Well, dear readers, there are simply times when you must listen to a serenade to you, something you find incandescently beautiful, that feeds your heart and soul with said beauty, that just transports you. And so, what do I listen to when I need a serenade to me? Well, I’ll tell you even though I’ve written of this piece of music before – it is Ralph Vaughan Williams’ gorgeous Serenade to Music, the orchestral version (originally written for choir and orchestra – and that’s nice, too, but I always default to the orchestral version and who’s de-fault is that? Mine, of course, and do remember that the fault, dear readers, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. I have no idea what that means in terms of these here notes, but it seemed appropriate at the time I wrote it, which was a mere ten seconds ago. That Vaughan Williams could sure write a pretty tune and he sure could orchestrate it magically. I discovered this music on a Chandos CD of Vaughan Williams music, conducted by Vernon Handley, and it put me away and I became addicted to it – this would have been around 1984 or thereabouts, maybe a year later. It was a CD of Vaughan Williams and Delius music. I played that piece over and over again – I never did get around to listening to the Delius until two decades later. Since then, I’ve heard almost every iteration of the orchestral version, and none touch the Vernon Handley on Chandos including his performance a few years later on EMI. Then again, I’ve never really heard a bum version of it. I’m listening to one now on the Tube of You done by a university orchestra that is pretty great. I mean, really pretty great. If you’ve never heard this orchestral version, you can find almost all the recorded versions on YouTube – search Vernon Handley and the title and start there and let us all know what you think.
Yesterday was a peculiar little day. I got ten hours of needed sleep – not arising until two. That, of course, precluded me from attending the matinee at the Group Rep. But I really needed to sleep and so I did. Once up, I answered e-mails and did stuff on the computer, then showered. At four-thirty, I joined Robert Yacko at Art’s Deli (his choice), where we dined. For the first time in two years, no mask necessary when entering, nor did they ask for proof of vaccination. We both had omelets – he a cheddar and green peppers version, and I a bacon, cheese, and scallion version. We both got the hash browns, and I had a toasted sesame bagel. They do a nice omelet there and it was nice and low calorie, too. We were there almost two hours, gabbing. It was nice.
Then I came home and watched a motion picture on Amazon Prime entitled Live Free – Die Hard, the fourth installment in the franchise, and one that came over a decade after the previous installment. The thing about the original film is that it plays in one location, has heart, is clever, has a great villain, and is believable in most ways. The subsequent films all fall prey to the “bigger, louder, more action” formula that is the kiss of death. It’s not that Live Free – Die Hard is terrible – it’s competent and even fun in certain ways, but its plot is so preposterous in any way that you don’t invest in it as you do the first film. And the action sequences are even more preposterous than the plot, if you can believe it – the problem is, you can’t believe it. But Bruce Willis is fun, the gal who plays his daughter is good, too. Maggie Q, who I just saw in The Protégé is one of the leads here – prior to The Protégé I had no idea who this person was. Anyway, it wasn’t overlong, so that was a plus.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll have a telephonic conversation with my set designer and maybe one with my costume person. I’ll do some writing, some additional re-writing on a sketch – I did some updating to it, but I can do it better and less ham-fisted than I did. I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll eat something fun and then at some point I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I’ll probably get to the theater early, as they’re going to tape out the stage so the actors can see what’s what. Then I’ll go have a light meal nearby, and then we’re back rehearsing. Not sure what I’m doing yet – I may do what I did the other day and start at the beginning of the show and work through things. You know, get as far as we get, and then continue that process for Wednesday and Thursday, cleaning up stuff, blocking stuff that isn’t blocked, so that by Saturday, we can begin rough run-throughs. Friday is off, then we have our long rehearsal day, and then Sunday and Monday are currently off.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, have telephonic calls, write, re-write, hopefully pick up some packages, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What is the orchestral music that you listen to that is magical, addictive, and which feeds your heart and soul? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had my heart and soul fed by a serenade to me, Serenade to Music.