tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61885028835365831622024-03-12T23:19:15.418-05:00william dehningwilliam dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-68239764431834256662015-06-19T10:21:00.002-05:002015-06-19T10:27:39.316-05:00 Moving<br />
<br />
I need to do this for just a bit because some folks only follow this blog, not FB. Sorry that I haven't posted anything in a very long time, but I just don't get inspired. The biggest news: we sold our Bammy home and got a good deal. We will put the money into a new place up in Blizzard Land. We are excited about this in part because we made a decent profit on this one that will help purchase something else and keep our credit very solid and my mind at ease. Erin has done a wonderful job with everything and now adds PowerBroker to her many titles and roles. She is a fantastically capable woman in a zillion ways. I don't know how she has managed the last few months, but she has. She is excited to leave here and begin her work in the YooPee, eh. We have a good snow car: six cylinder, AWD Suburu Outback, eh, plenty of traction, ground clearance, comfort and room for animals, dog in back, cats in a cage-which they like; the male takes naps in it and they both travel well in it. Quite the menagerie, we are: a Golden and two tabbies. We hope to be up there by the first of August. Goodbye to the humidity and heat; hello to snow and cold. Goodbye to the Red State and southern women, hello to the Blue state and Real Women. Bye for now; thanks for reading.william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-49223237128732283202014-09-10T10:21:00.002-05:002015-02-22T12:03:19.397-06:00What Teachers Live for III (with thanks to Christian Campos) Received this in an email yesterday:<br />
<br />
"I just listened to a professional choir's recording of the Lauridsen <i>Mid-winter Songs </i>and
I have to tell you that you still have -- by far -- the most
interesting and engaging interpretation of the work I have ever heard.
Even though the choir in this recording is fantastic, the interpretation
doesn't come close to what you were able to do. In yours, the text and
form of the work are made clear. You, sir, have such a rare gift."<br />
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<img class="ajT" src="https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif" /> ***</div>
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I've always said something like: "Choruses I train ain't technically perfect but, by God, once I get a good score in my head and stand in front of a decent chorus with it for a while, what comes out is--if nothing else--musical. We make MUSIC, not just sounds."</div>
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Find out for yourself at williamdehning.com. Lauridsen is there, along with a few other things.</div>
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william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-84913665341931160362014-09-05T12:28:00.001-05:002014-09-05T15:26:08.791-05:00Interview with Carol Glenn for In Quest of Answers IINo one knows this, but I was interviewed for the second edition of <i>In Quest of Answers,</i> the compendium of interviews by Carole Glenn with important American choral conductors, with the exception of one of the most important: Charles Hirt. I was in the second batch along with Anton and Andre, to name two of the famous ones. This second edition will be published, but I doubt it will be for a while and I would like this out there before I'm dead. Just for the hell of it. This material will be included in the second edition published maybe by Hinshaw and edited for certain by Michael Miller, who I thank for forwarding this transcript. It isn't perfectly edited, but enough so that you get the ideas, I hope.<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin; line-height: 200%;">Interview with <b>William
Dehning</b> by Carole Glenn, 10 September 1994, Los Angeles.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">1. <b>What are the most important personal and
musical qualifications for a conductor?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">As far as
personal qualities go, I think a sense of imagination, a sense of play, and an
interest in people are important. Although perfect pitch would help, it
would not necessarily help get our jobs done more quickly, but a sense of
rhythm and what’s inside a rhythm is very important. And, of course, a
conductor needs a good inner ear. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">One’s imagination
is critical when coming up with the concept of a piece and how you want it to
sound. You have to know all the technical things of course involved in being a
musician but I think that concept, which comes from the imagination, is
the most important. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">Conductors need
to be widely read or else our imaginations become sterile. Reading stimulates
the imagination. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">2. <b>What is one piece of advice that you would
offer to a beginning conductor?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">They get
discouraged. The first piece of advice would be: there is a way to do
this and it’s worth pursuing and finding it. I do get tired of a certain
negativism, the “Oh, it’s tough in the field.” Yeah, it’s tough but it’s always
been tough. It’s never been easy. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">What we do as a
conductor is a different sort of thing, but it is fun and richly rewarding.
I’ve never for a moment regretted becoming a conductor. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">So be as prepared
as you can be. Be yourself and never forget the reason you got into this
profession in the first place. Keep that sense of joy that music gives you
and never lose your sense of play. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">3. <b>Are you aware of any difficulties that
minority and women choral conductors may have had?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">Yes, of
course, in the past. The avenues have not been open to them in the past. I
think there has been a resistance—which you still see in Asian cultures to a--woman
being an authority. The room gets kind of quiet when a woman gets up to conduct
and that is still somewhat the case. I can think of a number of careers that,
had she been a male, it’s possible that she would’ve gone “farther” by now,
whatever “farther” means. And I think this has been true in the past but I no
longer think it is and I’m happy to say that. [<i>Boy! Did I ever get this one wrong!]</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">4. <b>What should be the overall objectives of a
choral program?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">That
depends on the arena, whether school, church, community, or professional
choir. Regardless of the arena, the main objective of any program has to
involve experiencing as much superb choral literature as possible; <b>unquestionably proven,</b> <b>superb</b> music. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">We all need to
experiment with the trivial now and then in part to remind ourselves what the
truly excellent music is, in part because it’s easy and fun. We also have
an obligation to build our audiences. Taking it further than that, our
goal should be the furtherance of the culture. Choral music is positioned to do
that, more than any other artistic expression, with the exception of
literature.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">5. <b>Are choral conductors better prepared today
than they were twenty years ago?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">Without
question, choral conductors today are better prepared than I was in 1970 –
technically, especially. The world is smaller than it was 20 years ago and as a
result, we’re hearing more music, and this is all to the good. We are also
hearing the music of other countries to a far greater degree.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;"> Schools are
turning out well-prepared people. I know that we are at USC, and I know a
number of other schools that are. There are more people than there are
jobs at present, but that’s the state of the profession, not the
training. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">There are
recordings of almost anything nowadays and that is a tremendous aid to the
conductor. In the bad old days, we used to have to figure it out at the
keyboard and just sit there and kind of play through it in some manner to get
an idea of how a piece went, you know, even if we were lousy pianists as I am.
I don’t know that recordings are necessarily a blessing, though. In many
ways they’re a curse because there is less development of and reliance upon
the inner ear that I spoke of in Question 1. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">6. <b>What do you do to preserve the vocal health
of your singers?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">Of course,
it is very important to study the voice yourself. I’m surprised at how many
pianists are in front of choruses who have no idea of how the instrument works.
You don’t have to be a good singer yourself, but you should have an
understanding of how difficult it is to sing a high F# in a work by Strauss or
somesuch. The ability to reach singers through the imagination is critical to
the functioning of an effective rehearsal. One must take the voice into account
with the plan and pace of rehearsals. I’m surprised by how many
conductors I observed who ask their singers to sing something fast and forte
three times in a row. Take it down the octave, or just rehearse the
rhythm. Be aware that, in a one or two hour rehearsal, a soprano only has
so many high A-flats in her voice – only so many. Don’t use them up on
drills and sterile repetition. Be cognizant and empathetic to the
singers, as a singer.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">7. <b>How would you compare the quality of
published choral music today with the music published two decades ago?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;"> It’s far
worse. There is so much junk being published. To a degree, this is our
fault. For one thing, good music is not as readily available and is often much more
expensive. The expense is attributable to two things. The first is
“Theft,” plain theft. We’ve stolen music by copying it. Many people have been
flagrant about it and it is criminal. Publishers have to make money so
they publish what is most accessible and in many cases, to be honest, it’s not
good music. The second reason is decline in what we perceive our audience's
tastes to be. Audiences want to hear superb music done well.
They always have and I think they always will. The third reason is that
our own taste has deteriorated.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">Sometimes we have
tremendous problems getting good music because it hasn’t been selling. I
think that much of this poor music is published to keep singers in programs,
and I certainly understand the reason for that. But I think the best will
always sell. I applaud publishers who continue to try keep publishing
good music. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">8. <b>What can be done about the elimination of
music in many school districts?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">This is
both a cultural and political problem. It would be solved immediately
if the United States government said, “The Arts will be taught in schools, now shut
up, and don’t argue.” If the government would have the courage to say that this
is what should be done, and the government supported The Arts, as is the case in
virtually every other civilized country in the East and the West, that would
immediately raise cultural expectations of children. But barring that, I’m
afraid since our government is a bit timid and only listens to the vocal
and rich people, the parents will simply have to demand that The Arts be taught.
Then politicians will listen. It must be demanded. What parents demand, the
school boards tend to give.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">9. <b>What are your thoughts about the
prohibition of sacred music in some public school districts.</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I think
sacred music ought to be approached the same way as history, science, world
religions, or social studies. Western music is great art and needs to be taught
in that way and for that reason. It so happens that much of this great art is connected to texts of
religions. If the text is from the Koran, is universal and speaks universal
truths, it should be done. Confucianism, Buddhism, Fundamentalism, I mean,
what’s wrong with <i>Amazing Grace</i>? It’s a Scottish melody, by the
way, and is great art and should be approached that way. I am for separation of
church and state, but great art doesn’t have to be taught as dogma. <i>A
Madonna and Child</i> can be a beautiful work of art regardless of what it
represents and what a person believes. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">Martial arts are
taught, for instance, first as art forms, not as means of defense, or
especially offense. We in choral music have this problem of course more
than orchestras and bands. But, just as we want the religious right to leave us
alone in regards to secular music, we want the liberal left to leave us alone
when it comes to sacred music. I’m afraid that teachers are going to have to be
the ones who decide, and both the right and the left are just going to have to
be quiet.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">10. <b>What aspects of music are of
particular importance to you now?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I think the
process itself has become more important over time. I love rehearsing and I
always have. It’s still a thrill, yes, to perform for 2000 people – though that
doesn’t happen often anymore. But the <b>process</b> of taking just a bit of noted chaos and a bunch of human
beings who don’t have any idea about each other and putting those two together
is just a miracle. Performances, yes, they are fun, but right in the middle of
the rehearsal process when it all starts to come together, just after the
beginning, and before the polish goes on- when it’s no longer chaotic, you
watch the “ah-ha” moments happen. Again, its people and music and 'getting there' that
I enjoy. I enjoy the ride, as JT said.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">11. <b>What changes in choral philosophy and
procedures have you noticed in the past twenty years or so?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I see more
of the emphasis on the medium than the message. I’m surprised at that. I
once read something that Charles Hirt wrote to Theron Kirk over 20 years ago,
saying, “We are to the point now where we have purchased our instrument and we
are now exploring the music.” I don’t think that’s as true in this country as
it maybe could be. I hear a lot of perfectly blended, perfectly in-tune choruses
that fail to get inside the guts of the piece. I’m amazed and I marvel but I am
not moved. I’d rather hear something that is rough around the edges but really
gets inside the composer’s head, when you can tell that the performers get it
and they communicate that to the audience. Yes, I like to hear choirs in-tune,
perfectly together, and perfectly lovely—that’s very nice and I always enjoy
that. Occasionally, I come close to that with the groups I conduct but it’s not
really what I’m after.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I also have a bit
more of an acceptance of the straight tone sound than previously. To get
many difficult 20-century pieces perfectly in-tune, you need to leave the
vibrato out… that’s when the chords and clusters really sparkle. There
are times when, at a certain dynamic level, I have asked for that, never at a
forte, but when mezzo forte or less. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I thought we
fought this battle with our voice teachers 20 years ago and apparently it’s
coming around again. And I think, to a certain degree, that this is an influence
of European choirs, especially Northern European. A lot of Americans have
been over there to study and I think they are hearing that sound again and
liking it. You also often hear that straight tone in Asia and Korea where
they really sing foot to the firewall.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">In modern music,
and in very old music, it works. I think that’s quite a change, but I
think we need to be extremely careful about its use with young students. You work with pros, demand it, fine. They’re paid and they know how to do it
without harm. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">12. <b>What trends do you see for the future?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">Recently there’s
been a trend where the importance of music in the schools is falling away. I
see that for the foreseeable future, too. What has replaced that scene,
as we all know, are tremendous children’s choirs in the community, tremendous
youth choirs. This is a very European concept. The choruses in European
schools--I know the German schools firsthand--are really not very good but they
learn how to analyze Schubert melodies, by golly, and they learn chord
progressions at a very early age. When they leave schools they, then as adults,
sing as informed musicians. And so it’s the church choirs, and community
choirs, and the semiprofessional groups that are very prominent there. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I’m seeing that
happening here, especially with children’s choirs and there’s a tremendous
burgeoning of community chamber choirs all over the place. I’m glad to see it
with the children involved because we are tending to lose them, of course, in
the schools, especially in junior high and high school. Unfortunately
too, what that means, is that those who can afford to pay get musical
experiences, while those who cannot afford it, don’t. It’s unfortunate
and sad, and it doesn’t bode well for the classroom community. But I don’t see
that changing in the immediate future, I simply don’t see it changing.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">13. <b>What are your favorite musical compositions
and why?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">That would
be hard to say. I’m very lucky that I’ve done a lot of music that I love. If
someone said, “You can only do one piece for the rest of eternity, pick one,”
that might be Bach’s <i>Singet dem Herrn</i>. I like music— and I don’t
know how to say this—in which “gimmick” is not at all obvious, and in which the
craftsmanship that expresses the text, and which stays true to itself; not
quoting anyone else. The music should meet the essence of the text and
speak well to the singer. This is not to say that I don’t love a piece of
schmaltz now and then, I sure do. Some schmaltzy pieces are exactly what
I mentioned; they can be true to themselves and express the text
beautifully. Ultimately, the craftsmanship has to be part of it.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">75% of the time, I program music which I know is
unquestionably superb. Of course part of that, too, is because I have been a
teacher all my life and it’s my job to do that for my singers. About 25% of the
time I experiment with “fluff and folk” stuff because that’s fun, too. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">14. <b>How did you happen to make music your
career?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I don’t
think “happen” is the right word. It was a conscious decision I made when I was
a little bit older and only after I’d been miserable studying engineering and
business and god knows what else. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I thought that
music would be better than misery and I was right. I was 21 when I began to
really study music, so I came to music through the back door and I’ve struggled
to catch up ever since. I’m still catching up.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I had played
instruments and sang since I was ten. Music always moved me. It was
something I enjoyed and through which I met a lot of nice people, so I thought,
“Well, I might not make money, that is true, but I will enjoy my days and enjoy
getting up in the morning.” And that’s still true.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">15. <b>Which conductors have been an inspiration
to you?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">This is
really easy. In chronological order, and for different reasons, Charles
Hirt in the late 60s, Helmuth Rilling in the mid 70s, and John Alldis in the
early 80s. I was inspired by these men and in very different spheres and
for different reasons. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">As far as the
orchestral sphere, Erich Leinsdorf. He wrote a book that came out just
after I’d seen him conducting. I was in Europe observing him, sitting back by
the string basses. I was really inspired. He showed no pretense,
was utterly clean, and yet beautiful. That was one of the few times I’ve
seen the players applaud the conductor after a performance. They were playing
Debussy’s <i>La Mer</i>, and I think something as prosaic as <i>Peter and the
Wolf</i>, and if the players are going to applaud for <i>Peter and the Wolf</i>
and <i>La Mer</i>, that conductor is on the ball. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I was also
inspired by observing Georg Solti in late 60s. Those five people, but I
still have to go back to Charles Hirt and the influence he had on me,
especially in terms of choral sound. His was vibrant and with vibrato. He
had good voices at USC and he let them sing. It was a very vital,
exciting sound that still rings in my ears. I still have trouble
accepting the use of straight tone.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">16. <b>How does choral music in the United States
compare with choral music in other countries?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">We are less
nationalistic and more universal in repertoire than most European countries.
Asians are almost as universal and program a lot of music. If you hear a
German choir, you’ll primarily hear German music. If you go to France, you
primarily hear French music. I wish we did more American music today in
this country than we do because it is there. We are less parochial in
this country and I think that’s good. I think we are freer and more soloistic
with the use of the voices in the ensemble, and I think that’s good, too. They
tend to do less cheap music in other countries than we do, though.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">17. <b>How may music serve as a force for
understanding between diverse groups of people?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I think
there are times when we all ask, “Is what I’m doing important?” There are
times when it might not seem to be. We don’t make $30 million a
year. Rock stars do. We aren’t looked up to as heroes.
Athletes are. But the answer is always a resounding “Yes.” Music is
one of the only things which involves not only the body, but the brain and the
spirit. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">Let’s get this
straight, the greatest athletes are artists, too, just as some great musicians
are great athletes. We can each participate in choral music at some level.
It is important because by involving ourselves with something greater than
ourselves, as we with great literature, and music—especially choral music, by
participating, we become better ourselves even if it’s only for a moment, it’s
important. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I can’t think of
anything more important than becoming a better human being, or at least more
fulfilled, and music can do that, just as great literature does. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">Reading a great
book can be a lonely experience but you come out fulfilled, you come out
better, and you know it. Ultimately, it is just you and the author.
Choral music is not lonely. We do it with other people and we come out not only
better ourselves, but we’ve helped others become better, too. I can’t
think of anything more important--except food, water, and rest--than becoming a
better human being.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">18. <b>Why is music important to humankind?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I just know
it always has been. It’s more than the cliché of a common language, it’s
a common experience. This is especially so in choral music— a common experience.
Even if the language is different, you’re still using one instrument that is
the same as everyone else’s. It is not like one person having a fiddle
and the other having a flute. Yes, the sopranos are different, and Lord
knows tenors are, too. But it’s all the same instrument. It’s the
one God gave us, and we all have a voice. Choral music speaks immediately
to whoever is making it. I think this is because singing is so close to
speech, the element of human language. It is also so close to laughter
and tears— it is all the same in any language. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;">I once ran across
a quote by Hindemith: “People who make music together cannot be enemies at
least while the music lasts.” I think that’s true. We can become enemies again
after rehearsal, but not while the singing is going on.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Cochin;"> ***</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
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william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-1778565368247914872014-08-11T15:44:00.003-05:002014-08-12T09:03:31.616-05:00More Three-Dot Posting . . .It's been over three months since I sat here and did this and I suppose I feel a bit guilty about that though am not sure why I should. And I'm only doing this to type my way through a minor depression (I can't see my shrink until 3 Sept: I was absent from her for over a year and she got a bunch of other clients in the meantime). . .<br />
<br />
ERIN just became a professional Christian for a United Methodist church about an hour away in Cullman. She loves the staff and the people and of course they all love her. I know for a fact that rotten college kids love you for three weeks and then find something to bitch about. That makes working with adults rewarding: they stay loyal and will do whatever the hell you want. This of course is offset on the negative side by the fact that the rotten kids are smarter, more energetic, better trained, and usually more talented than the loyal adults. But they will bring you vegetables from their garden, home made bread and other goodies ...<br />
<br />
MY HEALTH is static: the heart has been stabilized beautifully by drugs, my formerly hyperactive thyroid is now fully under control. I'm down to only 12 pills a day and I haven't smoked since 5 November. I resumed lifting weights at the YMCA in March, but did so very gently, taking 20 lbs. off the weight of all 10 machines and upping reps from 8 to 10. Last week, after over five months of just cruising, I am back to where I was: all 20 lbs. are back on all machines and the reps are the same. I think I'll stay there for the foreseeable future in terms of weight, but will increase reps if I start to feel lazy. I'm back up to 16,000 lbs./session 3x/week = 48000 lbs/wk. I haven't been back to phys.therapy since, though I did recover what the heart incident lost. Here is where I am and where I think I will be from here on out: outside the house I use the Lofstrand crutches and I need both; it's a fantasy to think that I will ever get around with two canes; inside the house I use the walker because I can carry stuff better; for extended distances/times outside the house, I need the wheelchair and some one to push. I doubt that these conditions will ever change and I have to be ok with that. I think I am reconciled to it, but I need a bit of help from that shrink . . . Point is, I will never walk normally again, though this happens periodically in my dreams. No kidding . . .<br />
<br />
TRAVEL has been extensive: a week in May with Erin's chorus and a band in London and Paris, followed by just us 6 adults in Paris, Prague, Leipzig, Dresden and Berlin. I hadn't been to the latter three since '92 and boy have they improved. They've almost retrieved their former glory, though I doubt that Dresden ever will. And Berlin: My, My. You couldn't look in any direction without seeing at least four cranes. (But cobblestones and wheelchairs don't go together too well. Poor Gene). In June, we went to LA for a week with my daughters (Meg over from the Big Island) and my grandsons, who have sprouted in the year and a half since I last saw them into big boys with all their teeth and way too much hair and energy. Whew! It was a wonderful time with my family, and I will be joining the boys and Libby and Lee (who are divorced, as you may or may not know) in Davis at Xmas. I may even grill a bird for them. It will be the first Christmas in a long time that I have not been to Green Bay, and I will miss New Year's Eve at Hinterland with Erin and her folks. Erin of course, will be in church . . .<br />
<br />
TIME seems to be a fickle bitch who sneaks up and beats me about the ears. I turned 66 a couple months after arriving here and in a couple days I'll be 72. I occasionally receive extremely nice posts and messages on Facebook from former students or fans of my books and work, and these are very gratifying. Meanwhile, my former students and younger colleagues achieve, date, marry, and breed (or adopt). . . <br />
<br />
And that's the way it should be. Y'all just go on ahead without me, now. I'll hang around here as long as I can.<br />
<br />
Looking forward to my birthday coupon and a couple martinis in a couple of hours. I can't do it on my actual birthday (Wednesday) because Erin will be at church (this could get old). I may celebrate with Sam on Wednesday by pouring a little beer in his dish . . .<br />
<br />
What the hell . . .<br />
<br />william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-53134145211389819772014-03-30T11:54:00.003-05:002014-05-04T12:48:25.485-05:00Leaving Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEh5KZWue3IUDMW7_6TjgEEn3PNJlxS5oj3CGKVq7HWp0sQL3_l_Hvj_MYaqLpU3Ss2pcexmG0pE6Awhp_-0lD86K-oBs0BTaU98dEPagP-JgJAdNaXdWej3XfotppG7G0XxFiaJcvxA7/s1600/swataratown1947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEh5KZWue3IUDMW7_6TjgEEn3PNJlxS5oj3CGKVq7HWp0sQL3_l_Hvj_MYaqLpU3Ss2pcexmG0pE6Awhp_-0lD86K-oBs0BTaU98dEPagP-JgJAdNaXdWej3XfotppG7G0XxFiaJcvxA7/s1600/swataratown1947.jpg" height="195" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimAjxq8lOv9JZJnS4wHGm-GafyLHpxguLYYJVU8wBEcQx0eEXUPnYZ4V2pwM9v358prhsQngWlyIGM7JwRw1pk7m38Mx5xOnf4kIPrushUe_NHDDMv97x5HC408PhuDMgsPhqRl5bEjxiU/s1600/swataraschool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimAjxq8lOv9JZJnS4wHGm-GafyLHpxguLYYJVU8wBEcQx0eEXUPnYZ4V2pwM9v358prhsQngWlyIGM7JwRw1pk7m38Mx5xOnf4kIPrushUe_NHDDMv97x5HC408PhuDMgsPhqRl5bEjxiU/s1600/swataraschool.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></div>
See that picture at the top? That's the township of Swatara in northern Aitkin County, Minnesota. And I mean, that's the whole township. My mom and brother Rolf and I lived there in 1954-1956. The picture was taken in 1947 and the only difference when we lived there was that the road you're looking at was paved all the way to the top of the small hill you see, when the crossroad became gravel again. The road coming at you goes west three miles over forested hill and dale until it meets up with US 169. I walked that three miles many times because I could catch the bus to Aitkin at 169 and ride it the thirty-two miles into town to see my friends and my uncle. Unfortunately, I also had to walk the three miles back home, usually at night, usually in winter. The last time I walked it in June, 1956, leaving my mom and brother behind, I caught the bus and rode it 2500 miles to Los Angeles to live with my dad and stepmother. I never walked it back home again. <br />
<br />
But I digress. The house that you see straight on is the house where we lived for two years with the 5-8 grade teacher, I forget her name, even though she was my teacher. Mom taught the 1-4 grades, and was therefore Rolf's teacher. I don't know why either of them was hired, especially Mom. Anyway, after their first year there was a trial of sorts and they were both fired for, I think, incompetence. I can't think of any other reason. The new 5-8 teacher that I had wasn't any better than the old one. The school I refer to is in the second picture. You're looking at the back door. To the left of that door were the two classrooms; to the right was an auditorium/gymnasium where dances were held and where we had recess if it was too cold or wet to play outside. I don't think I was ever upstairs. This picture was taken before all the windows were broken. The last time I saw it was on the occasion of Mom's funeral in '04 (which was in Aitkin, thank Minerva, not in Swatara; it was bad enough living in Swatara, no one should have to die there), all the windows were broken out. Not a shred of glass left. I have no happy memories of my two years at that school, but it was still sad to see the shell it had become.<br />
<br />
But I digress again. Back to the house. The bottom right window was the living room, where the heater was. The bottom left window was the kitchen without indoor plumbing; we had to catch the water from the sink in a pail and empty the pail down the two-hole toilet, which was out of sight to the far left. The upstairs windows were our bedroom, where the three of us slept in the winter to stay warm. Directly across from us was the bedroom where the other teacher slept. To the left of those bedrooms was an attic with just a bunch of junk in it, where my mom hid her money in a coffee can. The front of the house also had two windows, one on the right which looked into a small closet usually full of cat turds, as well as a very small room where I slept in all seasons but winter. The window on the front left was the one Mom and Rolf watched and waved from and cried as I left Minnesota for California to live with my Dad. For the full story on all of this, go to the Family label of this blog and look up--in this order--Mom and then Dad and then Rolf. You'll be able to read all about it.<br />
<br />
The store/gas station to your left also contained the post office, and was where we bought groceries and where I bought cream-filled cookies and milk to have while reading the science fiction library books I brought home while Mom and Rolf were still in school. The building across the street was a small eatery where I would sit at the counter for hours, drinking cokes and rotting many of my teeth (with help from the cookies, of course). I sat there and talked with older guys who smoked and worked and who could drive. (They made me want to smoke, too, so when I graduated high school in Cali, I started to smoke and continued to do so for the next 54 years). All my school friends lived out in the country and came to school in buses so I never saw them outside of school.<br />
<br />
So I have no happy memories of the township, either, much less the school. It was especially sad seeing my brother cry as I walked away that June. <br />
<br />
But it was with a light heart that I caught the bus at Hwy. 169 headed via Greyhound for Aitkin and then Minneapolis and then Los Angeles.<br />
<br />
I was thirteen.william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-86135747851085943092014-02-17T09:43:00.002-06:002014-02-18T08:46:26.404-06:00ThailandErin and I spent nine days in Thailand rehearsing, lecturing and giving workshops, thanks to Jodi Piriyapongrat of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and the U.S. Embassy there. We were primarily in Bangkok but also flew up to Chiang Mai for a few days for the purpose of Embassy Outreach in their schools.<br />
<br />
The people in that country were wonderful to us, especially the teachers and their students. We are also truly indebted to The Three Lads--three of Jodi's students--who drove us everywhere and were in all ways so helpful, including Wheelchair Management when distances were a bit long for my crutches. The teachers received our work warmly and we even managed to make a few of the students laugh from time to time, despite language difficulties and necessity for translation. Most Thais know English--it seems to be their second language--but the younger/less educated they are, the less they know. Their kindness, however, knows no bounds. While visiting Buddhist sites, we were at the Reclining Buddha (Obama saw it some years back) and I was in my wheelchair. The steps into the shrine were just too tall for my crutches, so I was just going to stay out. The man managing the entrance called up three of his buddies and the four of them lifted me up those steps and into the building, wheelchair and all. (It was quite the sight; google it). They also did the same thing at the exit. You can't get any kinder than that and I really can't imagine anywhere else where that could have happened.<br />
<br />
AND. . . . Jodi managed to get us housed in the Siam Kempinski Hotel in Bangkok (google Kempinski). It was the most lavish, beautiful hotel with the best service that I have ever experienced. And the included breakfasts were not to be believed. Run by Germans, natch. The handicapped room we were in was spectacular and was the finest and most efficient I have ever experienced. And the mini-bar was included, as was morning coffee service. Sigh. Double Sigh.<br />
<br />
Did I mention the food? Well, now I did. Wonderful, but my favorite is still tom yum soup. The hotel's western food in one of their three restaurants wasn't bad either, though the wiener schnitzel left a bit to be desired. Oh. And I had to teach them how to make a martini, a task that seems to follow me all over the world.<br />
<br />
The only bad thing about the adventure was 20-hours of flight time each way. And our return flight Tokyo-Houston was delayed seven hours, which meant spending a night in a cheap hotel in Houston. Groan.<br />
<br />
Small prices to pay, though, for nine wonderful days. Lucky us. <br />
<br />
<br />william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-58555264692860453812013-11-09T12:06:00.000-06:002014-03-08T08:38:46.691-06:00Billy's Bad Bod: Backwards, HeyYesterday afternoon I got discharged from the hospital after a long talk from the resident MD and my current nurse: take it easy for a week; realize that a good portion of your problem with your heart has to do with your thyroid, which is producing too much bad stuff, making your heart race, filling your lungs with water, scaring the shit out of you as you try to breathe. So I'm seeing a Thyroidologist on 3 December to see if he can figure out how to deal with it. And of course, new drugs to address the problem and drugs to address the drugs. Get it?<br />
<br />
Yeah, but my cardiologist said, as he prepared to poke et, al, 'you did indeed have a slight heart attack. You wanna call it congestive heart failure, go ahead." This was the day before yesterday, and, boy, them surgical nurses was cute! Naturally, I charmed them from here to Chattanooga. Drugs weren't much (proponol), but the girls made up for it. Procedures didn't take long and proved: 1) zapping my heart four times (I was asleep) couldn't bring my heart back into rhythm. This is not uncommon, but I think they're blaming that dirty ole nasty thyroid; 2) the rapid pulses I had experienced the day before had not done substantive damage to the chambers of my heart. This was very good news. And the witch doctors and mechanics and medicine men will see what they can do with this almost-71-year-old-machine called my body. BTW: everyone who came into my room to poke, zap, measure (every 3-4 hours) remarked how I looked more like fifty rather than 71. Heh, heh. <br />
<br />
OK. Now the fun part.<br />
<br />
I usually lie down to read in the afternoons, hoping I'll fall asleep. I usually do. On Tuesday, I didn't. At about 300 I noticed a little difficulty breathing. I got up, walked into the bathroom (not sure why), noticed a lot of difficulty breathing, came back out and dived for the cell phone on the bed. 911 was really good, and as fast as they could possibly be. Not fast enough: I was gulping shallow breaths so that by the time they tossed me into the Unit, I was a wild man: wouldn't calm down, kept tearing the cup off my face. I could only speak one word at a time, and could not talk to Erin. It was a mess. Poor Erin: she was scared almost as poopless as I was when she came home and found me gone, and all my modes of transport still there.<br />
<br />
So yeah, folks, I'll tell ya that not being able to breathe is quite possibly the worst thing that can happen to you: no defense; no cure. In the ER, they opened both arms and the back of one hand and pumped me so full of stuff that I could almost not hold it. The mainlining of Ativan put me out, thank God, and whatever else they pumped into me seemed to correct the breathing problem and the pulse of 130-140 (think about that for a second). They told Erin that my situation was very severe. Poor thing. When I woke up, I was fine.<br />
<br />
As of this morning I feel great except for a pronounced weakness in the legs: to be expected after over three days on my back and butt. Looking forward to a real breakfast, a little college football (no a lot). Probably a nap.<br />
<br />
All told: happy to be here.william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-68750003361245853342013-09-17T15:08:00.003-05:002013-09-28T17:00:19.649-05:00Anecdote V: Billy BasqueI discovered Basqueland (<i>Euskadi</i> in Basque) in the beginning of the new millenium, 2000. The USC Chamber Choir had won the competition in Varna, Bulgaria the year before, thus qualifying us to compete with the winners of five similar competitions in what is known as the Grand Prix of Choral Singing. We lost to a Russian children's choir, but that is another topic.<br />
<br />
We were housed in a beautiful seaside town west of San Sebastian called Zarautz (someone once said that a Basque typewriter only has x's, k's, and z's). The town had a gorgeous promenade and our hotel was in the main plaza: la Plaza Muzika. Basque country is half in Spain and half in southern France, all of it beautiful. Simply and quickly put: It was love at first sight for me. And since most Basques also speak Castilian Spanish (<i>castellano</i>) I could stumble my way through happy hours and stores even though Spanish is my weakest language. I fared marginally better in French Basqueland even though that was my second weakest language. The other three in order of strength are English, German and Italian.<br />
<br />
I vowed I would return. Two years later, for my 60th birthday, and after winning another competition, our English friends and four other close friends met in San Sebastian and we spent two weeks exploring the area, including to the land of the Three Musketeers where we got to sample a number of Armagnacs and visit a farm where ducks gave up their livers for <i>foix gras</i> (another great story, but not for here). We were a party of eight living like lords, including an evening at the world-famous Basque restaurant, Arzak, that took three hours and was worth every minute (worth every Euro, too).<br />
<br />
Again, I vowed I would return. So our party of eight visited Zarautz and I visited a real estate office for rental information. The fall of '02 was a sabbatical for me, so I made arrangements to rent an apartment on the fourth floor of a building right on the Bay of Biscay. I arrived on 1 October and stayed for a month, finishing the book I had started in September. That month cost me $3000, a thousand each for rent, plane fare, and food and drink (ca. $33/day). At that time, the dollar and the Euro were almost exactly equal (yea!).<br />
<br />
Here's what those days were like.<br />
<br />
I got up at 830, put my espresso on the stove, and went out to the seaside balcony to open a window and watch the folks running on the beach and strolling the Paseo. When the espresso was ready, I brought it into the coffee table in the lounge and drank it with my roll, serrano ham, and manchego cheese.<br />
<br />
I started writing at 930 and wrote until 1230, when I went in to shower and shave. Then I would go to lunch between 100 and 130, always choosing the restaurant's lunch special that was usually three courses, with dessert being ice cream. I went back to my FourthFloorSeasideApartment (ahem) at 300, napped for a half hour, and resumed writing at 330. I was always armed with a novel at both lunch and dinner, by the way, because I didn't have enough Spanish for cheery conversations with strangers.<br />
<br />
At 630 I stopped writing and proofed what I had done during the day. With my first martini by my side, of course. At 730, I left the apartment, walked the <i>Paseo</i> for a while, had my second martini in the bar right across my street (I had taught them how it was made) and made my way to a restaurant at 830. This was a relatively expensive meal because I always ordered foix gras if they had it, with a small glass of red vermouth, followed by a meat entree of some kind and a suitable Spanish wine. At 1030 I went home, got into bed and read one of my novels until midnight.<br />
<br />
About once per week, I would buy my breakfast at the small coffee shop across the street and read the paper, which was my only source of news (television news was far too fast for me to comprehend). My paper was <i>El País Vasco</i> ('the Basque Country') and I could slowly make my way through it with about 75% comprehension. It was there that I read about the latest shootings in the US and the terrorist bombing on Bali. On Saturdays, I rented computer time at a small shop and read about college football in the US, called home and the like.<br />
<br />
I wrote six hours/day every day in that October except for three, when I rented a car, drove to Gascony to buy Armagnac, stayed at a neat little Auberge and came home, whereupon I drove around the mountain to a restaurant that I could see from my balcony but had never been to because I didn't want to decipher bus schedules. It was all fish there, with a grill that was kept burning all day. They brought around a large platter with raw fish on it, I chose the one I wanted and they grilled it. It was exquisite, as were the side dishes. I had draft beer for dessert, drove back and returned the car (a small Peugot).<br />
<br />
*****<br />
If this sounds like heaven, that's exactly what it was. And no, I was not lonely, though I occasionally did long to speak English. Fortunately, a German chorus came into town for a few days (they won Tolosa that year) and I spoke it with them once German became too much work for me (usually after the third beer). I only learned one word of Basque (<i>'augur'</i>) and have forgotten utterly what it means, though I think it meant goodbye in the sense of 'hey, later, dude.'<br />
<br />
I'd do it again if I could. You want to read about these unique people who I dearly love, I recommend Mark Kurlanski's <i>A Basque History of the World</i>, which I bought just before my Birthday Jaunt in '02 . Don't google them until you do. Okay? Okay.<br />
<br />
Grafitti message in English on the side of a building in the passage just below me: "Tourist--you are neither in France nor Spain." Got that? Good.<br />
<br />
<br />william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-37324721742371721542013-09-12T14:59:00.002-05:002015-02-22T12:07:17.262-06:00Anecdote IV: Billy BankerAfter I quit being a Dock Donkey in the fall of '62, I decided I would try to do something that wasn't hard labor and maybe even be able to work in the daytime(!).<br />
<br />
So I applied to Citizens National Bank (long since defunct). I was interviewed by a wonderful older woman who tried to make sure that I was willing to make a career of banking and not quit and go back to school after a short time. I promised her that banking was all I ever thought about and couldn't imagine doing anything else. I was a good liar and got hired.<br />
<br />
So I worked full time at a small branch out in the San Gabriel Valley, Hacienda Heights, and got my teller training there, in fact.<br />
<br />
I soon learned that banking was not for me: I was fast but not at all thorough thus didn't always balance to the penny at the end of the day and everyone had to stick around til they found my error. This made me very popular. I also learned that many of the general public are righteous assholes who considered the entire bank staff to be their servants. The servile manager and assistant manager did nothing to dispel this impression. Plus the pay for us tellers was pissant. Wanna know why? 'Cause almost all of the tellers were women and we all know what they're worth! And those women made lunch in the staff lounge torture for me: all they talked about was pregnancy, children and Las Vegas. I soon learned to bring a book to work.<br />
<br />
About mid-year I told that sweet woman who interviewed me that I was indeed going back to school in the fall of '63. She was disappointed. She decided to make the most of my impermanence by making me a sub teller for any branch in the entire LA basin that needed one. So I filled in for vacation people, sick people and the like, driving all over the basin to various branches and rarely being in the same place for more than week. It forestalled boredom, at least, and I knew the end was in sight.<br />
<br />
So I re-entered UCLA in the fall of '64 but needed money for rent and food and gas and my church choir check just wouldn't do it. I applied at the Bank of America branch in downtown Westwood and was hired as a Boy Friday, I could walk from campus to the bank. I helped the Operations Officer, did my time at the Customer Bitch Desk (the bank was never wrong), and helped the Assistant Operations Officer track down problems. In essence, there wasn't any job in that bank I couldn't do (except approve loans) and there was much glamour in it because a lot of movie and TV actors had their accounts with us. And lemme tell ya, when Zubin Mehta's wife, Nancy Kovack, entered that lobby, time and people stood still. Holy Moley, what a dish she was. (Mehta took over the LA Phil at only 29, btw. Nancy quit here acting jobs).<br />
<br />
Of course, when things got busy in the lobby, I went on the teller line, usually at the request of John Heenan, the O.O. When the lobby got a bit crowded, he'd yell "Dehning, get on that line." I'd open my window and that lobby would empty out in minutes. I was a real whiz on that line! Of course, I didn't always balance out to zeros at the end of the day, but that was a small price to pay for the Dehning Blitz on the crowd, especially on Fridays.<br />
<br />
I worked 25 hours/week at that bank until January of '66, when I finished at UCLA and went across town to enter USC. Each semester, I got a letter from the UCLA counseling office warning me that such a time consuming job was detrimental to my studies, which was correct, but I had to work, and in those last three semesters at UCLA I never got anything less than a B, but of course damned few A's. The A's came when I entered grad school and was only in classes I loved and in which I had a deep interest. Funny how that works.<br />
<br />
Next: Billy Basque. Watch this space.william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-29220562538979618792013-08-20T15:10:00.000-05:002013-08-21T12:00:12.998-05:00Anecdote III: Midnight CowboysI had passed my written and oral exams for the DMA in May of 1969, after studying full time for three months. Marge had been working full time as a long-term sub at a local high school the entire spring semester. We had made plans to leave for Europe, flying on 7 September from LAX to Zurich. We had saved $3000 and planned to stay for six months. It turned out to be seven months and I had to borrow 700 from my life policy to make it back home.<br />
<br />
So we left the house we were renting in Granada Hills and moved in with my dad and stepmother for the summer to avoid rent. They loved having us around, actually. Marge worked for a temp agency based on her Flying Fingers at the keyboard. But I, almost the revered Dr. Dehning, got a job at Sears as a janitor. Stores need to be cleaned at night, so we worked the graveyard shift from 11P-7A.<br />
<br />
That store sparkled when it opened in the morning. We were a crew of eight plus a foreman, all of whom were black except me and Mac, and Mac, it turned out, was gay. I found this out after about a month one night at lunch (we got 45 minutes for it, plus two 15-minute breaks during our shift, thanks to the union). One of our tasks was crushing all the boxes that were opened during the day. It was a big machine in the floor that crushed them and then they had to be dragged out. It required a two-man crew, and Mac and I were always sent down there to do it. Maybe it was the WhiteGuys thing or maybe they thought I was gay, too.<br />
<br />
Anyway, back to lunch. One of the crew was about 6'6" and built like a Sequoia. His name was Snake and he was the neatest guy; I liked him best. So I asked him finally, "is Mac homosexual?" "From his heart," Snake said. Actually it came out 'frumis hawt.' Turned out that Mac also had false teeth. Hmm. Snake really liked me, too, and he wasn't gay, thank god. (We still said 'homo' or 'queer' in those days; 'gay' was a long way off.)<br />
<br />
In addition to crushing boxes, other duties for the crew included cleaning sinks and toilets, mopping service floors, polishing mirrors and windows, and polishing floors. In short, ensuring that the place was spic and span by 700. We had weekly staff meetings run by our foreman, Charles, regarding techniques and the like: "Now I found out that some of you are cleaning the sinks by just wiping them down. That's no good. You gotta use (holding up a bottle) diss here Bab-O (emphasis on the O.")<br />
<br />
I usually wound up polishing the floors with a big electric buffer and I did a damned fine job. Those suckers <i>gleamed</i> when I finished with them. I was proud of my work. Take a look at how much floor space there is in a department store next time you go in one, you'll be impressed with my industry and diligence. If nothing else, my patience (and no radios or ear phones to get me through the boredom).<br />
<br />
All told, I'm very glad I had that experience. Doing semi-hard, mind-numbing work with those men gave me an appreciation of what a lot of the work force had to live with on a daily basis. Yeah, it paid well, but it grew old quickly and I was glad to leave at the end of August. I never told those guys why I was leaving, and I sure as hell didn't tell them that I almost had a doctorate. And nowadays, when someone is angry that garbage collectors and janitors make almost as much money as they do, I tell 'em, "They got it coming, you don't like it, then YOU go and collect garbage or clean toilets. No one's stopping you." <br />
<br />
I never did ask Mac why he had false teeth.<br />
<br />
Next: Billy Banker. Stay tuned.william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-14190295353072056872013-08-16T11:37:00.000-05:002013-09-05T11:18:35.767-05:00Anecdote II: Redeemed Wide ReceiverI've often said that in the next life I'd like to be either a jazz drummer or a wide receiver, especially the latter. From a very young age I've loved throwing and catching a football. I wanted to try out for my high school team but my dad didn't have the money to buy insurance so I signed up for band instead. Probably a good thing; I was so skinny I'd have been broken in half. I was disappointed but got over it.<br />
<br />
So I just kept throwing and catching up until I lost my legs to the spinal cord injury. For one golden moment though, I was a star wide receiver. The quarterback was Larry Meredith, who is Don Meredith's cousin, so it runs in the families. We were at a faculty picnic at UOP in the early fall of '75 not long before Megan was born (Marge was <i>really</i> pregnant). I was in a bit of political trouble at the time because my Dean wanted me out and there had been a campus-wide uprising in support of me in a struggle that began in the fall of '73.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the President had been sympathetic to the problem and I had been fully reinstated but my dean was making life miserable. The President was there at the picnic, watching a few of the male faculty goofing off. Larry and I had been playing pitch-and-catch. We decided to do one more. I went out on a deep fly pattern, Larry threw it long, hard and high. Somehow I climbed high enough to make a gorgeous catch. It garnered scattered applause and the President had seen it. He came up to me and said, "Bill, Chester Caddas [the football coach at the time] is looking for you!"<br />
<br />
That catch cemented my job; the Dean was gone by June of '76. They just couldn't get rid of a musician who was a decent athlete, too. Would you? Anyway, I still love college football, most of all the passing game because many of the receivers are so shifty, smooth and quick. It's artistry in motion, to use a cliché. It's beautiful to watch, and I love it, God help me, despite the moral morass in which college sports are mired.<br />
<br />
As Larry said in the acknowledgements section of his book, <i>Life Before Death</i>: ". . . William Dehning, whose neurons fire in harmonic convergence of music, sport, and ectomorphic id."<br />
<br />
Bullseye.<br />
<br />
Larry is quite possibly the most intelligent man I know. And he loves sports, too. He is the originator of the Turkey Bowl, a post-thanksgiving day event in which the old guys played the young guys and quite often won. One year, a game played in the rain, I was declared Most Valuable Player after I caught two touchdowns from Larry, for the only scores of the game. One of my proudest moments as a wide receiver. And my career was over.<br />
<br />
Until the next life.william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-24542075693422718342013-08-07T15:19:00.000-05:002013-08-08T15:43:20.293-05:00Anecdote I: Dock Donkey; Nude Redhead; Shtupping JanisI withdrew failing from UCLA in May of my sophomore year, 1962. Reasons for the Withdraw Failing were three: I was dumped by my girlfriend for the second time; I was a stupid fraternity boy; I was conducting my first choir ever (I was social chairman of the fraternity and got the coolest Jewish sorority to join with us in Spring Sing--choir numbered 50, I conducted them: my first choir) and kept missing classes. By the way, I qualified for UCLA's engineering school out of high school, a fact of which I am to this day very proud. UC took only the top 5% of high school classes in those years and cost $75/semester to attend; essentially free, as California state universities were intended to be before Ronald Reagan, who hated educated people. His Party still does.<br />
<br />
Spoiler Alert: I got back into UCLA in 1964; I left the fraternity; we lost Spring Sing but the girls made me an Honorary Jew; I acquired my first church choir job later in 1962.<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
So I was out of school in the spring of 1962, but my high school friend Jan Butler was working for Republic Freight lines at a great hourly wage and suggested I apply; I had to do something besides stay at home and flog my guitar, so I did. I applied, got the job and was forced to join the Teamsters Union and give dues with each paycheck; I didn't mind that because the job paid so well, thanks to the union. And yeah, there were a few 'thugs.' Hoffa was still alive, after all. I guarantee: there are no 'thugs' any more, much as the Right Wing would love for you to believe otherwise.<br />
<br />
The reason it paid so well is that it was damned hard donkey work. Jan and I had to work the graveyard shift from 1100 to 700 AM. Republic was located off of San Pedro street in downtown LA. The task consisted of unloading freight cars outside the dock and walking the pieces on flats that we pulled up and down the dock and then dropping the freight right outside the trucks on the other side of the dock that would move the freight throughout the city (drivers loaded their own trucks at 700AM). The flats were heavily loaded and the dock was fifty yards long. Talk about beasts of burden . . . And when the RR car was full of appliances, we had to move each one out to its designated truck by hand if it weighed under 600 lbs. This was done with a large hand truck that we had to 'break down' and then push along the dock. If it weighed more than 600 lbs. we could yell for a forklift and they would take it for us. I once had a refrigerator that weighed 597 and yelled for the forklift. He came and asked what it weighed. I told him. He said, 'take it yourself.' Forklift operator was a top level union job and the men who operated them were big wheels and knew it.<br />
<br />
We worked in crews of four: a caller, a checker, and two donkeys. The caller said what the item was, the checker checked it off on the bill of lading, and the donkeys (Jan and I) did the hard work. Callers and checkers did not have to go into the rail car to 'break out' the boxes and hump the freight up and down the dock. <br />
<br />
Then there was a foreman and an assistant foreman. The foreman was a really neat, honest, hardworking guy who just helped in general, at times operating a forklift. I don't know what the assistant did, but he belonged to a nudist camp out near San Berdoo. Jan and I were a folk duo (later a quartet) that sang gigs (always for free) and he asked us to come with him on a weekend to the camp and entertain. So we recruited our friend Mike Seeley to borrow a string bass and play along.<br />
<br />
Nudists put their clothes on at night and take them off in the day, the opposite of normal people. So when we sang our gig on Saturday night (we arrived Friday afternoon), they danced to the slow tunes and listened to the fast ones. This was after watching nude volleyball, flopping johnsons and all, during the day, as well as nude swimming of course, not to mention nude eating and other things. I was really attracted to a really well built redhead that I saw dressed at night. She invited us to breakfast the next morning, so we undressed and had bacon and eggs nude. Red was sitting right across from me at the picnic table and I dropped my fork on the ground. When I bent down to get it I was able to verify that she was indeed a true redhead. We later dated a couple of times but couldn't seem to deepen our relationship with clothes on. And apparently she wasn't inclined to deepen the relationship with clothes off, either, so that was that.<br />
<br />
I made a good chunk of money that summer (thanks to the union) and managed to buy a really fine Goya guitar that I taught myself to play when off work. That guitar cost 200 1962 dollars, which was a big deal, believe me. But it was sweet, baby. I later had to sell it as well as my fine Olympia typewriter because I was broke and had to buy car insurance. Know who one of the prospective buyers was? Country Joe McDonald, of Janis-Joplin-affair and Woodstock-Gimme-an-F(UCK) cheer. Joe and I went to the same high school; he was a fine trombone player in the band in which I played horn, but picked up the guitar early on and that stuck, I guess you might say. He was a year ahead of me and went on to fame, fortune, and nude album covers, whilst I, now guitarless and with no Redhead, got married, went back to school, got three degrees and made a career flogging choirs instead of guitars.<br />
<br />
If you read the previous two posts, you will see why I'm glad I did. Joe is still alive and doing well, by the way, as am I.<br />
<br />
***<br />
Next: Redeemed Wide Receiver. Watch this space.william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-52394168062937608322013-08-05T17:50:00.003-05:002013-08-06T09:00:06.479-05:00What Teachers Live For II (with surprised thanks to Paul Blankinship)<ul class="uiList _2ne _4kg" id="webMessengerRecentMessages" role="log"> </ul>
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<span class="null"> Dr. Dehning,</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"> Thank
you for connecting with me on Facebook. I don't know if you remember me
or not - I don't think I was a particularly memorable student - but as a
student of yours at UOP, I not only learned a great deal, but ended up a
very different person.<br />
I was motivated to write to you because I
met a colleague of yours, Megan Solomon (I hope that's right) at an
event for new students at Oberlin college (where my son is heading, as
is her daughter). <br />
We got to talking, and I told her what I've
told several people - that being a part of your class was one of the few
defining moments in my life, and that I caught a glimpse of the person
that I wanted to become there. <br />
She suggested I write to you to
let you know how strongly you influenced me as a student, and then as an
adult - so that's the reason I decided to write.<br />
One thing I feel
you should know is that I wasn't a student with ambition or direction -
I didn't know choral music or vocal music. I also didn't stay in
school, both because I ran out of money, and because I lacked the
perspective to know how to focus myself and my energies. <br />
And yet -
despite that - I ended up making a life as a musician, mostly as a
cocktail pianist and accompanist for jazz singers, but also leading a
number of very good choirs, because I valued what I saw you do, and
because I saw how you took music generally, and choral music
specifically, seriously, and how you respected music and your musicians
with the literature and technique you brought to bear. <br />
The idea
I'd like to convey is that even those of us who must have seemed
mediocre musicians and students were raised by your example and
teaching. I'm sure the cream of the crop would have done well anywhere,
but I never could have done any of what I did without having had your
influence in my life. <br />
As I said at the beginning of this note, I
wasn't a memorable student. I hope you know that for every one of those
memorable students whose success marks your career, there are others,
like me, who look at the time they spent in your class and wonder how
they got so goddamn lucky.</span><br />
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All the very best to you,<br />
<br />
Paul</span></div>
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william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-53153877377922363802013-07-27T09:59:00.001-05:002013-07-27T10:06:04.217-05:00What Teachers Live For (with inadequate, heartfelt thanks to Ethan Sperry)I don't have sufficient words to express my gratitude for this; they fail utterly.<br />
<br />
*****<br />
<br />
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
Hi Dr. Dehning,<br /></div>
<div>
First of all, I so
wish I could have been at the USC Reunion. I'm so glad it was such a
huge success and I hope that means it leads to others. With 2 small kids
and your reunion falling right before my own choir's tour, another
weekend away from the family wasn't in the cards this time.<br />
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
So I just got back from the best
musical experience of my life so far - actually one of the best
experiences of any sort I've ever had. I took the Portland State Chamber
Choir on tour to Italy for 12 days at the end of which we competed in
the Seghizzi Competition with choirs from 21 different countries. You
probably saw this on Facebbok, but somehow, we not only won the entire
competition (which no
American choir has ever done in the 52 years this competition has been
running), but we won 14 other awards as well.<br />
</div>
This is in large part thanks to you. Many choirs at the
competition sang much harder repertoire than we did. And I mean MUCH
harder repertoire. They also had a lot more flash to what they were
doing. We sang a much wider diversity of repertoire, and we sang it with
real understanding and communication. Much of the repertoire we sang I
learned from you (this is true of almost every concert I do by the way).
I not only learned about it, but I learned how to understand it and
bring it to life.<br />
</div>
<div>
In our 20th Century set we sang Pizzetti's Piena Sorgeva la Luna </div>
<div>
In our 19th Century set we sang Verdi's Pater Noster (and I think this piece won us the competition)</div>
<div>
In our Spirituals set we sang Precious Lord (which is still my favorite arrangement of any spiritual)<br />
</div>
<div>
In our Folk Music set we sang Hark I Hear the Harps Eternal (which we sang on my first day in Chamber Choir with you in 1996)</div>
</div>
<div>
THANK YOU for standing up for the greatness our best choral literature<br />
</div>
<div>
THANK YOU for teaching me why it is great and teaching me how to teach others this as well</div>
<div>
THANK YOU for being a relentless advocate for beauty in the world<br /><br />I was going to end this letter there, but I'm going to try and say
something more substantial. Not sure if it will work. I would be writing
this letter even if we had come in last place in the competition. The
choir made HUGE breakthroughs on how to sing together at the beginning
of the tour well before the competition. This (as you know) often happens on tour and is its own
reward, and I think we all enjoyed our pre-competition concerts as much
if not more than competing.<br /><br />The effects of the way we were
singing were profound on the singers and on me. We all began treating
each other differently. I know that every person on that tour (36 of us)
truly loves everyone else we shared that experience with. There was a
universal sense of acceptance and a willingness to be vulnerable that
changed us all as musicians and people. The amount of pure joy we shared
with each other and will continue to share with each other and anyone
else we come into contact with is immense and it makes the world a
better place. I wanted to share this with you if I could, because I
think you are one of the few people I know who would actually understand
what I'm talking about.<br /></div>
Love,<br />Ethanwilliam dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-88066135641814231492013-07-06T17:44:00.003-05:002013-07-06T17:44:47.427-05:00 Reuniting in Manhattan BeachI have never written anything here about my professional engagements since retirement and am not sure why. Maybe because I didn't set this blog up until retirement; maybe because I wanted this to be personal not professional. If they wanted professional they could go to my website. As if anyone cared, anyway. I gotta admit that I am still embarrassed by the egoism blogs represent and in many ways I still don't know what purpose they might serve. Then someone tells me to 'blog more,' confusing the hell out of me.<br />
<br />
So this one is professional, except I didn't get paid to do this one. First the food, my goodness: Rob Istad's self-sponsored reception on Thursday night at the hotel after the first rehearsal (booze included!); a fantastic group meal of Greek food on Saturday night after the last rehearsal at Petros restaurant (including margaritas and sangria!); a lineup of fish tacos with all the trimmings after the performance organized by Karen (cash bar, booze not included, but this Silverback Ape didn't have to pay for a single drink!). Not to mention the many meetings at Grunions bar at all hours; this is a funky neighborhood joint a half block away from the hotel where everyone seemed to know everyone else--the best kind of bar, in other words.<br />
<br />
Now imagine 24 singers, one accompanist, one conductor working for 11 hours on Rheinberger Mass for Double Chorus (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo), Martin Mass for Double Chorus (Kyrie, Credo), a Gabrieli double chorus madrigal, Lauridsen Mid-Winter Songs I and IV, Victoria <i>Vere languores nostros, </i>Holst <i>Nunc dimittis, </i>and two fine Trashy pieces stuck into the middle of the program. Then a performance to a big crowd packed into that little Lutheran church that simply didn't know when to quit applauding once they started. And they kept starting. <br />
<br />
I'm talking, of course, about last weekend's USC Chamber Choir Reunion (Dehning Years) that was an event for the ages, at least my ages. Karen Schrock Simring was the inspiration and ringleader who simply wouldn't take no for an answer; Rob was the on-site organizer who got the church for free, sent copies of my scores to all twenty five people, and took charge of all logistical matters for all four days. The rehearsals were a triumph: every suggestion I made was accepted and performed immediately. That's never happened before, really. And the performance was the best rehearsal to the third power: every move I made was immediately and correctly deciphered. And the audience bought every second of it.<br />
<br />
You'd think that would be enough and the end of the story. But it ain't. I expected they would love seeing their colleagues and friends again and rehearsing fine music together. And they did. What I didn't expect was that they wanted to rehearse great music with <i>me</i>, their former conductor and teacher, in front of <i>them</i>; that's the main reason they were there. That's simple professional respect, though. But the many expressions of love--there is no other word--of me as a person were utterly unexpected and more gratifying than it is possible to relate here or anywhere else. <br />
<br />
They love me. Holy cow.<br />
<br />
I cannot relate how wonderful that makes me feel. I lack the vocabulary. <br />
<br />
<br />william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-22653207127668323512013-04-17T14:51:00.001-05:002013-04-29T14:59:28.222-05:00ACDA, YAY!I owe ACDA a lot. The first national convention was in 1971 at the Hotel Muehlebach in Kansas City. I attended. It had been chaired by USC's Charles Hirt, and I was in my first year of teaching at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. Then the first divisional convention I attended was the next year in Indianapolis. Our NMU kids got chosen to sing there that year and Charles Hirt was there to hear them (the three-year rule came later, luckily for me). All of which went a long way toward landing the position at UOP the very next year. Many years later, the performance by the California Choral Company at the '91 national in Phoenix had much to do with my going to USC, in part because Morten Lauridsen had heard them and came backstage and badgered me into applying for the opening, which I did the following Monday.<br />
<br />
But all of that is just politics. More important for me--as it is for anyone in this business--was what those meetings did and continued to do for me musically and technically, especially during the formative years of my late 20s and 30s. For one thing, the convention attendance was small enough to fit into a hotel ballroom; you got a chance to talk to everyone sooner or later, and everyone heard and saw everything the convention had to offer. Thus there was only one 'track' and everyone was on it. We had breaks for lunch and dinner.<br />
<br />
When I started in this business, the only recordings one could find were Messiah, the Verdi Requiem, and Carmina. Oh, and the Shaw Chorale BMinor. The only amateur choruses we heard on those recordings were the Mormon one and the Westminster one. So the only place to hear the entire canon of choral music done by choirs we all might conduct one day was in person at a concert or at a professional convention. Nowadays, of course, there isn't much that <i>hasn't </i>been recorded, professional choruses abound, and collegiate choruses have utterly taken over. I began to learn at these events that there was a lot of superb music that wasn't written for orchestra and chorus. I began to learn that choral music had the largest body of literature. Most of it was sacred, but I didn't care about that then and I don't care about that now: great music is great music. What sticks in my mind from that first convention now were Schütz <i>Psalm 98</i>, Bach <i>Singet</i>, and Schönberg <i>Friede auf Erden. </i> I'd never heard them anywhere else: Talk about opening my ears! We even heard a fine junior high choir do the Hindemith <i>Six Chansons</i> (try to find <i>that</i> nowadays). This is not even to mention Frank Pooler's Long Beach State crowd doing all the wiggy composers such as Folke Rabe and the like. Pooler had a lock on that stuff as well as the Carpenters (I won't talk about his Mendelssohn, though).<br />
<br />
So naturally I heard a lot of different takes on choral sound and attended a lot of interest sessions in which folks talked about how they achieved that sound. The only sound I really had firmly embedded in my ears at that point was Hirt's USC Chamber Singers and I knew that my 18 NMU kids weren't going to approach the sound of those 16 USC semi-pro honkers. I had to look and listen elsewhere.<br />
<br />
One of the places I was fortunate to listen was the Pacific Southwest Intercollegiate Choral Association festival held annually in SoCal. I participated in four of them during my time at CalState LA (one year) and USC (three years). I heard college choruses conducted by, in no specific order, Howard Swan, Paul Salamonivich, Bill Hall, Dave Thorsen, Frank Pooler, Fran Baxter, plus a bunch whose names I no longer remember, but it was the entire spectrum of the West Coast sound and nowhere did one hear the neutered Lutheran straight tone sound, which is the cousin of that antiseptic Texas high school choral sound. No, the sound of all of the choruses was truly vibrant. Many of them performed in ACDA nationals in subsequent years, usually to great acclaim.<br />
<br />
I have nothing against MENC and its state offshoots or the various state 'vocal associations.' They do fine work, especially for the classroom teachers and band directors. But as Roger Wagner said to Charles Hirt in the elevator at that first ACDA convention: "Damn, Charles, it sure is great not to have a bunch of band directors running around!" Those ACDA meetings were all about choral music then and they still are. <br />
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I'm sorry to say that I was never a 'networker' or a politician of any stripe and I'm not bragging, I'm complaining: I'm convinced that had I been a bit freer with the handshake and the small talk, I probably would have gone farther, sooner, in my field. But I was there for the music, the conductors, the sounds, the bull sessions, the demonstrations. <br />
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That was then. Now I care more about seeing people I have met over the years, and of course, the former students from the three schools where I taught for nigh unto four decades. Of course I always look forward to hearing some of the finest collegiate choirs the country has to offer. <br />
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And by golly, I can think of maybe a couple times that groups I conducted were maybe even numbered among them.<br />
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Here's to ACDA for helping and promoting some of the best in the art form from Womb to Tomb: kids choirs, middle school choirs, high school choirs, church choirs, collegiate choirs. We would not be where we are without such a fine umbrella organization.william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-22809818406083786222013-04-11T08:10:00.002-05:002013-06-01T08:28:06.399-05:00CHAMBER CHOIR REUNION<span style="color: red;"><b>27-30 June, Manhattan Beach, CA for rehearsals and a performance of Rheinberger, F. Martin, Brahms, Vittoria, among others. </b> Karen Schrock, Kelley O'Connor and Erin came up with this idea in a Huntsville gay bar about four years ago and Rob Istad leaped gleefully aboard. Karen and Rob have done an immense amount of work already, with more to come. We must have a balanced group, so contact Karen: <b>karen.schrock@gmail.com</b> to reserve your place. Trinity Lutheran Church has agreed to host us for rehearsals and performance, and Karen has lined up motel rooms within walking distance of the church (and the<i> beach</i>; we can't rehearse<i> all</i> the time). She will need $150 to reserve your place; this is an estimate for group dinners in restaurants and any amount not used will be returned. You must reserve your room by 27 May to get the group rate Karen has negotiated.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Please help us by spreading this word to as many of the members from the years 92-07 as you can. Use Facebook, too. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">I am flattered and humbled by this effort. I hope to see and hear a bunch of you sing some great music together again. It's been too long. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">And let your conductor acquaintances know that a bunch of the music we'll be rehearsing is in my latest book, <i>A Matter of Choice: Interpreting Choral Music.</i> They may wanna give a listen. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Fight On! Or. . . Sing On! Or. . . something . . . </span>william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-3518874246882093522013-03-15T16:28:00.001-05:002013-03-15T16:28:39.734-05:00ACDA ConferencesThis is the first year since 1991 that I have not attended that bienniel conference. That's 22 years and 11 conventions, and I performed or presented at 4 of those 11. My reasons for not attending this year are financial (my younger daughter got married on the Big Island this year, and it all comes out of my own pocket now that I am unemployed) and not concerns about ambulation, just in case you wondered and I hope you did.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I just got off the phone with my talented, gregarious wife, who made me feel really good about the number of my colleagues in Dallas who either asked about me or said nice things about me, including two of my absolute favorites, Ron Staheli and Simon Carrington (who enjoyed my latest book), neither of whom is a former student. Speaking of the latter, it's great to hear of the number of those who asked after me also, in addition to strangers who just know my name or my books or who heard CCC and USC perform from '91 to '05. I understand that some folks are going to invite me to do some clinical or conducting work in Korea and elsewhere now that I'm able to be up and about, in a manner of speaking. I have missed that; my last engagements were in December of '10 (Taiwan) and February of '11 (PA) both of which I enjoyed tremendously and all seemed pleased with me, too. I look forward to more. And I hear that someone may be interested in an interview and an article about me. Ah, jeez (shuffle, wince, avert eyes).<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
Someone once said that we only appreciate with absence. I have found that to be true: When folks are around, we take them for granted or worse; when they're gone we wish they were back. I feel that way this week, actually: I don't miss the performances at ACDA this year (I've done much of the music, including the Britten, and don't really care to hear much of a lot of the rest unless it's Bach) but I do miss seeing the people I know and meeting people I don't. I have had an immensely rewarding career, but barely better than some and not nearly as good as many. I don't have any illusions about my professional worth or my contributions to the profession. And I'm really shy among strangers. Really. Also nervous. Also insecure because I assume that most are better than I and I don't know how to blow my own horn; I don't even know the fingerings, truth be told.<br />
<br />
But I still enjoy seeing folks I have known since my full-time collegiate career began back in 1970 (it was all church work and academic stuff before then, and many of those folks are now dead--I was a real whippersnapper). I was a star in grad school: Hirt and Vail had me start a new chorus and asked me to teach conducting; I was asked to conduct the Concert Choir when Vail went on sabbatical in '68, which included preparing a chorus for an orchestral concert conducted by Ingolf Dahl that included Webern's <i>Das Augenlicht</i>, but those days are long gone.<br />
<br />
The only thing left is guest work and ACDA conventions (and, of course, the great meetings of NCCO, with which I had a little bit to do). <br />
<br />
So I will do my utmost to not miss any more.<br />
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<i>Deo gratias</i>, say you. Cheers, say I.<br />
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<br />william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-79623483185256600932013-03-10T10:20:00.000-05:002013-03-16T07:34:27.678-05:00Choral Conductors Facebook Fishing?I use the FoxNews technique of the question mark in the title because, like them, I have no specific evidence for my claims. I could also use their <i>'some say'</i> technique also, but again, have heard nothing at all from anyone about what I'm going to say here. I may stick with question marks just for giggles. And it is entirely possible, probably even likely, that I am way out on a limb with this one.<br />
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***<br />
<br />
Is anyone besides me getting annoyed with the current trend of choral conductors throwing out lavish compliments onto Facebook after a gig or performance? <i>'Last night's performance of the Intergalactic Honor Choir was a thrill, thanks to the preparation of the directors involved, especially Karl Koral, who organized the event. It was an honor to conduct them.'</i> This kind of post invariably elicits the return compliment of '<i>we couldn't have done it without your planetary genius.' </i>And how about announcing every pissant thing we do and then posting a picture of the plaque or certificate we received? And how do you feel about the conductor who announces how grateful, honored, or, most gag-inducing of all, <i>blessed </i>they are to be standing in front of their charges and leading them, which is only what they were hired and are paid to do? <br />
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And my favorite: <i>I learn more than I teach.</i> I have learned a few things from the individual choruses I have conducted over the years, but there was never any doubt in my mind that I knew a helluva lot more than every one of them or I would have gotten out of the business. And I always taught more than I may have learned. (This is not to deny the insecurity that afflicts all of us).<br />
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These falsely modest devices seem to be simply subterfuges for bragging, first of all, but--more important--mere fishing for compliments: <i>they are so lucky to have you; we couldn't have done it without you; working with you is an artistic revelation and more fun than sex.</i><br />
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Is this just sour grapes on my part? Could be. I never had FB to post my glories, coddle my students, be publicly grateful to all involved. I had to use actual letters in the mail, or later, the occasional email. Point is, no one saw it but them. And I didn't thank them, I complimented them, which is what they really wanted. I wrote these letters throughout my career, beginning with my last LA church choir, 1966-1969. <br />
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Who would be hurt by foregoing FB and simply sending an <i>email</i> to the gig chair, the ensemble? Why isn't this done more? Why do we have to <i>publicly</i> demonstrate how diplomatic, Christian, grateful, honored and blessed we are? Is there something wrong with keeping it private and in the family? And <i>qui bono</i> by making it public? Hmmmm?<br />
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***<br />
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I finish with questions, too: What the hell ever happened to self-effacement or--saints preserve us--genuine modesty? Am I the only one left who was raised by Lutherans, who was taught to never have an exalted opinion of oneself or, if so, to at least have the decency to keep it to oneself?<br />
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PS: this post is dedicated to Miguel Felipe ('blog more') and Christian Campos ('where's the professional rant?)william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-50418489621813982562013-01-26T10:05:00.000-06:002014-02-17T09:36:10.420-06:00Mini Diary; Lack-of-Progress ReportIt's been a while and I must make apology to my Followers; all four of them. I have been both lazy and a bit busy. My younger daughter, Megan, got married at Kealakaua Bay on the Big Island on the day of the Winter Solstice. It was a gorgeous partly native, partly Jewish, mostly Pagan ceremony overlooking the bay. It was also the first time in five years that the family (including Marge, my ex-wife) was all together. Both Libby and Megan are smart, beautiful women and I am very proud of them. Meg lives on the Big Island, by the way, and from the wedding attendance, it's apparent that everyone on the island loves either her or her husband or both. We ate the whole pig and finished two kegs! Erin also took advantage of the the resort hotel where we stayed: massage, pedicure, facial, yoga. And of course, we ate like royalty but without the treasury; Eurasian food is a real joy.<br />
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*****<br />
Prior to that time I did a choral festival at Biola University in LA in November that was a lot of fun, and where I had fine Korean food (ain't none of that around here, despite the strong LG presence) with two former students, Christian Campos and Joe Paguio. It was also great to see and hear the work of former students Shawna Stewart, Michelle Jensen and Shannon Mack. And a perfect stranger sitting next to me at my judge's table asked me to sign his copy of my first book. Blew me away. Speaking of books, my second (and last),<i> A Matter of Choice: Interpreting Choral Music</i>, was published in early December and is available <createspace .com=""> in both paper and e-format. The profit for me is better at createspace.com, but if you insist, you can also find it on Amazon, of course, as well as what's left of Barnes and Noble. Mazeltov to me.</createspace><br />
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*****<br />
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We flew RT from Chicago to Kona and back, arriving home on the 23 December and drove from Chicago to Green Bay, where we spent Christmas and New Years with Erin's wonderful family (well, <i>mostly</i> wonderful; some of the Rabid Republicans can be hard to take, but mostly they have learned to either ignore us or stay away from politics. We ain't always easy to get along with either). Her parents and siblings are utterly delightful and her bro has become a better cook than I, which is saying something but I'm not sure what.<br />
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*****<br />
Now Erin is back to work and I am back to my domestic and Recovery Routine, which now consists of bi-weekly physical therapy, trucking around the house with only one crutch, thrice/week work at the YMCA that includes four lower-body and six upper-body machines, for a daily total of 12.5k pounds of lifting, plus a few minutes on the recumbent bicycle. Also, of course, visits to at least two specialists now and then, one of whom had predicted that he was 90% sure that I would be walking unassisted by now. He was wrong: I am obviously a 10% kind of guy (hence the Macintosh). My progress has leveled off and I still use two crutches when out of the house. My physical therapist, whom I haven't seen since August, was really impressed with me this week, however, and she is an expert on spinal cord injuries, so she oughtta know, I guess. My stretching/exercise routine four days/week is now up to almost 45 minutes per session and is really boring but necessary. I sure wish I had the balance to resume yoga, but I would endanger not only myself but anyone within four feet of me. I see the neurologist-who-failed-to-diagnose-my-condition next week to see if his current prognosis might again include walking unassisted. I was told by my physiatrist (yeah, believe it or not) and PT person that my improvement would reach a plateau in a year and then slow down. It has done both. The anniversary of the corrective surgery is 2 Feb, but things are surely better: I am a long way from those first two months in a wheel chair, for which I am grateful, and will continue to do my utmost to improve further. Fortunately, I have a very supportive wife and a delightful caregiver who is with me most of the time when Erin is at work.<br />
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Things could sure be worse.<br />
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***** <br />
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Hey! If you read this, could you please leave a comment so I can take roll? I'd love to know if I should abandon this and rely completely on Facebook, or keep this up. Dunno what might be best: they are both ego-centric exercises after all. I mean who REALLY cares about what I do or what I think? Huh? I mean, really . . . <br />
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<br />william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-22577879260233870732012-11-16T10:40:00.001-06:002012-11-16T10:40:36.852-06:00ThreeDot Posting (no coherent theme) . . .I stole the ThreeDot thing from Herb Caen, long-time columnist for the SF Chronicle who I always enjoyed; RIP, unfortunately . . . Had a quick consultation with my physical therapist yesterday after a three-month-long hiatus; she thinks I am walking better with one crutch and with two. She also gave me two more stretches to include in my regimen that loosen the basking seal and the hip flexor. I continue to improve slowly, though I think I have reached the upward inclining plateau that I was told about. I honestly don't think that I will be walking unassisted by the end of the year, as my neurologist predicted with 90% confidence. Leave it to me to seize on the losing 10%, though I shall keep working . . . Traveled alone for the first time since this slo-mo s*** storm overtook me. Went to LA to adjudicate and give four clinics at the Biola Invitational, then up to Sacramento to see my elder daughter and the two grandsons in Davis. That's into/out of four airports twice each, tipping wheelchair drivers both ways: $5 bills flew out of my man purse! . . . Erin has been in HI since the 11th doing clinics, et. al. for Miguel Felipe (or is it Felipe Miguel?) who is at UH on Oahu. She comes home on the 19th. Miguel comes here for the exchange of what I call TenureBrowniePoints. Erin got to go to HI; Miguel gets to come to Alabama! . . . My younger daughter on the Big Island gets married next month in a ThreeDay wedding bash that Erin and I will go to. And yes, it's her first marriage; apparently she got tired of her serially monogamous ways. Or just met the right guy . . . While in LA, was great to get together with Christian Campos and Joe Paguio. We had Korean BBQ and watched Oregon have its way with USC. Food, fellowship, beer and soju were all wonderful. Good Korean food is one of only four things that I really miss about Cali; the other three are my buddy Dennis, the Sierra and LAX . . . Have been back at the YMCA since 20 August doing three leg and butt strength builders and six ego-enhancing upper body lifts. Plus some minutes on the recumbent bicycle. I just really miss shooting buckets (I miss the <i>sound</i> of the DeadSolidPerfect shot); I hope I can finally do that again before I cash in . . . Just finished subbing for a pregnant/birth-giving woman at the local community college. Reminded my of my Y'all Come Choirs, but they are sweet kids. Am taking Erin's Concert Choir rehearsal today. That's always fun: they are disciplined (thanks to Erin's threats to 'rip your face off' if they aren't), well prepared, well taught, and the music is really good . . . Speaking of fun: my recent clinics and subbing prove at least one thing: from the waist up, I'm still a helluva fine, fun conductor, you betcha . . . Great day for college football tomorrow in two Pac-8 games that I will watch: USC-UCLA, which has been a favorite of mine since 1960, and Stanford-Oregon, in which it will be fun to see if Stanford's fine defense can stop that ferocious, deadly Oregon offense. Bliss . . . Yes, I said Pac-<b>8.</b> Think about it . . . Thank God Obama got a second term, renewing my faith in my country somewhat. At least for the time being . . .<br />
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OK. That's it for now. By your leave, I shall gather up my ellipses and depart. I welcome responses here or on my FB page. Y'all take care, now.william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-25125995263407443042012-09-14T08:51:00.000-05:002012-09-16T07:54:21.871-05:00TamekiaIt's pronounced 'tamika' in IPA. She is the caregiver who has been with me since June from 8-4 five days/week. She replaced Dorothy, who was with me from March through May, but then changed her job within the company, which is Home Instead, by the way. Also, by the way, I pay for this with two long term care insurance policies that I took out in '03 and '06, <i>Deo gracia</i>s.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I couldn't get along without her as either person or professional. She is easy to be with, is funny, calm and thorough, and is indispensible. She makes breakfast and lunch, helps with my socks, drives me to appointments and the Y when I have to wear my orthotic devices, walks Sam twice a day, helps me at the grocery store a minimum of two days/week, vacuums occasionally, and in myriad other ways makes the days easier for me and eases Erin's mind at work. She also reminds me to take my meds and helps me in and out of the shower, as well as standing at the stove and stirring after I have sliced and diced for a meal, usually a soup or a stew. She even sets up the ingredients for my martini before she leaves.<br />
<br />
I could get along without her, of course, by eating at the kitchen counter instead of the table, and by making countless more trips to and fro with the crutch, which would exhaust me more than it already does. And in a couple of weeks, she will help me as I commute to the local community college to sub for the pregnant conductor two days/week.<br />
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I am grateful for her and <i>to</i> her for just being herself, and quite often for being far more than she needs to be.william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-22740368060466687942012-08-27T16:42:00.000-05:002014-02-17T09:37:18.241-06:00Physical Progress Report (A Good One)So to begin with, I had to have arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus on my right knee. That was on 23 July. It slowed me down the week before and the week after, but I am long since back to normal, using the Lofstrand crutches and resorting to the walker only for trips to the loo in the middle of the night. And I had GREAT pre-surgical drugs! Wheeee!<br />
<br />
Then today Gwen, my physical therapist, kicked me out ('discharged' is the word they use), after watching me walk using only the right-hand crutch. I now have orders to use only one crutch at all times when at home but still two when out and about. The idea is to depend on it less and less as time goes slowly by. Tomorrow morning I will carry my cup of coffee from the kitchen to my desk once again, as I had been doing for a while before the knee slowed me down. (I didn't spill, either). Today Gwen made me walk across their kitchen carrying a plate with both hands, using no crutch. I whimpered and howled with fear but I made it with her hand on my back.<br />
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Also, I have re-joined the YMCA, and I started lifting weights again on the 20th, including leg extensions, leg presses and an abducting butt builder. The upper body work is just plain male vanity, of course, but it sure feels good, and the upper body strength that I had developed over the years helped me through my lower paraplegia immensely. Still does. Good to know I did something right before this slow motion s***storm began and knocked me down and out.<br />
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I have to wear orthotic devices on both lower legs that prevent the knees from hyper extending by keeping my weight forward and toward the balls of my feet rather than on my heels. They are an ugly nuisance but I walk much more correctly and comfortably whilst using them. Naturally, I hope that in time I can toss them, but there are no guarantees of anything, and I have to protect the knees: no knees, no walk. The biggest problem with them is that I have been tested to drive and can do so again, but not with those devices on; they prevent dorsa-flexion of the ankle that is required for both braking and acceleration. Simple sigh . . .<br />
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Gwen, by the way, has been working with me three times per week since the first of
March and she has been superb in all ways, though she tended to be
offended at my occasionally colorful language and disconcerted by my
yelps of pain or fear. I will see her again in November to determine
how things stand in her opinion and mine. I cannot praise this woman
enough, and have both respect and genuine affection for her as
professional and person. We hugged before I left for Europe in May, and we hugged today. I teared up a bit, I don't mind admitting (I am 70 after all, and we old farts tend to be a bit sentimental; my father-in-law called it 'seventy-mental').<br />
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I have begun to slowly get back to professional work: I will be subbing for the wonderful woman here at the local community college in October and November, including one concert; am going out to LA in November for a festival adjudication with clinics; making plans for a winter residency in Oregon; making plans for a short spring USC Chamber Choir Reunion tour in Spanish and French Basqueland, where we will rehearse more than perform and eat and drink more than we rehearse (sound about right?); finally, I will possibly be going back for another extended residency (my sixth) with a professional chorus in Korea in the foreseeable future.<br />
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****<br />
I have come to the end of my celebratory martini, and I will carry the glass back to the kitchen in my left hand whilst using a crutch only in the right.<br />
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Mazeltov to me for now at least. <br />
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<br />william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-85958634012834753592012-07-19T14:36:00.001-05:002012-09-16T07:55:13.120-05:00Ramo Award Acceptance Speech<i>This is the talk I gave at Thornton Commencement upon receiving the Thornton School's highest honor:</i><br />
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</style><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m
periodically asked, if I had to do it over again, would I? Would I spend more
than half of my life conducting collegiate choral ensembles?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer is always yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been immensely fulfilled by my
work—by my 22 years of music making with undergraduates at two previous
institutions, and by the chance to teach and rehearse a lot of graduate
students for 15 years at this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have spent my entire professional career at the college level—have
enjoyed every second of score study, 59 out of every 60 minutes of rehearsal,
45 out of every 60 minutes of classes and private lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve even managed to enjoy up to 10 out
of every 60 minutes of committee meetings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Anyway
you cut it, I’m a lucky man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
often heard people at occasions like this say that they were so actualized by
their work that they would have done it for free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I might have, too. Until I came to USC, a lot of people
seemed determined to let me try just that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my family and I have always had everything we needed and
even a few things that we wanted, materially anyway, which is all that money
can really do for us.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">So
yes, you betcha I’d do it over.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">What
I didn’t expect was the degree of respect and affection I have received from
students over the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have
two folders in my files, one labeled Ego File and one labeled Soul Food. I used
the former for kind cards and letters from students; I would dig it out when
feeling insecure and feckless. In the process of weeding my files, though, I
decided to do away with the Soul Food file.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s because all of the wonderful things that the students
have said to me really do satisfy my soul, get right down to where my
obsessions are—I just got it wrong about the Ego part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was enough for me that those closest
to me in my work considered me a good man, an inspiring teacher and one helluva
conductor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why they are
represented so thoroughly at my table today—I couldn’t have done what I have
done without them.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Because
we conductors are essentially parasites, you see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need a host body to nourish us, feed us, keep us
alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That host is the ensemble,
which <b>could</b></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> exist without us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conductors don’t exist without
ensembles, though, and I often wish more of them would keep that in mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’m starting to rant again, which I
want to avoid.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Speaking
of Ego:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want it clear at this
point that, while here, I didn’t do the professional convention appearances,
the European competitions, the concerts with the LA Phil and Helmuth Rilling,
for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did them for the school.
I really did do them to re-ratify the importance of choral music on this
campus, to make it important again to my colleagues and my bosses, to make it
again a thing of wonder, justifiable pride, and long-term efficacy in the lives
of hundreds of young people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because only choral music has <b>these</b></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> magic ingredients:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s
own instrument, the human voice; humankind’s finest achievement, language, and
the marvelous ingredient of a bunch of determined, dedicated, occasionally
inspired people who are all—literally--on the same page of great music at the
same instant, whilst picking pitches and vowels out of the ether--no valves,
keys, fingerboards, or animal skins to rely on.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">It is
the ultimate team sport.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 4.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">That
alone was enough for me. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Imagine
then, my surprise when my colleagues gave me this particular award.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was stunned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was speechless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had chills, and I damned near cried
in front of Dorothy Ditmer and Giulio Ongaro, when they announced it to
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had no idea that my
colleagues on the faculty of one of the five finest music schools in the
country considered me—Minnesota Me—worthy of this great music school’s highest
honor.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">My
teachers, Charles Hirt and James Vail, received this award.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My student colleagues from my time at
USC, Morten Lauridsen and Rick Lesemann received this award. To be in such
company is more of an honor than I could possibly have hoped to attain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not their equal—I don’t presume
that—but I consider it the highest possible professional achievement to merely
be listed on the same page with them in the future, forever.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">********************</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">I am
almost out of words (<i>"Deo gracias</i></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">,"
say you).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to say that I
really do hope that I have done USC proud, because it has certainly done me
proud.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 4.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">I
thank the colleagues who considered me worthy of this, as well as those who
have worked with me so amenably the past decade and a half—Terry Cravens,
Giulio, Bryan, Debora, and Alan Smith, especially.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thank bosses who gave me opportunities I might not
otherwise have had, especially Rob Cutietta, the finest boss of my entire
career, who said, simply, regarding the then-impending 2006 Asian Tour:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> "</span>It’s your turn; it’s choral music’s
turn."</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 4.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Mostly,
though, I thank the students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
made it all go. They always have, and I suspect they always will.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 4.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">*******</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 4.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">I
must thank you all, too, for enduring this happy nonsense that I have just
tried to articulate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please enjoy
the rest of your day, possibly with someone you love.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Good
afternoon.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 4.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Los
Angeles, 10 May 2007</span></div>
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william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188502883536583162.post-88034779866052813132012-07-15T16:58:00.000-05:002012-07-15T19:16:18.291-05:00The Hirts: Lucy and Charles<a href="http://acda.org/page.asp?page=hirtarticleaugust2012"></a><br />
<br />
The publication of an article about one of my main mentors, Charles Hirt, in the recent <i>Choral Journal</i> got me to thinking and reminiscing a bit. I'm quoted twice in the article, both quotes from a presentation in 1996 where I was asked to introduce him. I got to know him well, finally, after coming to USC in 1992, twenty-three years after leaving grad school at USC. I went over to his home in Glendale many times and visited him before his death in 2001.<br />
<br />
But the best part of seeing him again was to get to know his wife Lucy for the first time, really. After his death, I still went to see Lucy quite a bit; she was always dressed beautifully and I always mixed our drinks at the little bar in their little den: vodka tonic for her, scotch for me. She was a francophone and francophile of the first order, a superb musician, a wonderful conductor, a great organizer, and an extremely intelligent woman. She was also charming as could be in the Olde Worlde sense; charming, yes; stuffy, no.<br />
<br />
She wanted so much for Charles' work to be more recognized than it was, and donated all of his papers to ACDA immediately after his death. That donation has finally borne fruit but far too late for her to see it. I am glad that some recognition has finally come and hope it continues: Believe me, compared with that man, many of today's current famous 'giants' are midgets in comparison. I'll be 70 in a month; I can say that now. (So, Shawna Stewart, finish that treatise and publish the sucker. OK?)<br />
<br />
One of the things of which I am most proud is what Lucy thought of my book <i>Chorus Confidential</i>. Upon reading it, she wrote me this letter. It is my favorite 'review.' It is one of my most treasured possessions.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://acda.org/page.asp?page=hirtarticleaugust2012">Charles Hirt Photos, Choral Journal, ACDA</a> -- August 2012 <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecS5C5bHBlKZHhVxT5Dp1Xtn7MkqFt8Atm1CWjoJ5uhT4Y62wo4AzaF_LvVAVpgz_u27bFND18x2e_EycOzGxIzjXbCysQ2o1uS_llyGbuX9zP_OuL_5fjTCtM6vfZTlYWqa-sXubeWDp/s1600/Lucy%2527s+Review.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecS5C5bHBlKZHhVxT5Dp1Xtn7MkqFt8Atm1CWjoJ5uhT4Y62wo4AzaF_LvVAVpgz_u27bFND18x2e_EycOzGxIzjXbCysQ2o1uS_llyGbuX9zP_OuL_5fjTCtM6vfZTlYWqa-sXubeWDp/s640/Lucy%2527s+Review.jpg" width="462" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_1066126790"></span><span id="goog_1066126791"></span>william dehninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02940757039352232494noreply@blogger.com2