Noonday Concert features Schumann music
At the Dec. 1 Noonday concert at Portland’s First Parish Church, Christine Astrachan, soprano; Bruce Fithian, tenor, and Beaumont Glass, pianist, presented an all-Schumann concert to a receptive audience.
All of the performers are accomplished musicians and the program of Schumann’s Lieder, duets as well as solos, was well-chosen. We would even have enjoyed a solo by the pianist, but the free concerts take place in a brief half-hour.
With the program was a second sheet, giving biographical notes about German composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856), as well as the texts and also the English translation of each song. It was very helpful.
Schumann’s musical training began at the age of 6, and he wrote his first composition at age 12. After high school, his mother endeavored to place him in the law school at Leipsig. There he met and studied music under Friedrich Wieck, a well-known and celebrated piano teacher of the area.
A law professor, sympathetic to Robert’s love of music and his disdain for his law studies, encouraged him to practice and become a virtuoso pianist.
Schumann later married Friedrich Wieck’s daughter Clara, over her father’s protests. She was an accomplished concert pianist and encouraged him in his composing. He had produced over 100 Lieder, many of which were composed for Clara to play.
Unfortunately, Schumann had frequent periods of depression in later years, and he died in 1856 in an asylum.
Clara edited her husband’s work, “still the principal interpreter of his genius, not only at the keyboard but in its preservation.”
Clara died in 1896, after many years of concert playing, and raising her children.
Another piano company for our list
I’ve mentioned the various piano manufacturers’ names on pianos, some at our local Grange halls. Last week I had a call from Larry Berry, pianist at White Rock Grange, in Gorham. The name on the piano there reads “John Voss, Boston.” Larry also played for several weddings last summer at the Red Church, in Standish. He has also played as a guest at the Grange I attend, Presumpscot, in Portland. We members appreciate his playing.
I also checked the name on the piano at Portland’s First Parish Church. It is a Yamaha.
Many friends gathered at the American Journal party
We enjoyed the evening party Nov. 17 at Rookie’s in Westbrook. It celebrated 40 years of the American Journal’s publishing. Refreshments, listed as hors d’ouevres on the newspaper’s invitation, were several large pizzas, which were popular. They also served a beautiful, big frosted birthday cake.
Among the guests were Mayor Bruce Chuluda and his wife and daughter, Paul LeConte, Roland LeMay, Bob Lowell, Gorham’s Police Chief Ron Shepard, and Westbrook City Clerk Barbara Hawkes and her husband, Al Hawkes. Barbara looked lovely in a white ensemble.
Roland LeMay told us how well his twin sons have done, each owning his own home. The twins used to be newspaper carriers for Harry several years ago.
We were interested in Al Hawkes’ account of his recent trip to the annual convention of the International Bluegrass Music Association, in Nashville, Tenn. It used to be held in Knoxville, but Al said the group had outgrown those headquarters. This was the first year in Nashville, with 20,000 attending. Isn’t that exciting? Players came from Italy, England, and Switzerland, even. Al said the two from Italy played banjo and fiddle; the man on banjo knew English quite well, but the fiddler didn’t know much English.
Al said that as soon as the southerners hear the word “car” pronounced as we northerners do (not sounding the “r”), they suspect that the speaker is from Boston. “Where y’all from?”, they asked Al. When he said “Maine,” they asked its location. “Is there anything beyond Boston?”, one man asked. Al thinks they were joking with him, but they did decided that Maine must be on the Canadian border.
Al said that, as he plays his mandolin with the young players, he finds it quite difficult to keep up playing at the pace the 18-year-olds play, and even harder, with the 14-year-olds.
We think Al plays remarkably well. He is now 75 years old. He told Harry that he stayed up three nights playing, until 3 a.m., but the fourth night he got a full night’s sleep.
Al told us that he didn’t know about it, until he got back from Nashville, but his CD won the recording of the year award at the Maine Country Music Association in Lewiston. It is an annual award.
Congratulations, Al.
A new cookbook
I received a gift last week, “A Taste of Trinity,” the recent cookbook of Trinity Lutheran Church, Westbrook.
It is a handsome book, with a picture of the church on the cover, and a page about the church’s history, plus a letter of appreciation and thanks. Their 125th Anniversary is in 2007.
On the bottom of several pages, under the recipes, are interesting words of advice:
JUST FOR TODAY – I will live through the next 12 hours and not try to tackle all life’s problems at once: and Take Time to READ – it is the fountain of wisdom.
At the back of the book are two pages labeled “Calorie counters,” listing the numbers of calories in various foods. For instance: apple (raw) small – 70, bacon (crisp), 2 slices, 95; breakfast cereals, Corn Flakes, 1 cup, 96.
The book has 165 pages of contributed recipes. You’ll find this week’s recipe from this cookbook.
Recipe
Almond Fingers
1 cup finely chopped almonds
4 Tbls. confectioners sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp. cold water
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. almond flavoring
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Cream butter, add sugar, flavorings and water. Mix in flour; add nuts last. Roll to shape, about 1-inch long (this is easier if dough is refrigerated). Bake in 350-degree oven until ends begin to brown (slightly). Roll in granulated sugar while hot.
Submitted by Cleo Sherman.
I made Greta Wallace’s Cranberry Pie this weekend, and it was well-received. In last week’s recipe article, I mentioned that Greta makes her top crust for this pie in lattice-form. Since I’m not a lattice-expert, I decided to use my cookie cutter in the shape of a Christmas tree, for my top crust. The cutter is 4 inches tall and 3 inches wide, at its widest point, so I was able to get 7 nice trees for the crust. Perhaps I should have tinted the top crust with green coloring? Anyhow, the pie is delicious.
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