Monday, January 11, 2010

Singing the Past

The wonderful American composer, Samuel Barber, created the music for Knoxville: Summer of 1915 as a tribute to the opening pages of novelist James Agee's A Death in the Family.  If you haven't yet experienced them together, they're a revelation.  The music serves as exquisite echo to the book's sensitive and idyllic narrative.  Cherished and melancholy, it sings a full-hearted portrayal of a beloved American childhood.  How is it possible to blur the lines between symphony and literature so thoroughly?  How can music convey the resplendent arc of a sprinkler on the lawn of one's childhood home, now lost to time?  It's a mystery.  A resonant one.
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2 comments:

  1. mayaJanuary 12, 2010 at 10:12 AM

    swish, swipe, swoop across the lawn and back again
    the fresh smell of dirt arising with the new moisture it receives
    I hear, smell, see the front yard growing

    thanks, Lane, for being a piece of the plumbing

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  2. HelenJanuary 12, 2010 at 6:48 PM

    I love reading and I love music. Now I have a wonderful excuse to combine them. I'm ordering the Barber immediately.

    Thanks so much for giving me an exciting addition to my "Can't wait to do" list.

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