fab Faux. Somehow I doubt that it's the same
geezer.
ME: Subject: gtr & piano
YES! I'd be thrilled with a copy of the guitar & piano pieces by
George Neville. I'm not familiar with them. Right now, guitar
and piano is about the only thing I have going as far as playing
with other people. My piano friend is named Elmer Booze. He
used to be a librarian at the Library of Congress. He has a bit
of a renown as page turner, believe it or not. (Search for his
name on the web.) Last week we played through a set of
arrangements by Nu"ske from the Barber of Seville. I whipped up
a tape with the extracts from the opera which Nu"ske arranged.
Now that's my idea of fun!
I like the way you stick up for "house music". I'd like to think
that you could find an excuse for saying the same things in a
letter to Soundbaord magazine, for example. Are you familiar
with it? I don't see your name among GFA members. The editor
Peter Danner has a regular column called "Return With Us Now"
that features 19th C. American guitar music. I view Peter as the
main authority on the subject.
ME: from this valley they say we are coming
I suppose it would seem a mundane sort of coincidence to anybody
else, but it's *very* bizarre to me how tracking down some music
for you has brought up Shreveport and the Red River. I'm not a
traveler or a geographer of any sort, and until recently I would
have only known of those two as names - and in the case of the
Red River half figuring it was fictitious. But both popped up in
one of my recent web pages - and having nothing to do with W.C.
O'Hare, or Treemonisha, or anything like that, but having to do
with *peanut butter* and the *Beatles*! Think I'm pulling your
leg? Check out
http://www.donaldsauter.com\ringo-beaucoups-blues.htm
THEE: Guitar Picking Right Hand
Hi, i see the letters p, i, m, and a to show which right hand
finger the notes should be picked with. I figure i is for index
and m for middle. I'm not sure if that's what they really mean,
can you tell me which each letter is for?
THEE: Re: from this valley they say we are coming
>I'm not sure I remember you mentioning "the priest with 12
grandchildren", but I thrilled vicariously to your story of the
O'Hare/Linden Grove/Shreveport connection.
Intriguing sounding story, huh? Perhaps I didn't tell it. WC's
baby brother, Joseph Vincent, entered the Jesuit priesthood as a
teen, much as two of their sisters became Sisters. While the
sisters became teachers for underprivileged kids (Sisters of
Charity), Joseph Vincent became the first English-speaking
missionary in Alaska! He spent 10 years at a French mission
school in interior Holy Cross, Alaska. Then, for whatever
reason, he dropped out of the order, returned home to Washington,
D. C., and married the girl across the street. They had one
daughter, Nina Marie O'Hare Wheatley. She had 12 children, 11 or
whom are alive today, most in the Washington, D. C. area--though
none in D.C., itself. My family knew of none of these people
until I dredged them up.
By the way, Pat & Mike have all the letters that Joseph Vincent
wrote from Alaska to a sister (not a Sister) who stayed in D. C.
and married. When I asked if the letters mention WC, Mike
replied that they do, and that many of the mentions are very
poignant. Seems JV had lost contact with his brother. He was
trying to re-establish contact by writing to the NY publisher,
presumably Witmark. WC, for whatever reason, wasn't replying.
JV was asking their sister to help him re-establish contact.
Sounds like a mystery there.
>I'm not a traveller or a geographer of any sort, and until
recently I would have only known of those two as names - and in
the case of the Red River half figuring it was fictitious.
What do you think forms the natural boundary between Oklahoma &
Texas????
>But both popped up in one of my recent web pages - and having
nothing to do with W.C. O'Hare, or Treemonisha, or anything like
that, but having to do with *peanut butter* and the *Beatles*!
Think I'm pulling your leg? Check out
> http://...
Just did. Cool. Funny about the free jars of peanut butter,
too. Wonder what George Washington Carver would think of all
this?
Speaking of Shreveport, and Bossier, and music, I guess
Shreveport was a hot bed of blues. Leadbelly lived there for
some time (much of it perhaps in jail), and today a bronze statue
of Leadbelly stands on the street directly in front of the main
public library where I've spent hundreds of hours reading
microfilms of 100+ year old newspapers. It's one of those
statues that looks so real, you almost want to speak to the
person. Anyway, Leadbelly stands there for all to see, guitar
hanging 'round his neck, one arm upraised and pointing toward the
neighborhood just to one side of downtown where he used to play
and live. A local historian wrote an urban renewal proposal a
while back suggesting that the "Texas Avenue strip" be restored,
along with the surrounding area. The strip was a black busines
and entertainment center, the home of much of the ragtime, blues,
and jazz to come out of the area. The adjacent neighborhood
included a legal red-light district known as St. Paul's Bottoms,
or simply "the Bottoms." The private school where WC taught was
at one end of the Texas Ave. strip; at one point, he lived across
the street from the school.
>Hope the doggie is doing fine.
Yippy yo, ki yay . . . or however the heck you spell that. The
doggy is gittin' 'long fine. Don't own a doggie. (BTW, clever
subject line.) But that reminds me of another funny story. At a
conference for the Society of American Music in 1999 in Fort
Worth, TX, one of the many Easterners in attendance gave a
presentation on a cowboy song. All very fun and interesting, but
I had difficulty restraining the laughter when he repeatedly
pronounced "doggie" like "doggy." The former should have a long
o sound. Later I mentioned it to my ragtime pal Hself, whom I
met for the first time at that conference, and to several other
New Yorkers with whom we were hanging out. Not one of them had an
inkling of the error. [the stray calf under discussion here is
really spelled dogy or dogie.]
THEE: Subject: Kapsberger
Thank you for the note and the intriguing ideas. Lowering the top
string to a D (an eminently unobvious solution) certainly does do
away with some difficulties in this piece. I found it to be
surprisingly readable with a little practice - possibly because
there are already two other D strings. This tuning begins to
converge on Baroque lute tuning (ADFADF) with its several
intervals of a third between strings. I wonder if your idea
parallels the changes in, and motivations for, lute tuning in
this period.
I have sometimes imagined an expert system (sequence of decision
rules) that would produce the most efficient fingering for guitar
music. One selectable option in this program could be to
determine the best alternate tuning. Of course, this option would
find little enthusiasm with most players - except those using
tablature notation!
THEE: Subject: The list!
So that's what became of the list! I looked for it a little bit
yesterday. I printed a fresh one this morning. I had watched
"Sorority Girl" Thursday night. It was great!
Thanks for coming over Friday. I hope you had a tolerable
evening. Those were weak videos we watched, but interesting.
Early Saturday morning, I noted that the MONO button on my amp
was pushed. We watched those essential videos in mono! Does
this mean we have to rent "Alf Bicknell's Personal Beatles Diary"
again and listen to it properly?
I plunked down some dough for a used copy of the "Yellow
Submarine" DVD today, when I returned Alf. I've already started
recording the music track for you. What should I say next?
a) I'm sorry
b) You're welcome.
Keep score by rounds!
Blaze Starr, although not born in this state, is a fine
Marylander!
I'm looking forward to watching the bulk of "The Spirit of St.
Louis" tonight (that's movie two on your list). Meanwhile,
Hself's praying for snow tomorrow.
THEE: I got your mailing today at school. Let me work through
the material and email you this wknd. Just wanted to thank you
and let you know it arrived. I must say the purple type pasted
(!) amendment to Montecchi is annoyingly curious and yes that
Shide piece is not a winner-if it's by Mertz I cannot identify it
yet-there are some Mertz idioms but some passages that are not at
all like him (the 8ves at the end). Very interesting!
THEE: Re: gtr & piano
I'll send off the Neville asap. Actually, as I look at the title
page, I realize that only the piano parts are by Neville. The
guitar parts are apparently solos by someone(s) else, composer
not specified.
As for a letter to the Soundboard, I'd be happy to, except that I
would feel like I was jumping into what appears to be an on-going
discussion without having been in on the beginning. As you note,
I'm not a member of GFA. For about twenty years I thought of
myself as a lute player, and wasn't particularly interested in
guitar. When my youngest child was born (now 21 months, and 17
years younger than his next oldest sibling), I no longer had time
to tune my lute. I also hadn't ever been particularly inspired
by the Spanish repertoire, which was about all that I knew of for
guitar. Happily, I've discovered this wonderful music. Had I
known of the facsimiles in Soundboard, I probably would have
joined.
THEE: On another note... it appears that the WGS [washington
guitar society] is at a crossroads. Will it sink or swim? Hself
has realized that he is not capable of doing the newsletter
anymore. I'll probably step in for an issue or two.
It has really broken my heart to watch the WGS diminish bit by
bit. I was really upset watching the newsletter fall as well. I
sincerely hope that Risa will get on board. I may even get
involved again in some fashion. I really miss what it was.
O'h well...
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