Radio Music

The other day I walked into the kitchen to get something out of the refrigerator and heard Home on the Range being played on PBS radio. It took a moment to believe what I was hearing because it’s not the usual type of music that station plays. My kitchen radio is tuned to PBS radio and plays 24/7. Having been a listener of that station for many years I was a bit astonished. The orchestration was so lovely I paused to listen. I expected the music to end any second but as it continued, I leaned against the counter and lost myself in the arrangement. As it played I wondered what orchestra had recorded it, and hoped it would be identified when the music ended. It was the Boston symphony with Arthur Fiedler conducting.

The song brought back a sweet memory of the ‘music practice’ Esther and I had every day with Mom when she was closer to 100 than 95 years of age. The sessions started one day when I was inspired to create an activity Mom could participate in. I took her by the hand into the kitchen and sat her down at the round maple table in the middle of the room. As she got comfortable, I pretended to be a music teacher. We did some warm up breathing exercises and sang the do re me scales a couple of times, then began singing songs like Old Kentucky Home, Down In the Valley, On Top Of Old Smoky, Amazing Grace and Home On The Range.

Mom had a wonderful time so the next day we repeated the ‘lesson’. Soon we were a trio when Esther came from Baton Rouge for a visit. Between the three of us we remembered more songs and added them to our repertoire. Esther had a wonderful idea of going to the library to get song books to help us with the lyrics. We searched thru music books and made zerox copies of songs we liked, lullabies, hymns, cowboy, patriotic, and pop songs from the 40s and 50s. When Esther went back to Baton Rouge she took the copies with her and made us four duplicate song books.

There was an extra for anyone who might want to chime in. Jerry did join us once when he was visiting from Groesbeck, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover he knew all the words to many of the songs, especially the hymns we sang! Adeline took part in our daily singing sessions when she came for a long visit from California. We coaxed Dad and Charles to join in but they refused. Dad preferred watching ball games on TV and Charles sat outside under the patio umbrella which was between the kitchen door and the wood shop entrance, and talked with Pierce, a neighbor. From time to time, either Charles or Pierce would come thru the kitchen on the way to the refrigerator for another cold beer. They would make disparaging remarks about our singing, but I noticed they stopped talking when we sang certain songs, so we must have at least been carrying a tune!

Esther has an unusually fine voice and enjoys singing and listening to music although her hearing loss is becoming profound. Charles had a wonderful singing voice when he was young. He was often asked to sing solos in school pageants but those days were long gone. When I was in high school I sang alto in the girl’s glee club and even after all these years, I recall the phrase ‘the diadem of beauty reigns’ from the Waltz of the Flowers.

My taste in music is varied. I often stop in the middle of what ever I’m doing if I hear Ode to Joy and hum along with it. Aaron Copeland’s Appalachian Spring using the shaker hymn as the main thread throughout is so distinctive a melody it too is a favorite. I often tune my bedside radio to an FM station that plays oldies like Willie Nelson’s ‘Georgia’, or turn the dial to a good Jazz station. On my computer I often listen to a web station broadcasting only piano music while I’m online. Although I love the 1812 overture, and anyone playing the violin will get my attention, I do not have a good ear for music, but both my daughter and son are blessed with musical talent.