The Northwest Files

Bach or Bluegrass?

Choral music anytime soon? I don’t think so.

I saw a post recently that covered a talk presented to choral conductors in Maine, I think it was. It said that because of the pandemic, rehearsals and concerts would not be safe for choral singers, and I guess, by extension, for audiences, for at least two years. 

Most of my friends know, I think, that my thing is high-end choral music. Along with folk/bluegrass, I’ve participated for decades. Now, without it, I am bereft.

But I’ll have to cope because these days, working in choral groups is dangerous. Here’s why: When we sing, we breathe deeply, often sing at fortissimo, exhaling great lungfuls of air over long periods of time. It is very physical. 

We sometimes/often produce an aerosol of saliva as we sing. Sometimes more than just an aerosol. We’re in very close quarters, usually standing shoulder-to-shoulder, so in today’s reality, this is dangerous. 

Back in olden times, if one us as much as had a cold, we would sit off on the side during rehearsal, as far from the other choralists as we could get. These days, that’s not far enough. 

There is nothing - nothing at all - like being up there on stage where the music is being made. Being in the audience at a live performance is wonderful. But being on-stage, where one is surrounded and immersed in sound, is much better. Even in the worst of times, it fills one’s heart.

I sometimes become frustrated with the choral experience. Choral ensembles can be political and conductors can be huge pains in the ass. Never mind. I still miss it desperately. I’m really going to have to find something with which to occupy myself until this passes.

Maybe GarageBand? Hm. You know GarageBand, right? The recording app on iPhones and iPads? I understand that is quite popular and easy enough to use that maybe, perhaps, even I can use it.

Oh, look! There’s my iPad! Oh, look! A banjo sitting right over there in the corner of our den! 

See? This pandemic may force me to new, undiscovered, levels of antisocial activity.

“Duelin’ Banjos,” anyone?

-JFT

"Four Dead In Ohio"

Been thinking about this ominous and incredibly sad date in history. Today, May 4, 2020, marks the 50^th anniversary of the murder of four college students and the injuries to nine others by the Ohio National Guard.

Students had gathered to protest – mostly peacefully, though some rocks were thrown – the incursion into Cambodia by American forces during the Vietnam war. The Guard’s General Robert Canterbury – let that name live on in infamy – ordered his Guardsmen to load and lock their weapons. Armed soldiers later said they fired on the unarmed students because they feared for their lives.

Of the four dead, two participated in the protest. Two did not. Didn’t matter. “Four dead in Ohio.”

This awful incident was of course commemorated by Neil Young’s powerful anthem, “Ohio,” recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

I was just about to graduate college when this happened. In solidarity, I wore a peace sign on my graduation robe. I think I still have it somewhere. It’s hidden away far better than is the rage I still feel about this.

A small digression: Our state’s governor said a day or so ago that she expects to open Oregon, closed because of the coronavirus, on July 6. That’s a long way off.

How long? I don’t know, as I’m calculating this lockdown’s duration in terms of hair length. Today marks the beginning of the eighth week that Laura and I have been practicing isolation. The day we started was also the last day I had a haircut. I do not expect to get another haircut until everything is opened and I can do so safely.

My hair, what I have left of it, isn’t anywhere as near as long during the early ‘70s. But it’s getting there. So how long has our isolation lasted so far? About two inches.

How much longer will it last? We shall see. Probably at least another couple of inches.

But at least I’m alive and my hair still is growing. That’s more than be said for those four students who were murdered 50 years ago today. I think that I’ll go and stoke the rage I continue to feel about this despicable act by listening to “Ohio.” Turned up loud.

-JFT