Beethoven and Me

     When I was a little girl I thought that Ludwig van Beethoven wrote For Elise for me. I was the muse for a great composer even though we had been born centuries and cultures apart. This month is Beethoven Awareness Month and while listening to WQXR--our public, classical music station--I learned that he wrote it for a woman named Therese (one of the many he is thought to have loved.) There was a mistake in the transcription of the title and Therese's loss became my childhood fantasy.
     The composition is the only one that I know of that bears my name. Alice has her "Sweet Little Alice Blue Gown." There is a song for Carol and one for Dinah. Evelina has been around for awhile. Georgia was on someone's mind and Ida remains "Sweet as apple cider." Jeannie is famous for her light brown hair and the First World War made Katie famous. There's also Kiss Me Kate and every breeze whispers Louise and Astaire loved Louisa. Then there is Laura. Mary remains a "grand, old name," and what about Marie (from sunny Italy?) Sinatra sang about Nancy and Rosemarie had Nelson Eddy singing about her. Guess I'll keep Beetoven as my composer.

Bests,

Elise
 

Happy Birthday, Mr. Gershwin

Courtesy Wikepedia Commons     
     Today is George Gershwin's birthday. Born on Sept. 26, 1898, he left our world on July 11, 1937 at the
age of 38. He left us with music that brightens our lives whenever and whenever it is played. The son of Russian immigrants he began playing the piano at the age of 11 when his parents bought a second-hand piano for his older brother, Ira--who became a brilliant lyricist.
     A school dropout at 15, he began playing in New York night clubs and as a song plugger in Tin Pan Alley and he kept studying music with noted piano teachers. He worked as a rehearsal pianist for Broadway performers and had his first song published in 1916, titled "When You Want 'Em, "You Can't Get 'em." He wanted to study with Ravel but Ravel turned him down saying,"Why do you want to be a second rate Ravel when you are a first rate Gershwin?"
     Gershwin wrote hit after hit  with brother Ira. A motion picture starring Janet Gaynor and all time favorites for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. He wrote for Ethel Merman's Broadway debut titled "Girl Crazy," and Of Thee I Sing--a political satire. His opera, Porgy and Bess just received another production, and his "Rhapsody in Blue," and "American in Paris," continue to bring joy to music lovers everywhere.
     Stories are told of him sitting down at a piano and performing at every party. If there is a heaven, I'm sure he's playing right now.

Bests,

Elise

    






 

ROMANTICIZED MYTHS

    
     I'm a great fan of WQXR and though I'm just a kid on the inside, I love listening to Naomi Lewin's program created for youngsters and broadcast on Saturday mornings. Last Saturday, Zoltan Kodaly's opera Hary Janos was featured. The opera begins with a musical sneeze. In Hungry, where Kodaly grew up there is a superstition that says, If you sneeze while telling a story that makes it true. That superstition made me think of writing.
     Novels have the disclaimer that states that the characters are fictional and any resemblence to real people--living or dead--is purely coincidental. But what if one of our characters rising from our subconscious? A forgotton relative, friend or enemy who made an impression--good or bad--that emerges when we sit down at our computers and begin a novel. Does the story stem from a forgotton childhood trauma? A lover the writer was determined to forget? Perhaps it's an urban legend handed down from generation to generation and transformed by an author into a contemporary tale or gossip overheard and made real between the covers of a book. Do we begin our fiction with a sneeze?

Bests,

Elise

MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC

Before I begin to make the coffee in the morning, I turn on WQXR, the public radio station in New York--the only one that plays classical music. I continue listening as I fix breakfast, clear the dishes, and make the bed. When I sit down at the computer to begin writing, the music plays in the background--the radio stays in the kitchen and the music is muted allowing me to concentrate on the characters that will become the most important part of a story or novel. While I love jazz and show tunes--once upon a time singing in shows and small clubs--I would now find lyrics intrusive. A distraction from my work.

Would love to know if other writers call on music as they begin their work?

My cozy mystery eBook is available at Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Carina Press and wherever eBooks are sold. An audio book has been produced by Audible.com

Bests,

Elise

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WORDS, MUSIC AND ART

This past week, public radio and television stations have been asking for contributions to keep their programs on the air. One of the announcers asked what would our lives be like without the arts and it got me to thinking. In the morning, after washing my face and teeth and throwing on some clothes, the first thing I do is turn the radio to our classical music station-WQXR-and listen while I make breakfast. Sometimes, after a restless night, the music soothes, sometimes a piece spurs me on to a more productive day. On weekends, I listen to Jonathan Schwartz on WNEW as he plays and talks about musical comedy and jazz greats. Singers like Sinatra and Clooney and Bennett. The fabulous Ella Fitzgerald and the singer's singer--Mabel Mercer. Composers and lyricists like Rogers, Bernstein, Porter, Gershwin, Hammerstein and Sondheim. What would I do without those stations?

Then there are museums where average folk can wander and fall in love with paintings that cover every taste from early Greek and Roman, African and Asian, renaissance, classical, impressionism, modern, and folk. Sculpture from the masters--Michelangelo, Rodin, Degas and photography--one of our latest arts. In Brussels--one can even study and gaze at the Ninth Art--cartoons.

Perhaps books mean the most to me. Words can make me dream, add excitemnt to a dull period in my life, encourage laughter and tears. Provoke anger, lull me to sleep and make me think. Books open my mind to the possible and sometimes make the impossible--possible.

Scene Stealer, my eBook mystery is available at Carina Press and wherever eBooks are sold. An audio version is available at audible.com