What a wonderful and beautifully written tribute to the memory of your mother, her motherless childhood, the powerful connection between Jewish history, culture and sensibilities to Music, the powerful Maternal role it played in your upbringing and finally to Brahms himself.
Thank you, Lady Mary. I'm trying to understand all these things. What made us musicians? And don't forget that you were always the singer and musician par excellence for me, and that, as a young singer, I strove to emulate you. I still remember your performance of two things in particular: Debussy's "Noël des enfant qui n'ont plus de maisons" and "Once I had a sweetheart." The memories of those performances still give me goosebumps.
Great essay, but wish to note that our mother not only eventually graduated from high school but went on in fact to earn a Masters degree and did not remain a high school drop out.
What a beautiful essay. I’ve always loved playing the Opus 117 Intermezzo, but your additional insight has certainly deepened my appreciation for the piece. I’ll have to listen to the Gena Raps recording as I very much appreciate a simpler, more straightforward performance when it comes to Brahms.
I would love to know what you think of Gena Raps's performance. It's a little heterodox. But I absolutely agree with you about the interpretation of Brahms.
I had a listen to entire album in addition to that particular intermezzo, and wow, what a refreshing take on Brahms’ shorter pieces. Too often I think his music is approached with a wild ferocity that overshadows the meticulous construction of the voicing, but Raps’s recordings are clear and controlled without being altogether heartless. It’s an album I’ll be returning to!
This is beautifully put. I love her restraint. I do think being a woman -- an old woman at this point -- and a mother informs this music in a very different way. He was nearing the end of his own life when he wrote these pieces, and perhaps the wild ferocity is somewhat out of place in light of their lateness.
Another masterful creation, Julia, intricately woven together into a seamless essay!
The back-and-forth between Swafford and Rosen was great.
The recollection of your mother's childhood love of music reminded me very much (and I hope you'll forgive me if I've mentioned this before) of the novel "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers. The young girl Mick Kelly in the novel has a similar experience of the discovery of classical music. It's very powerful. The passage where she lies on the lawn of some rich person's home to hear Mozart wafting out from the radio is divine. It's one of my wife's favorite passages in all of literature.
My mother ended up getting her GED and going to night school. She told me how in English class she was assigned A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man, and started the book while waiting to meet a friend at a bar. She was so overcome by the book's beauty that she put her head down on the bar, and her friend thought she was drunk!
Just a note -- my kids loved Hansel & Gretel, and they got to see a lovely English language production put on by the Met as their holiday production (they do an English language holiday production each year... some are huge hits, like Julie Taymor's Magic Flute setting, and some are best forgotten, such as their attempt to do Barber of Seville, cut down, in English... and I heard that plain sucked.)
Lol. Hansel and Gretel is a great opera, its pigeonholing as a children's opera notwithstanding. Next week we're going to see a 1-hr adaptation in English of Magic Flute . . . I'll let you know how it goes!
1-hour? Whoa! I can see doing that by getting rid of most of the Tamino-Pamina stuff and just sticking to Papageno stuff.
As for my children's operatic proclivities, I'll have you know that D's favorite opera is The Nose, in particular the William Kentridge production (and I'll just give away why: the production projects a lot of text/symbols on the curtains/background, and D loves that. He can read the cyrillic alphabet, and knows some Russian from watching YouTube videos)
Also, it's very funny (in a way that D "gets").
There's a different production where they inserted a section tap-dancing noses, and it worked well
Yesterday I pulled up Met Opera on Demand and asked D what he wanted, and I scrolled, and he asked for Norma. I don't know why... he rushed out after the overture. I listened through Casta Diva, and then had to switch as Stu came back (he's not into opera).
They're used to Verdi & Mozart, bc I made them watch all of it. They used to run in, shout the name of the opera, and run out as a game.
P.S. I remember once attending a concert with Gena Raps. She sat next to me slumped over with her head in her hand. I asked if she was okay, and she replied she was just listening. It reminds me so much of Kazin's relatives in his description, and also, honestly, of the way I've listened all these years.
"leaving us nothing to overhear." Oh that line pierces to the heart! I love it.
What a beautiful essay, Julia. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Melanie. I'm still writing about Brahms after all these years!
Julia,
What a wonderful and beautifully written tribute to the memory of your mother, her motherless childhood, the powerful connection between Jewish history, culture and sensibilities to Music, the powerful Maternal role it played in your upbringing and finally to Brahms himself.
It was very moving.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Mary Cleary Lewis
Thank you, Lady Mary. I'm trying to understand all these things. What made us musicians? And don't forget that you were always the singer and musician par excellence for me, and that, as a young singer, I strove to emulate you. I still remember your performance of two things in particular: Debussy's "Noël des enfant qui n'ont plus de maisons" and "Once I had a sweetheart." The memories of those performances still give me goosebumps.
Great essay, but wish to note that our mother not only eventually graduated from high school but went on in fact to earn a Masters degree and did not remain a high school drop out.
And did all the coursework for her Ph.D.!
What a beautiful essay. I’ve always loved playing the Opus 117 Intermezzo, but your additional insight has certainly deepened my appreciation for the piece. I’ll have to listen to the Gena Raps recording as I very much appreciate a simpler, more straightforward performance when it comes to Brahms.
I would love to know what you think of Gena Raps's performance. It's a little heterodox. But I absolutely agree with you about the interpretation of Brahms.
I had a listen to entire album in addition to that particular intermezzo, and wow, what a refreshing take on Brahms’ shorter pieces. Too often I think his music is approached with a wild ferocity that overshadows the meticulous construction of the voicing, but Raps’s recordings are clear and controlled without being altogether heartless. It’s an album I’ll be returning to!
This is beautifully put. I love her restraint. I do think being a woman -- an old woman at this point -- and a mother informs this music in a very different way. He was nearing the end of his own life when he wrote these pieces, and perhaps the wild ferocity is somewhat out of place in light of their lateness.
Another masterful creation, Julia, intricately woven together into a seamless essay!
The back-and-forth between Swafford and Rosen was great.
The recollection of your mother's childhood love of music reminded me very much (and I hope you'll forgive me if I've mentioned this before) of the novel "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers. The young girl Mick Kelly in the novel has a similar experience of the discovery of classical music. It's very powerful. The passage where she lies on the lawn of some rich person's home to hear Mozart wafting out from the radio is divine. It's one of my wife's favorite passages in all of literature.
My mother ended up getting her GED and going to night school. She told me how in English class she was assigned A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man, and started the book while waiting to meet a friend at a bar. She was so overcome by the book's beauty that she put her head down on the bar, and her friend thought she was drunk!
Wow, Paul! I haven't read "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," but I will now. Thank you so much for the recommendation.
Just a note -- my kids loved Hansel & Gretel, and they got to see a lovely English language production put on by the Met as their holiday production (they do an English language holiday production each year... some are huge hits, like Julie Taymor's Magic Flute setting, and some are best forgotten, such as their attempt to do Barber of Seville, cut down, in English... and I heard that plain sucked.)
Lol. Hansel and Gretel is a great opera, its pigeonholing as a children's opera notwithstanding. Next week we're going to see a 1-hr adaptation in English of Magic Flute . . . I'll let you know how it goes!
1-hour? Whoa! I can see doing that by getting rid of most of the Tamino-Pamina stuff and just sticking to Papageno stuff.
As for my children's operatic proclivities, I'll have you know that D's favorite opera is The Nose, in particular the William Kentridge production (and I'll just give away why: the production projects a lot of text/symbols on the curtains/background, and D loves that. He can read the cyrillic alphabet, and knows some Russian from watching YouTube videos)
Also, it's very funny (in a way that D "gets").
There's a different production where they inserted a section tap-dancing noses, and it worked well
Yesterday I pulled up Met Opera on Demand and asked D what he wanted, and I scrolled, and he asked for Norma. I don't know why... he rushed out after the overture. I listened through Casta Diva, and then had to switch as Stu came back (he's not into opera).
They're used to Verdi & Mozart, bc I made them watch all of it. They used to run in, shout the name of the opera, and run out as a game.
I LOVE ALL OF THIS SO MUCH
Frankly, tho, the ones they asked for (the three kids together) most often:
- Barber of Seville (in Italian... with captions -- modern productions very peppy&funny)
- Hansel & Gretel (in English... also with captions - it's tough to understand, even so!)
- La Cerentola (the Met production is funny)
- Magic Flute (any production, even in German, as long as it wasn't tedious - one version was Norwegian, I think, with a Star Wars theme)
They're not as into Verdi as I am. And Mozart.... well, they've definitely seen the statue drag the Don to hell in every way I can find.
P.S. I remember once attending a concert with Gena Raps. She sat next to me slumped over with her head in her hand. I asked if she was okay, and she replied she was just listening. It reminds me so much of Kazin's relatives in his description, and also, honestly, of the way I've listened all these years.