TUESDAY THOUGHTS: TODAY I LEARNED (Written 12/29/2009)

I left the television on last night. 

I woke up to Tavis Smiley's voice, as he introduced Herb Alpert and Lani Hall. 

They have worked together for decades, and have finally collaborated on a musical project.

 

I admired them as I listened. 

I was cheering for love, and the manifestation of other people's dreams and good ideas. 

I was enjoying that someone, whose music was introduced to me in my childhood, was still making music. 

Tavis was like a good therapist-- asking all the right questions to illicit insightful and helpful answers.

Lani Hall said, "I was just in my room singing. I didn't realize there was some kind of a gift there". 

I could identify with that. Nothing they said was particularly churchy, but I sensed that I was being ministered to. 

So many thoughts came to me as they spoke. 

"See. It's never too late to do what you love". 

"Hold on to your ideas and dreams." 

"Love is powerful,  but not oppressive." 

"Never become so preoccupied with the approval of others, that you fail to produce anything at all".

During the interview, Alpert mentioned the Russian composer Mussorgsky. I'd never heard of him, and a sudden curiosity led me to search for "Pictures at An Exhibition". 

I listened to clips, and then read online bios. 

In light of musicians who struggle to practice, perfect, and produce their art, while maintaining full time employment, Mussorgsky's story seemed strangely contemporary. 

It is common for life's circumstances to cause one to put one's gifts aside. 

It's common to be discouraged, and not nurture one's gifts at all. 

It is tragic when one's own behavior, habits, thought processes, and circumstances, are the root cause of delays in the birth of artistic treasures. 

We often appreciate what people leave behind, and as we enjoy the offerings of others, their life stories help us to understand how pain and trouble often fuel greatness. 

In spite of everything, however, love wins.

The new project is titled "Herb Alpert and Lani Hall Live: Anything Goes"

There's M. Mussorgsky music at amazon.com. 

The following is a bio written by James Reel.

M. Mussorgsky

"His musical education was erratic; he toiled as a civil servant and wrote music only part-time, influenced few, if any of his contemporaries, died early from alcoholism, and left a small body of work. Yet, Modest Mussorgsky was a towering figure in nineteenth century Russian music. 

His works exhibit a daring, raw individuality, a unique sound that well-meaning associates tried to conventionalize and smooth over. 

He is best known for "Night on Bald Mountain" (bowdlerized by Rimsky-Korsakov), "Pictures at an Exhibition" (a difficult piano suite orchestrated by Ravel), and the dark, declamatory opera "Boris Godunov" (polished by Rimsky-Korsakov) -- bastardized works all, yet each one full of arresting harmonies, disturbing colors, and grim celebrations of Russian nationalism.

Mussorgsky died in poverty, but he was born to a wealthy landowning family. Under his mother's tutelage, he developed a facility at the piano, but entered a cadet school in preparation for a military career. He joined a choir, and discovered Russian church music, which would profoundly influence his later work.

Upon graduation in 1856, Mussorgsky entered the Russian Imperial Guard. That year, he started to socialize with the composers Dargomizhsky and Cui, and through them Balakirev, with whom he began composition lessons. During this period he wrote small piano pieces and songs, and after an emotional crisis in 1858, resigned his commission with the intention of composing full-time. 

He began to go his own way as a composer in 1861, but was preoccupied helping to manage his family's estate. The decline in his family's fortunes led him to accept low-level civil service positions. 

He joined a commune with other intellectuals, and became a proponent of musical Realism, applying the style to his songs. 

He had difficulty finishing works in larger formats, but his music circulated widely enough, that by the late 1860's, he was cast with Balakirev, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Borodin as part of Russia's "Mighty Handful."

Mussorgsky toiled many years at his masterpiece, "Boris Godunov", which reflected in music the inflections of Russian speech, and met with great success in 1874. That year he also produced his innovative piano suite "Pictures at an Exhibition". Yet, his heavy drinking led to his dismissal from government service in 1880. 

Friends offered some financial help, and Mussorgsky occasionally accompanied singers at the piano, but his finances and mental state quickly deteriorated. 

He died in 1881, leaving it to posterity to sort through and complete his unfinished works of unruly genius."

#tavissmiley

#herbalpert

#lanihall

#mmussorgsky

#musicmatters