“The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.”
– William Shakespeare
“From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of a mountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, ‘Return to us tomorrow.’ Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection.”
-Islam’s prophet and founder, Mohamed
what is always the first to go in public schools-
ReplyDelete-art and music-
all of lucifer's kids - know that is the most efficient way to dumb down the populace ..
Carol-CS
NOT IN OUR SCHOOL! A very great band leader & music director - recently retired - saw to that over many years.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, Mr. Pastorius, you have a most exceptional taste in music flashmobbery.
;-)
:)
ReplyDeleteIs there a story behind your comment, MR?
Mr. B. started teaching at the high school the year I was a freshman (at another high school a couple miles away) and retired the year before my youngest daughter joined marching band, so roughly he taught there and ran the music program from 1976 until 2011-ish.
ReplyDeleteDuring all those years he was a fierce vocal (maybe a little bombastic) advocate for music in the schools. The power music has. The importance of a child learning an instrument (voice included) and the sense of both fun and accomplishment it provides them. And he believed it was just as important for the parents to be involved in some way with their child's musical education, just like any other schooling. Getting the local music stores involved as well, providing reasonable rental rates for parents who couldn't afford to purchase an instrument outright.
He could be pretty tough on the kids, pushing them to be better all the time whether at their own instrument or playing in the orchestra as a group or in field performances with the marching band. But he loved the kids (although they often drove him a little crazy) never wanted them to give up.
At first the marching band couldn't afford uniforms and the kids wore their own provided black pants and white shirt. But then when they were able to get uniforms he didn't want them to wear the stock stuff you see with the heavy tunics and feathered hats. No no. His kids had to have more class and they STILL march at football games parades and competitions wearing black tuxedos.
Because of his efforts we now have a large PARENT RUN music association which runs fundraisers, sells food at football games etc and organizes (or helps organize) all manner of trips and experiences such as a yearly trip to New York for both a master class with a wide variety of professional musicians, a concert performance and then a Broadway show. A bi-annual trip to Disney World at Christmas where the band marches down Main Street in the parade the orchestra plays at events and the choir also. (understand, the parents themselves pay a large part of the expenses for their individual kids but they are happy to do so).
They have a number of concerts at the school, often with guest musicians. Last February they performed at the school with Mark Woods, an original member of the Trans Siberian Orchestra. He spent the day with the kids in master classes and rehearsals. I've posted a number of their performances here over the years.
His legacy this year is a marching band 250+ plus kids strong, an orchestra about half plus some of that, a 35-40 student jazz band, a huge concert choir, chamber orchestra string quartets among other things.
All that because of his drive and belief in music, and how he instilled that belief in his students their parents the school administration and his own music staff. And those who have followed behind him now seem to have that same drive.
His devotion to music was beat only by his devotion to the kids. And they returned the favor.
Several years ago he had (knee? back?) surgery and was out of commission for a big part of the football season. So the marching band marched to his house (he still lives just a block from the school) and performed their field show music for him and his wife right their on his front lawn.
You all know how I believe in music so you must know this man is nigh unto a hero to me.
Despite his strange obsession with John Phillips Sousa's music...
;-)