Music was always a big part of my life, and seemed to punctuate the years. I first remember my Mother taking me to meet Mrs. Clark, my first music teacher. She lived only a few houses away from us. This lovely lady gave me confidence that I could enjoy and play the piano. I started lessons when I was five years old.
I spent five wonderful years studying music with her. These were a part of my elementary school days when mothers were always proud to brag on their kid’s talents and drag us to recitals. Mrs. Clark always commented I made her recitals “look good.”
I never understood what that meant at the time.
My piano teacher and I had a wonderful rapport. I would go in for my lesson, watch her play a piece of music, and then I would play it back to her. Yes, there was sheet music in front of us, but I just recalled what she played. She could play a six page piece of music by Bizet and I could easily replay it.
I didn’t realize that I couldn’t read music until I was invited to be a part of the Apollo Boys Choir, a well-known boys’ choir based in Florida. I took part in a Houston audition and won a “slot” in their summer program in Ashville, North Carolina. This seemed to be a wonderful opportunity, so at 10 years of age, I traveled to the University of North Carolina Asheville Campus for six weeks with the Choir in summer camp.
I remember how we studied so many songs in Latin, such as Schubert’s Stabat Mater.
Once I heard it sung, I could sing it back to them, but when I was asked to read ahead a few measures, I was lost. Their choir director came over to me and asked: “Can you read music?” I answered: “I thought I could.” But the truth was reverberating in my head! I couldn’t read music!
That glorious summer offered wonderful opportunities to learn great music, learn how to read music, and learn how to appreciate musical entertainment. The choir group was always being asked to attend some special performance in or around Asheville. I think I preferred the string quartets and the madrigal singing groups.
When I returned to Houston, I had a sit-down talk with Mom and gently told her that I discovered I couldn’t read music. I had taken five years of piano lessons from Mrs. Clark and couldn’t read a note. Luckily, that was remedied that summer, but my music reading skills were stunted.
Mom had a few “words” for Mrs. Clark and hauled me to my new Music Teacher, a very old but highly recommended piano teacher, Ms. Ruth Burr. She had two grand pianos in her living room. She would sit at one piano and instruct me; I would sit at the second piano and hopefully follow her instructions. She confirmed to my mother that my skills reading music were limited, but she would remedy this with overwhelming assignments.
I took two lessons per week and spent three hours a day preparing for each lesson.
Mother had the idea that I was headed to become a classical pianist, but I didn’t know how this was going to correlate with Dad’s idea that I was to be the family doctor! I knew I just loved music.
I often challenged Ms. Burr to play a piece of music to see if I could play it back to her. I always did, which seemed to confuse and slightly anger her.
My classical music career in piano would come to a screeching end when I broke my left arm playing football. I tackled a kid followed by another huge guy falling on top of me. My arm was broken in three places with bits of bone poking through the skin. Although the doctor put my arm back together, it just seemed my left hand never had the power or maneuverability it once had.
My music was enhanced by wonderful experiences singing in Middle School and High School choirs. These totally enriched my life and provided a variety of opportunities for friendships. I rarely took advantage of these friendships due to my shyness. Of course, my high school buddy, Billy Bammell, changed this!
I continued singing when I went to college at Tulane University. It seems like I never missed a performance by the New Orleans Symphony. Of course, I had the cheap seats! I remember sitting in the back row of the second balcony at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium. I could actually stick my hand up and touch the ceiling! This was a true “nose bleed” section, but the music was wonderful.
Tulane offered me the opportunity to compliment my science studies with both Art History and Musicology. I discovered I was a “reasonable” baritone singer, but my love of directing a symphony was overwhelming.
Directing the New Orleans Symphony
As assistant to Tulane’s Special Events Director, I had the opportunity to meet and entertain all the special guests on campus. This included Werner Torkanowsky, the Conductor of the New Orleans Symphony. I actually prepared a special marketing campaign to increase student participation for his on-campus performances. He and I struck up a great friendship.
I had the privilege to be one of four students in his Music Directing Class at Newcomb College. As a final exam, we had to learn how to direct a major piece of music. I chose Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, one of the most renowned cantatas of the 20th Century. I knew this would be a part of Werner’s Spring Concert Series, so it seemed appropriate.
Our mid-year final exam was directing our selected piece of music in front of the instructor. He observed only a few minutes of each student’s work, but asked me to continue on and on! I couldn’t understand why I had to keep going when the other students only had to endure five minutes of critique. As it turns out, he was impressed with my work and invited me to actually direct an afternoon performance of Alexander Nevsky at the Municipal Auditorium.
My mind said that I could do this, but my body seemed less willing. I could barely keep my legs from collapsing. The compulsion to throw up was overwhelming, but I was not going to let him down . . . . . I was not going to let myself down!
I walked onto the stage, recognized the orchestra and the Concertmaster, assumed the podium and tapped my small baton. The choir and soloist were ready, and for the next hour my soul soared through Prokofiev’s wonderful Russian music.
The performance would have been perfect except for the last few minutes of the musical work. With crescendo after crescendo filling the Auditorium, I seemed to have awakened a bat that was asleep in the rafters. This poor trapped animal decided that swooping over the orchestra and out over the audience would be the highlight of its day! I did my best to ignore it, but the percussion section of the orchestra made a few “swats” at it swooped over the cymbal player.
I was told that the audience saw very little of the creature, but it added just that extra touch to a performance. Werner Torkanowsky told me I handled it like a true professional, but my dignity was diminished. He commended me for directing the performance without music. I had made the music manuscript part of my working vocabulary. I could still remember directing the cantata in my head for many years to come.
Memory: Benefit or Curse?
Being able to remember things has always been a “strong suit” for me. I realized this in the eighth grade when my English teacher assigned us to learn lines from Longfellow’s Paul Revere’s Ride. I thought we were supposed to learn the full poem; the other students realized they were only required to learn four lines.
When it came time to recite our lines, Mister Goody-Two-Shoes stuck up his hand and volunteered. I recited the whole poem to the looks of horror from my classmates. My teacher pointed out I had over-done the assignment and made a few derogatory comments. I never understood why she would put me down in front of the class, but the other middle school kids gave me the nickname Paul Revere which the teacher picked up on and used herself.
I felt some payback was necessary. I realized my teacher had one super grievance. She hated for people to leave bits of chalk on the floor. The whole class would frequently remark about how she screamed and ranted about pieces of chalk being ground into the wooden classroom floor. For this reason, I decided my payback would involve chalk.
This was eighth grade English. What can you do in an eight grade English class for payback! I decided to draw a piece of chalk on the wooden floor. Our teacher wore thick glasses that seemed to put her at a disadvantage for seeing objects in front of her. She left the room on a disciplinary matter only to return to an obvious piece of chalk on the floor. She flew into a rage!
Who left this chalk on the floor! No one answered. She reached down to pick it up, but there was only the drawing of the piece of chalk on the floor. She kept grasping at an imaginary piece of chalk only to come up empty handed. The room was dead silent. No one said anything, and barely dared to look at her. I stared directly into her eyes.
Nothing was ever said by anyone. She never acknowledged the event; no one in class felt it important enough to mention the event elsewhere. I did become aware that I was rarely called Paul Revere again.
Tulane A Capella Choir
I loved being a member of the Tulane A Capella Choir. This was a perfect opportunity to build on my Middle School and High School choir experiences, but the perfection required for the Tulane A Capella Choir was so much more intense. I had to audition!
The choir experience included great opportunities for international travel. Our most extensive experience involved an exchange program for the U.S. State Department where choir members would live several days with families in thirteen Mexican Cities. This gave us the chance to observe every aspect of Mexican Culture including a huge range of socio-economic environments.
I remember staying with one family who were hugely proud they could share one chicken wing in the evening soup. This added a few drops of grease to improve taste. The experience was humbling because I realized Americans take so much for granted. We were in Mexico to share the beauty of music, but these wonderful people taught me far more than I could ever give back.
My most enriching college music experience came with my participation in Dr. Roberta Capers Madrigal-Singing Group. Roberta came to one of our choir sessions and asked for a baritone volunteer, but warned that it would come with lots of extra practice. I leaped at the chance to sing madrigals. Arthurian Legends, Medieval Castles, and madrigals were a huge part of my psyche.
My deal with Dr. Capers was that I would sing in her group and get special consideration in her Art History Classes. Our madrigal group took part in many special events including singing light opera at a special event at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Returning to New Orleans after one of these Springtime Events proved treacherous. Fog along the old River Road was legendary. Many a soul had lost their lives as a result fog-related accidents. On that night, the fog was so thick you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
We were in real danger. I knew there were precipitous drop-offs on both sides of the roadway. I also realized we could be struck from the rear if we just stopped. We had to continue driving. I volunteered to help guide the car by emerging from the car, searching my way to the front of the car, and using my foot to feel the edge of the road. We crept along at a snail’s pace, but at least we were moving.
One car passed us during our “crawling” pace on the road. I am not sure how they could see to pass us, but they did. I remember feeling a bit cheated these people were going to arrive in New Orleans hours before us. But after traveling only about a mile, we found that car off the road with the front end partially submerged in the bayou. No one was in the car. It had been abandoned, and the occupants were probably walking to the nearest town.
The fog seemed to “thin out” after a few more miles. We were able to resume our regular driving pace, and felt very grateful to be alive!
Post College Music
I graduated Tulane with degrees in Zoology and Chemistry, with minors in Math, Art History and Musicology. My focus in musicology was movie sound tracks. I dearly loved movies, so to be able to analyze the great movie sound tracks was heaven.
Hermann, Copeland, Poledouris, and Bernstein were my heroes. Of course, this was before the glory days of Williams, Goldsmith, Zimmer, and Horner. I would find myself focusing my attention on the movie’s sound track rather than on the film’s plot. I found this to be true about most songs . . . . I listened to the music and not the lyrics!
It seemed I had less time for Music once I entered Law School, but I found one outlet when one of my roommates took a course in Film. I tagged along with him to enrich his film appreciation by annotating his studies with my background in movie music. He got top marks from his teacher because of his musical score references. Good memories!
I regretted never again being a part of a choir or singing group, and over the years, my voice lapsed into lethargy from disuse. I always made good use of those same voice skills in public speaking and teaching, but I did miss music. If smaller-than-tall people could speak well and with “authority,” they would be better heard!
I did use my music experience when I accepted a special job coordinating security for concerts at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center at the University of Texas at Austin. They liked the idea I knew how to communicate with UT campus guests based on my experience being Assistant to the Tulane University Director of Cultural Activities. This UT job gave me the opportunity to meet and visit with luminaries like Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Barry Manilow, and Bette Midler. It’s true! The bigger the star, the kinder the person!
Dancing
Of course my love of music translated into my love of dancing. If I heard music with a “driving” beat, you can just bet my foot was tapping and my body was moving. I loved expressing myself in Dance, and found great relief from life’s pressures when I could find a dance floor.
In my youth, I was required to take Ballroom Dancing, and learn the etiquette of the dance floor. I loved learning the fox trot, samba, and cha-cha-cha, but rarely had the opportunity to use these skills. My shyness and small stature made it hugely challenging to walk up to young ladies and invite them to dance. My old friend Billy would later give me the confidence to make the first “move.”
Interestingly, I would later use my knowledge of Ballroom Dancing to teach middle school students in Austin! I had the opportunity to dance with a co-worker in the Texas Senate. She asked me how I learned to dance, followed by a request to teach her son how to dance! I agreed.
Martha had worked with me to establish the Texas State Capitol Tour Guide Service. She wanted to make good use of my time as well as put a few extra dollars in my pocket. Newlyweds always need extra money! She corralled a group of Austin middle school families and built up a weekly dance class. I ended up with sixteen students who were burdened with learning Ballroom Dancing. I would always encourage a little extra fun by teaching the kids some of the latest dance moves! This was so much fun and the easiest money I ever made. Of course, there were the dance recitals, but great fun was had by all.
There is so much more l could say about my love of Dance, but this will have to be spelled out in a later book!