Well, dear readers, I’m reminded of Mr. William Shakespeare’s immortal line, “Romeo, oh Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo.” Of course, I would have written it a little differently for these here notes, perhaps, “Oh Romeo, where the HELL are you, Romeo, and where the HELL is your art?” But we’re not talking about Mr. William Shakespeare and his flower yakking. Those who know me well know that I love discovering composers of classical music who are new to me, especially composers of tonal American music, like my favorites Robert Ward, Howard Hanson, Aaron Copland, Norman Dello Joio, and numerous others. Two nights ago, I was in bed calming down after a long day of writing, playing on my phone as I do, whilst listening to my classical music station, KUSC, and playing was a wonderful piece of American-sounding music. I thought for a moment it might be the orchestral suite to Aaron Copland’s opera The Tender Land. But I know that pretty well and I realized quickly it was not that. I just kept listening and it was really beautiful, well-crafted music. Who the HELL was the composer. Then the DJ came on after it was done and said a name I’d never heard of before that I didn’t quite catch, but I did catch the name of the piece, The Acadian Land. I knew the Acadian I knew was Virgil Thomson’s Acadian Songs and Dances. Anyway, I got up immediately and went to the computer and searched the title, but nothing came up. I then went to the Tube of You and found it quickly, The Acadian Land by one Romeo Cascarino, from an all Romeo Cascarino album put out by Naxos. I thought that maybe he was one of the new guys writing in the old guy style. But no, he was one of the old guys writing in the old guy style. Born in 1922, passed away in 2002. He had no real successes, sadly, but taught at Combs College of Music for many years. He did write on opera that received several performances, entitled William Penn. Many famous orchestras have played his music. He was self-taught. Happily, the entire Naxos album was on YouTube and I grabbed it all. I just got around to listening to it earlier this evening and it is stunningly beautiful music, expertly orchestrated, filled with gorgeous melodies. I gather that his most played piece is a sonata for bassoon and piano, and I found that, too, and it’s quite nice. Most of his major pieces are on the Naxos CD and if you like beautiful American music it comes highly recommended by the likes of me. Free to hear on YouTube. The Acadian Land is my favorite, so start there. But his Pygmalion ballet is great, well, it’s all great.
Otherwise, yesterday was like all the recent days. Almost eight hours of sleep but not arising until one. I’m back to my bad habits of late nights because I’ve been writing after posting these here notes. I answered e-mails, I futzed and finessed, mostly adding and subtracting, then I wrote about three new pages. I made chili dogs for food, and they were okay, not great. I think I’m done with my hot dog cravings for a while. Then I wrote more new pages, took a break and tried to find something to watch and didn’t, so I just zoned out with some irritating YouTube videos. Then I wrote more new pages about ten total, and I’ll do a couple more before bed and that should give Muse Margaret almost the same exact number of pages she got last week, namely 113. And here we are.
Today is, I think, a holiday, so no mail or bank stuff, so I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, then I’ll futz and finesse and send the new batch of pages to Muse Margaret. After that, I’ll eat something, and then at some point I’ll write new pages and then watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is mostly writing. I’m still not sure how long this book will be – impossible to tell at this point. We shall see.
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, futz and finesse, send Muse Margaret the new batch of pages, eat, write new pages, and watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: I discovered so many kinds of wonderful music via the radio when I was younger. What were some things you discovered quite by accident whilst listening to the radio? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have discovered a new Romeo.