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Category Archives: Beginnings
Diana Rigg and the 3rd Happy Song for Dark Times
I just learned that Diana Rigg passed. Rest in Peace, Diana Rigg. Diana Rigg was probably my first childhood celebrity crush. I likely first loved Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins the way tots love their nannies, but I had my … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Cinema Scope, Live! On Stage, Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News
Tagged Big Band, Bond Girl, Broadway, Diana Rigg, Freud, Game of Thrones, German, Julie Andrews, Laurie Johnson Orchestra, Mary Poppins, Medea, Miss Marple, Mit Schirm Charme und Melone, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Patrick Magee, The Avengers, TV Theme
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4/25/20
Today is Ed and my anniversary. 27 years together. 22 years married. And it’s a Saturday. Last time our anniversary fell on a Saturday was five years ago. It won’t happen again for another six years. So of course … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Notes in the News
Tagged anniversary, Broadway, chocolates, Covid 19, gay marriage, pandemic, quarantine, shelter in place, wedding
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DROPPING NAMES
A Collection of Mini Memoir Memories You may have seen this going around on Facebook or Twitter: People listing names of celebrities they have met in their life times, but including one name that is a lie. Then people … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Cinema Scope, Musicabilia, Notes in the News, The Teaching Artist
Tagged after school drama program, Al Gore, Andy Serkis, anecdote, celebrity, Celeste Holm, Christopher Walken, Elijah Wood, Frank Sinatra, Gollum, High Society, Isabella Rossellini, Jack Gilford, Jennifer Anniston, Jessica Hecht, Jude Law, Kathleen Turner, Lecy Goranson, Leonard Bernstein, Lord of the Rings, Marni Nixon, NYU, Paul Rudd, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Political Psychology, Sean Mathias, The Dead, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Viggo Mortensen, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Witches, Woyzeck
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DREAMS and MEMORIES
A Dream Memory for the Grand-Niece Our niece Linden is homeschooling her children since the shelter-at-home order took hold in her state, just as it has done for millions of families all over the planet. She sent an … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Literary Lyricism, The Teaching Artist
Tagged brother, devils, Dream, false memory, first grade, homeschool, Linden, Lyra, Memory, story, Tatu, trauma
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The Belligerent Homophobe Who Ruined Rocketman For Us
The three or four loud sneezes that erupted behind us during the 20 minutes of previews were a warning shot that all would not turn out alright for us during this screening of “Rocketman” in midtown Manhattan. But the … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Notes in the News
Tagged 2016 election, Arrival, Ben Wishaw, bigot, Braveheart, Cloud Atlas, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Ed Elder, Elton John, Gay, homophobia, James D'Arcy, LGBTQ, love scene, MAGA, movie, Pride, Rocketman, Taran Egerton, Trump, Trumpian
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The Knight Marries the Prince
A Kindergarten Original Blesses a Quaker Wedding Friday morning I heard a wedding song I realized I would have to sing that night at an actual wedding. Class K-1 at the Brooklyn Children’s School was the third kindergarten … Continue reading
A logo for FREDRICK BYERS
I’ve been producing theater with my husband Ed as “Fredrick Byers Productions” for some time now, since 2002 I believe. Now that we are producing a short film I thought it was about time I realize my vision for … Continue reading
HAPPY SONGS FOR DARK TIMES #2: Miss Marple, Tatu, and the Chipper Harpsichord
Theme from Miss Marple – Ron Goodwin and his Orchestra A while back I promised there would be a series of Happy Tunes for Dark Times to highlight what I consider sure fire musical mood boosters. What with ever escalation Twitter … Continue reading
Composing “Divertissement in the Snow”
“You should compose a piece for the family to play at Christmas”, my husband Ed said to me a few weeks ago (actually it was November 10, I have documented evidence, I’ll get to that later, not that it really … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Chamber Works
Tagged Carols, Christmas, composer, composing, divertissement, Ed Elder, family, heterophony, holidays, Keep it simple stupid, Mark Twain, night, obligato, Schweineterzen, Snow, soprano, Steve Hepner, Viola, violin, winter
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NAZI LEGACY ALIVE AND WELL IN AN AUSTRIAN CEMETERY
I came upon a plaque on the church wall in the cemetery at the edge of the Austrian ski resort town of Kitzbühel that profoundly disturbed me. The chiseled marble commemorates a soldier who died in World War II. There … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Notes in the News, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged Adah Gleich, Austria, Berlin, cemetery, churchyard, Confederate, Fatherland, Germany, grave, Heimat, Heldentod, Holocaust, Homeland, Karl Prieler, Kitzbühel, memorials, Monika Skowronski, Nazi, Propaganda, Schindler's List, Stahnsdorf, Stolpersteine, Tirol, Vaterland, Vergangenheitsbewältigung, World War 1, World War 2
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SONGS to RING IN the NUCLEAR APOCALYPSE
Remember the good old days of daily nightmares of nuclear armageddon? They’re back! Yippee! So let’s replay some golden oldies of the atomic age! Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War satire “Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to Stop Worrying and … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News
Tagged Alphaville, apocalypse, armageddon, Atomic, Blondie, Bomb, Breathing, Dancing with Tears in My Eyes, Dear Leader, Dr. Strangelove, Forever Young, John Oliver, Kate Bush, Last Week Tonight, North Korea, Nuclear, Please Don't Nuke Us, Prokofiev, Russians, So Long Mom, Sting, Tom Lehrer, Ultravox, War, We Will All Go Together, We'll Meet Again, Weird Al Jankovic
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The Birthday Evocation Born in a Memorial Service
It’s Ed’s birthday today. Happy Birthday, Love. And as is tradition now in our relationship, I will gift Ed another viola/piano duet I compose for the occasion, each one called “Evocation”. This year my husband will receive Evocation … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Chamber Works
Tagged 15th Street, Alzheimers, chamber music, chamber piece, duet, Evocation, Evocation XXIV, Friends of Friend, KenKen, Meeting House, memorial, New York Times, piano, Quaker, service, Vince Buscemi, Viola
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In Which I Complete the 30 DAY SONG CHALLENGE
Fun on Twitter. Last month I took on the #30daysongchallenge. Here are the complete results, lightly annotated: No kidding. Kurt Weill’s haunting masterpiece. The subject of one of this blog’s most widely read pieces: Speak Low, Phoenix, Speak Low… … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Melodies Linger On, Musicabilia
Tagged #30daysongchallenge, Beyoncé, Brazil, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Charlene, Cyndi Lauper, Dschinghis Khan, Ella Fitzgerald, Gangsta's Paradise, I'm So Excited, Ian McKellen, Kate Bush, Kurt Weill, Linda Ronstadt, Love and Anger, Miss Marple, Neil Young, NPR, Philadelphia, Scissor Sisters, She Bop, Speak Low, Tears for Fears, The Beatles, Tue Colors, Wind of Change, Witches, Yes Sir I Can Boogie
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50 WAYS TO BE 50 – Guess Who Turns a Half Century Today (cough)?
Might as well have some fun with it…. As my mother said, you can’t avoid turning 50 if you want to live… 4. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon 9 … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Melodies Linger On
Tagged 50, 50 Cent, 50 Shades of Grey, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, 50 Words for Snow, birthday, Dollar, Euro, fifty, gif, half dollar, Kate Bush, Paul Simon, States
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