Good evening, all! I've been lurking the past couple of days. I got a Gershwin medley on Sunday to score for a pops concert in April, and I'm racing to finish it this week. I need the money to cover the quarterly health insurance premium due March 1.
Favorite Indiana song: "On the Banks of the Wabash," particularly as sung by the divine Miss Joan Morris. It was written by the brother of Theodore Dreiser, author of SISTER CARRIE, and I believe it's one of the finest examples of nostalgia personified in music and text.
I don't want to vacation in London, I want to own a flat there! Then my vacations would be treks to Oxford, Aldeburgh, Jane Austen's home, and Edinburgh, where my friend John Wallace, one of the greatest living trumpeters, runs the Scottish Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Speaking of Jane austen, I've been reading PRIDE AND PRESCIENCE. The idea of using Austen's characters as a Regency Nick and Nora Charles is fine, if the author could better approximate Miss Austen's style and flair with words. Jane is the literary equivalent to Mozart in my book, both the greatest in balance, harmony, wit, and humanity.
Back to George and Ira!