First page of the full score of Porgy and Bess, prepared by Gershwin between September 1934 and September 1935. From the US LoC.
(Source: all-my-only-dreams)
As we get ready for this weekend’s Memorial Day Concert on the Capitol Lawn, we look back in our archives to our first ever Capitol Concert. We started this tradition on Memorial Day weekend, May 28th, 1979, and we’ve been celebrating summer holidays on the National Mall ever since.
Join us this Sunday night at 8:00 PM on the West Lawn of the Capitol for an evening of great music honoring our troops (come early, bring a picnic and lawn chair or blanket, but no alcohol, pets, or beach umbrellas!). And if you can’t be there in person, watch it live on PBS!
Have a safe and happy Memorial Day!
Watching Dodgers Game broadcast by Vin Scully
Think about this… Vin Scully started working for the Dodgers in 1950. For many of you, this is more than your entire life. For most of us, this is longer than any of us have consistently done anything.
And, Vin Scully is much more interesting and relevant in his play-by-play and commentary than most of the other people who broadcast today. Hopefully he’ll know if/when to retire, but he seems to be doing just fine right now.
(BTW I really like that MLB Network gave me this opportunity to see tonight’s game!)
Chester - William Schuman
Wish I knew who the band was… they do a good job…
Schuman was a very interesting composer, never in the ‘top tier’ with Copland, etc., but was influential in music in America - as president of Juilliard and then president of the Lincoln Center.
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue (excerpts)
Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang, pianos
Indian Smurf
(aka Native American Smurf)
(but not Chief Smurf - that would undermine Papa’s authority…)
