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Saturday, July 26, 2008

aguas de marco 

Bossa nova music denotes heat and sensuality to my mind...and today I sat in front of YouTube watching Elis Regina singing "Aguas de Marco". Tears streamed down my face at its loveliness. She is so pretty and happy as she sings, pixy haired and gummy grinned, filmed some time before her early,accidental death from alcohol and prescription drugs.
Antonio Carlos Jobime wrote the original in his native tongue and it refers to the heavy March rains which signal the end of summer. He also wrote the English translation and flipped the globe, having lyrics which reflect the coming of spring and the promise of life. Both versions are rather bittersweet in tone. Suzanne McCorkle sings a great version, in English and Portuguese, but her voice in more sex kitten-y than Regina's smooth lilt. Already in my research of this song I found other blog entries on it and a nice Wiki entry. Greg came in from working outside and paused to watch Regina singing, and we both were transported.
A pass in the mountains,
A horse and a mule,
In the distance the shelves
rode three shadows of blue

And the riverbank talks
of the waters of March,
It's the promise of life
in your heart, in your heart

A stick, a stone,
The end of the road,
The rest of a stump,
A lonesome road

Friday, July 25, 2008

Polo Match 

Never been to a polo match before. We got a chance to take one in free a couple weeks back. Free lunch, and a good view. It rained hard that morning, then it cleared off. In the city it was dreadfully humid. Jungle sticky.

But the polo match was northwest of Indy, on the plain, which produced a generous breeze. I didn't realize the polo field would need to be so large. It was a fun event, helped by the bottle of Chardonnay in the car. When the horses charge down the field line past you towards the goal it is pretty exciting.

Check out some pics at Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28187306@N06/
Disregard that picture of Smokey Joe.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Casavant Frères delivers Opus 3868 

My cousin, Jeff, is Chair of the Music Department, Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska. In June his school just completed its organ-building project with the help of Casavant Frères. We hope to see the completed Opus 3868 this fall.

Fresh off the truck

It took a semi-truck to deliver Concordia's newest musical instrument Tuesday morning. The organ, constructed by Casavant Frères in Quebec, was unloaded into the recently renovated recital hall in the Music Center on Concordia's campus. Three men from Casavant Frères made the 1,400 mile trip along with the organ, switching from French to English as they worked with their Nebraskan counterparts to make sure the last 100 feet of the delivery went as smoothly as the long drive from Canada.

"We are very excited to have the instrument arrive. This is a big day," said Dr. Jeffrey Blersch, chair of the Department of Music and university organist. "There are some pieces I recognize as they come off the truck, and I am really looking forward to see what the organ looks like in our facility."


Specifications for the Organ

http://www.cune.edu/finearts/music/2296/

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