Happy weekend!
It’s Saturday and so it’s time for poetry and music to start off the weekend:
POETRY
City Trees
Edna St. Vincent Millay
The trees along this city street, Save for the traffic and the trains, Would make a sound as thin and sweet As trees in country lanes. And people standing in their shade Out of a shower, undoubtedly Would hear such music as is made Upon a country tree. Oh, little leaves that are so dumb Against the shrieking city air, I watch you when the wind has come,— I know what sound is there.
My Heart Leaps Up
William Wordsworth
My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.
MUSIC
You may recall that the NPR Music folks invite artists to perform in their office next to their “tiny desk.” That’s not possible right now, so various artists are performing from home. Here is John Legend performing an NPR “Tiny Desk Concert”—but from home, of course: https://www.npr.org/2020/08/03/896709650/john-legend-tiny-desk-home-concert
And just because Candide struck a chord last week, here’s “The Best of All Possible Worlds” (pay attention to lyrics): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmc72fCJivA.
As we all know, Leonard Bernstein was the long-time conductor of the New York Philharmonic, besides having written the great Overture from Candide, now a canon of the Classical music repertoire. It is a beautiful tradition of the Philharmonic that, in honor of Bernstein, the Overture is always performed without a conductor. Notice that it is the Concertmaster who gets the orchestra started, before taking his seat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMWor-NI47I
Enjoy your weekend,
Glenn
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