Hello —

June? Weddings.

My Mt. Airy Wedding Suite, like so many of my works, was written for friends.

Rand Wright has been my good friend since the 1970’s. He is a remarkable fellow. A superb graphic artist, he designed my website (see it for yourself: www.sowash.com) and most of my books and CDs. He is also a glider pilot, a self-taught classical guitarist, a loving husband and devoted father.

His wife Michele is also a fine graphic artist and the creator of an original and unusual series of Nature books for children. (See http://www.wrightdesignsbooks.com).

In 1993 Randy asked me to compose a suite to be played at his wedding, which was to take place in Cincinnati’s beautiful Mt. Airy Park. He specified only that it be scored for oboe, violin and cello — because he loves those instruments. Since Randy particularly admires the music of the Baroque era, I composed the suite mostly in a style that might be termed “American Baroque.”

I say “mostly” because the second of the suite's four movements, entitled “Romance,” is the exception, an antidote to the other three Baroque-ish movements. As you would expect, the music is ‘romantic’ -- caressing, tender, lyrical.

The oboe has the melody but the other two instruments are never merely accompanying the oboe’s tune, never merely filling out the harmonies. Instead, they gently tug our attention away from the tune, with wistful little melodies of their own, always in counterpoint to what the oboe is doing.

A wedding affirms mutual love, a public promise of enduring, mutual support. I like to think that the strings in this movement are playing their parts in support of the oboe which, by ‘singing’ its lovely tune, provides the very reason why the strings should be playing at all.

A metaphor for a successful marriage, wouldn’t you say?

A suggested this: I had a thought about your Romance: the violin and cello voices are, indeed, so very important. I decided that they were the voices of the bride and bridegroom (kind of wondering around, a little lost, maybe), and that the oboe was the voice of the life they create together.

To hear the third movement, “Romance,” from my Mt. Airy Wedding Suite played by my friends violinist Marion Peraza de Webb, oboist Amy Dennison and cellist Ellen Shertzer, click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.

Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
June 11, 2017

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Hello and Happy Easter / April Fool’s Day —

You’re probably expecting a practical joke.

Instead of pulling one on you, I’ll share a classic that H. Allen Smith recounts in The Compleat Practical Joker. If the practical joke could be, by a stretch, regarded as an art form, this surely is a masterpiece

“E.A. Sothern, an English actor known for his comic roles, once gave a dinner for a dozen gentlemen, one of whom was late in arriving. Sothern and the others were at the table when a servant announced the arrival of the tardy one. “Quick!” ordered the host. “Everyone get down, and under the table. We’ll give him a good shock!” All of his guests dropped to the floor and crawled beneath the table. In walked the latecomer. “Where is everyone?” he asked. “Strange thing," answered Sothern. “The moment they heard your name they all got under the table."

I’ve been re-reading The Compleat Practical Joker in preparation for a new course I am going to teach next year at “Leaves of Learning,” the imaginatively-named school that has employed me these past four years as a ‘perfesser' of French, Music Theory & History and The Art of Storytelling.

“How To Be Funny” will be the name of the course, as listed in the school’s curriculum.

When I tell people the name of the course I like refer to it, with a straight face and a nod to Porky Pig, as …. “How To Be (b’ditt-uh, b’ditt-uh) Funny."

Here’s the full title and syllabus:

How To Be Funny: A Practical Guide to Making Other People Smile

-- jokes, puns, wordplay, double talk, malarkey, poppycock, balderdash and twaddle
-- stunts, tricks, gags, practical jokes, high jinks, shenanigans, tomfoolery and monkeyshines
-- funny actual words like rannygazoo, flummery, oompus-boompus, the heebie-jeebies and kerfuffle
-- funny names, like Stan Dupp, Eileen Dover, Plato Beans and Helen Highwater
-- learning to speak apparent gibberish, i.e, ‘code languages’ similar to Pig-Latin
-- legerdemain (sleight-of-hand) for beginners
-- plus Other Things to Say & Do of Which Serious-minded People Will Scarcely Approve

-- Discovering classic film humor:
Laurel & Hardy, The Marx Bros., Jerry Lewis, Jonathan Winters, Steve Martin, Monty Python

-- Discovering classic written humor:
PG Wodehouse, Jerome K Jerome, Mark Twain, James Thurber, humorous poems, aphorisms, one-liners, parody, satire, writing our own humorous stories

-- Discovering musical humor:
Gilbert & Sullivan, Spike Jones, Peter Schickele, Jonathan & Darlene Edwards,
funny songs, novelty numbers, writing our own funny songs

-- Discovering the uses to which funniness can be put: to have fun, to amuse friends, to compel people to listen to you, to appeal to potential boyfriends and girlfriends, to shelter yourself from Life’s Trials by habitually seeking the comedic potential in almost every situation, to develop a healthy alternative to the Blues, and to banish dull care with a hey nonny no and a hot cha cha.

-- Philosophizing throughout on the nature of comedy, i.e, why something is funny

I’ll have no more than twelve students (the class-size limit imposed by the school), aged between 12 and 17, probably all boys. There will be thirty-four classes, each seventy-five minutes long.

I am elated! Think of it! To be paid in good green dollars for having this much fun!

In last Sunday’s email I mentioned that I’m facing another knee replacement surgery, probably in June. Planning the exact content of each of those thirty-four classes will give me something immensely entertaining to do with my creative energy during the summer-long recovery.

Meanwhile, here is a piece of music that is funny … or at least droll.

To hear the Finale movement from my Mt. Airy Suite (written for the wedding ceremony of my dear friend Rand Wright, almost 25 years ago(, played some other friends — violinist Marion Peraza de Webb, oboist Amy Dennison and cellist Ellen Shertzer --, click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.

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A marriage is a fugue-like thing, sometimes joyful, sometimes sombre, a shared commitment to a single notion, just as a fugue commits to a single ’subject.’

In music, a ‘subject’ is the theme upon which the composition is based; in musical forms other than the fugue it would be termed a theme, tune, melody or ditty (a fun-loving little word).

In a marriage, the ’subject’ is the audacious notion that a pair of separate, distinct, even opposing entities are voluntarily attempting to form a permanent community of two, a life lived conjointly.

A fugue begins with one voice sounding the subject. Like one spouse interrupting the other, in mid-sentence, the subject is now sounded by a second voice, only, in another curious equivalency with marriage, in an opposing key and at no small distance from the key in which the opening statement was sounded — fully a fifth above or below! In music, that's no small leap; take it from your Uncle Rick.

The fugue / marriage is just getting started and already, the newlyweds are chuckling, a little nervously. “Are we having our first argument?" In what key shall the subject be stated? Will one key dominate? That’s the tension, the altercation that propels the fugue, the squabble that makes the marital episode into a story.

That tension proffers the essential narrative tug. No narrative tug? No story. The fugue will be boring, the marriage less-than-lively (one way of putting it!)

Thus, both fugues and marriages come with a gilt-edged guarantee: unity and conflict will conjoin and pull us along in the process.

But now the teacher / storyteller in me must elucidate that abstract assertion with a concrete example.

Suppose I say to my wife of forty-six years (this very day is the 46th anniversary of our wedding, July 22, 1972), “Let me make you a nice breakfast!”

She will turn from “Meet the Press,” smile and say, “Sure!”

“Would you like oatmeal with blue-berries, chunks of walnut and a hearty spattering of French vanilla soy milk topped off with freshly ground nutmeg? Or an omelet enfolding cream cheese and sautéed garlic? Or with grated gruyère and chopped dill? Or ringlets of sharp cheddar with dashes of smoked paprika and Montreal steak seasoning? Or curry and mushrooms?”

(The ‘subject’ of this conversational fugue, you see, is the question of precisely which breakfast the loving husband will prepare for his appreciative wife. Now comes her answer, still on the same ’subject’ but, figuratively, at the distant interval of a fifth.)

“No mushrooms, please,” she’ll say, "and I don’t think dill would go very well with gruyère."

“Oatmeal then?”

“I love oatmeal and they say it’s good for you.”

“Oatmeal then.”

(This is called ‘counterpoint’ and/or ‘development’ during which the ‘subject’ is tossed back and forth and elaborated upon.)

But then she says, “It’s been a while since I've had an omelet and we could toast that good sourdough bread I bought.”

“OK then, an omelet with garlic and cream cheese?”

“What was the other omelet?”

“Sharp cheddar with smoked paprika and steak seasoning.”

“But blueberries are awfully good and are supposed to be one of the best foods for you.”

“Blueberries in an omelet?”

“You know that’s not what I meant. On oatmeal, with walnuts, like you said."

“So, which is it then, oatmeal or an omelet?”

“Oh, I don’t care.”

Ah, but she does care and my task is to intuit which way she is leaning.

(The tension builds as the fugue approaches its climax.)

I settle on oatmeal and bring it to her with a cup of hot, fresh coffee. “Oh, you made oatmeal,” she says, with a little sigh. “I thought you were going to make an omelet.”

“But you said you didn’t care.”

“Oatmeal will be fine."

“But I WOULD have made you an omelet!” I assert in a strong, masculine voice.

“There’s no need to yell.”

“I’m not yelling!”

“Yes, you are.”

(This is the culmination toward which the counterpoint and development has been skillfully directed. Again I say, a marriage is a fugue-like thing. Now comes the coda, the ending.)

“Did you remember to put a little brown sugar in the oatmeal?” she asks before tasting.

“I did, Love of my Life. And you’re welcome.”

“Thank you and don’t be a smart aleck."

Upon reaching its final cadence, a fugue always resolves into the key in which it began. All those counter-assertions at the interval of a fifth, all that counterpoint and development were, it turns out, beside the point except insofar as the development of the subject IS the point, the whole point, and nothing but the point of a fugue.

So it is with a marriage. Development is the point.

In both forms of expression, the journey eclipses the destination.

To hear the third movement, “Fugue,” from my Mt. Airy Wedding Suite played by my friends violinist Marion Peraza de Webb, oboist Amy Dennison and cellist Ellen Shertzer, click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.

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Imagine yourself in Mt. Airy Forest, one of Cincinnati’s many beautiful parks. It’s June and you’ve come to witness a wedding ceremony and to celebrate afterwards with the happy couple, their friends and families. You make your way to a lovely bower, decorated with flowers and ribbons. You join the crowd of well wishers. You wait. The hour arrives. The crowd grows quiet. The music begins …

What adjectives would describe the music that would be right for such a moment? Joyful, elegant, affirming, graceful, heartfelt. Expressing certitude and the assurance that all is well. Oh, and the music must not go on too long!

The opening movement of my Mt. Airy Wedding Suite was written for just that moment and, like so many of my works, it was written for friends.

Rand Wright has been my good friend since the 1970’s. He is a remarkable fellow. A superb graphic artist, he designed my website and the covers of most of my books and CDs. He is also a glider pilot, a self-taught classical guitarist, a loving husband and devoted father. His wife Michele is also a fine graphic artist and the author of a highly original series of Nature books for children. (See http://www.wrightdesignsbooks.com).

In 1993 Randy asked me to compose a suite to be played at his wedding, to take place in Cincinnati’s beautiful Mt. Airy Park. He specified only that it be scored for oboe, violin and cello — because he loves those instruments. Since Randy admires the music of the Baroque era, I composed the music in a style that might be termed “American neo-Baroque.”

To hear the opening movement “Prelude” from my Mt. Airy Wedding Suite played by my friends violinist Marion Peraza de Webb, oboist Amy Dennison and cellist Ellen Shertzer, click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.

🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶

When June my thoughts turn to Canada. This year I am troubled by these terrible fires and the effect upon air quality and visibility.

Most years, I recall the pristine Algonquin Provincial Park, which I explored for eight-day stretches, twice, as an adult volunteer leader of Boy Scout expeditions back in the 1980’s. The days I passed there inspired me to write some of my best music, some of which will be featured in my forthcoming CD, to be titled “Voyagers.”

Many of you contributed to the production this new CD of my music. You kindly sent an amount of your choosing in return for my book of humorous stories, “The Blue Rock.” It was my way of raising some funds, as the production of a CD is quite expensive, about $7500 -- and that’s with the musicians performing for free!

The production of the CD has inched forward, though slowed by the pandemic and other factors. Come August or September, the long-awaited CD will finally be a reality and I will, as promised, send a CD to all of you who contributed. Tracks from the CD will be featured in these Sunday morning emails from time to time as well. Thus, friends and fans who did not contribute will still have the opportunity to hear this music, eventually.

I will also send a CD to ca. 160 American classical music radio stations. Many will broadcast selections from it. Thus, you’ll hear this music on the radio some day.

The CD features three multi-movement works for clarinet, cello & piano, the longest of which is titled “Voyageurs: Homage to Canada.”

My old friend Dick Ferrell and I shared a canoe on both of those trips to Algonquin -- himself in the sterm, me in the bow. A few years ago he wrote a little poem about looking back on the good times and cameraderie we shared up there. His poem quotes whole phrases from a specific conversation we had while sitting round campfire under a starry sky. Strange to think that campfires are now forbidden in Canada because of the dangers involved.

How different from the ‘good old days.’ We depended upon campfires to cook our food. What would we have done without campfires? Brought along little backpacker’s stoves, I guess.

The opening line of Dick’s poem refers to the Canadian canoeing song, “Our Paddles Keen and Bright,” which I cast as the main theme of the opening movement of “Voyageurs.”

The title, “Camerado,” is Walt Whitman’s term for a friend, a comrade; Dick is referring to me. He wrote this poem specifically for me and sent it to me a few months before he died in December of ‘21. He was always two years older than I; strange to think that I’ve “caught up” with him. Strange to think that much of Canada is on fire including parts of Algonquin.

As our pastor Susan Quinn Bryan used to say, “Change is the only thing that is certain. And we hate it.”

Oh well. Here’s the poem, which is both cheery and a little sad.

CAMERADO

Oh, their paddles, keen and bright,
They've hung them up to dry.
No more glowing campfire light
Beneath the ebony sky.
No more gourmet pancakes.
No more hobo stew.
No more slicing through the froth
In their little brave canoe.
The lumbering bear, the mighty moose,
The raven and the otter,
The ghostly gurgle of the loon,
So unlike any other.
Oh, these memories abound.
Such memories abound!
Of camping in the Northern Woods
Of sleeping on the ground.
"The soft-shelled turtle that we watched,
I truly have to say,
That gave me such a happy heart.
It really made my day."
"But what about tomorrow, pal?
What will tomorrow bring?
A cloudless day? A stormy night?"
"Well, almost anything."
And so they sat and rocked awhile,
These Legends of the Lake.
Both reminiscing happily.
"My friend, make no mistake,
Life will bring us much, much more,
Our lives are full of bliss!
There'll be something grand tomorrow,
‘Cause you know? There always is.”

Some of that same feeling of cameraderie and nostalgia for good times now long past can be heard in the wistful third movement of my Mt. Airy Suite. To hear it played by violinist Marion Peraza de Webb, oboist Amy Dennison and cellist Ellen Shertzer, click on the link above.

There's also a link to the PDF of the score.

I'd love to know what you think about this music; feel free to reply if you're inclined. But please don't feel that you are expected to reply. I'm just glad to share my work in this way.

As always, feel free to forward this message to friends who might enjoy it.

Anyone can be on my list of recipients for these mpFrees (as I call these musical emails). To sign up, people can email me at rick@sowash.com, sending just one word: "Yes." I'll know what it means.

Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
June 11, 2023

P.S. Sales of my new book “How Music Means” are advancing with the furious energy of an enraged snail! Nearly four dozen copies sold so far!

One reader-friend who is also a former student of mine wrote: “What I like best about your new book (aside from fantastic flourishes such as the sentence containing 7 's' alliterations) is that all the glorious content of the course you taught, "How Music Means," is now permanently at my fingertips."

Also, “The Blue Rock” and most of my other books are available at the same web address listed below. All profits from my books are dedicated to funding recordings of my music. To order your copy