Two 1812 Overture Memories for the Fourth

I'm grateful to my parents for an early introduction to classical music. When Mom took us to church, Dad stayed home, reading the newspaper and listening to classical music. I've written a little about that chapter of my life here. Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was on one of these albums. 

Photo: DesignEcologist on Unsplash

Of the two other memories associated with this piece of music, one occurred in high school and the other while we were living in the Midway in St. Paul after our return from Mexico in 1982 and before our move to Forest Lake in 1984. 

One of the teachers who made an impact on me when I was in school was Mr. Harris, my senior year English teacher. I have several meaningful memories from his class, but for now we'll stick to our theme, the 1812 Overture, which had been written to commemorate Russia's confrontation with Napoleon in that year.

What he did was have us listen to this piece of music and then write a story inspired by what we heard. Disney, of course, did visual storytelling inspired by classical music in his film Fantasia. Ours was simply a writing exercise with a musical prompt. For people with imagination this kind of thing is fun.

If you are familiar with the 1812 Overture you'll recall the sense of mood swings, a back and forth between lighter and more ominous themes. At the time I doubt that any of us knew it was about a conflict between Napoleon's army and the armies of Russia. Though I don't remember anything I wrote, I do recall a vivid sense of imagery and felt quite energized as I penned my thoughts on paper.

Photo courtesy Zibik on Unsplash.

THE SECOND MEMORY took place on the Fourth of July when we were living, as I noted, in St. Paul. We'd gone to the State Capitol to see the fireworks on a beautiful midsummer evening. The crowds were spread out on the grass on the south side of the Capitol with a full symphony orchestra on the apron of the Capitol grounds. I can't recall how long they performed, but as the twilight turned to dusk the Capitol shone white and bright, illuminated against the dark but clear night sky.

At a certain point it began, the 1812 Overture. It's a fifteen minute piece of music whose energy rises and subsides, like breathing or the tides. As it approaches its famous climax there's brass and spectacle and, famously, cannon fire. 

And right on cue, as the cannons boomed the fireworks filled the night sky shooting up from behind the Capitol dome. That dramatic experience of Tchaikovsky, symphony, fireworks and celebration has never been equalled in my life. Ever since that time, to fully appreciate a fireworks event I have to simply not compare. 

Actually, the boom, pop and sparkle of fireworks never ceases to invigorate, except when it's the neighbors and you have a dog that is terrified of the booms. Fortunately, it's only once a year, whereas the memory of that night at the Capitol is fresh every time I think of it.

Happy Fourth of July to you, wherever you might be. 

Men With Strong Chins: The Mounties Are Back at the Tweed

ART SEEN

Over the weekend I went to see the two new exhibitions at the Tweed Museum on the UMD campus, A Thousand Words and Sinew. While there I also did a walk-through of the Mounties paintings selected from the Tweed collection. The title of this show is Maintain The Right.

I've looked at these paintings before when they were exhibited at various times in the past, but Saturday they seemed to take on a new significance. It became apparent that the Mounties were simply a variation on our comic book heroes like Batman and Spiderman. In reading up on the origin of this series I learned a number of interesting facts.

From 1937 to 1979, 16 different artists painted pictures of Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the Potlatch Paper Corporation. Arnold Friberg, who passed in 2010, was the most prolific, creating as many as 200 paintings, many of them donated here to the Tweed Museum of Art on the campus of UMD.

There is a marked wholesomeness about Friberg's Mounties. The broad shoulders, narrow hips and strong chin epitomize the superhero image. The Mounties may belong to our neighbors to the North, but they could easily become our own, exemplifying Superman's trademark motto, "Truth, justice and the American Way."

The Tweed's paintings of Mounties aren't continuously on display, though they do appear frequently in the rotation. I was unaware, till now, that Arnold Friberg received an Oscar for his contributions to Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. Friberg's most significant painting was The Prayer at Valley Forge, a large piece depicting George Washington on bended knee, perhaps requesting God's protection and provision for our fledgling army of American revolutionaries. You will notice many similarities between this scene featuring a heroic character with his horse in a forest setting and these Mountie paintings.

If this were cropped, you might read this as a Mountie with a Centaur.

In remote regions, Mounties evidently perform the duties of a Justice of the Peace.

This being summer, the current Mountie exhibit at the Tweed is located in the small gallery usually devoted to student shows. All but one of the paintings are by Friberg, the last being a product of Robert Addison. You will notice that Addison's Mountie has more rounded, less chiseled, features. Like Friberg's, however, he's clean-cut, well-groomed, and an overall good-hearted guy.

Many of the photos in this blog post are close-ups from a more complicated painting. I'm drawing attention to the chins.

He's also a master storyteller. (Or are they playing charades?)

Robert Addison's Mountie has more rounded facial features, but is still warm-hearted.

An Interesting Aside
One of the first things I did when when I began my advertising career at Chromaline, now Ikonics, thirty years ago was to start a newsletter. Chromaline manufactured photostencil systems in the screen printing industry, so we named our newsletter Chroma-Lines. Creating a newsletter involves a number of decisions, among them being the look of the masthead, the official color scheme and font or fonts that will define the look. In printed media, one makes a paper selection. I chose a paper called Mountie Matte. It was a Potlatch paper that had a substantial, smooth feel while receiving the ink in a crisp, clean manner. In short, it looked good and felt good.

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On Another Topic
Tomorrow, July 5, marks the grand opening of AICHO's new gift shop, and visitors also will be able to tour AICHO's new urban garden project. The celebration will run all afternoon through 5 p.m., and is free and open to the public. The official ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly renamed Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center is slated to begin at noon.  From there, AICHO will be open until 5:00 p.m. for visitors to stop in for refreshments, tour the building’s expanded urban garden project, and to shop during the grand opening of the Indigenous First Gift Shop. Staff and volunteers have been hard at work, transforming every remaining bare place in the Gimaajii building into efficient community spaces. Check it out.

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Meantime, have a really special -- and safe -- Fourth of July.

Remembering Our Roots: Fourth of July 2016

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Emma Lazarus, New Colossus

This Day In History... July 4

On this day in history the American colonies declared their independence from England, setting in motion the Revolutionary War. Had the colonialists lost in their bid for freedom,  the signers of the Declaration would all have been tried for treason and hanged. They were willing to put everything on the line for their ideals.

Most interestingly, two of these signees -- Thomas Jefferson and John Adams -- died on this same date fifty years later, in 1826.

In 1855 on this day Walt Whitman published the first edition of his Leaves of Grass at his own expense.

In 1863 on this day, Union General U.S. Grant's army won the Battle of Vicksburg, one of only two battles from the American Civil War cited for their military brilliance in a list of the top 20 battles of all time. Twelve of the battles on that list were by Napoleon.

In 1934 on this day boxer Joe Louis won his first fight. He went on to become heavyweight champion, defending that title for more than ten years straight. Nicknamed "The Brown Bomber," Louis became a national hero with an impact that went far beyond the punches he threw in the ring.

On this day in 1939 baseball legend Lou Gehrig, afflicted with a fatal illness, bid a tearful farewell at Yankee Stadium in New York. "Fans," he said, "for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." Nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his longevity and durability, he was also a remarkable ballplayer with a career batting average of .340, and an amazing on-base percentage of .447. Up until A-Rod broke his record, he'd hit more grand slams than any baseball player in history.

On this day in 1957 the four-cent Flag stamp was issued by the U.S. Postal Service.

On this day in 1960 the 50-star U.S. flag made its debut in Philadelphia.

Barnett Newman (no relation) died on this day in 1970, the year I graduated high school. Newman was a modern era painter famous (among other things) for his Newmanesque zips.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. And if you're playing with fireworks tonight, be careful. There are more house fires on the Fourth of July than any other day of the year.

Fourth of July Reflections

A few days ago I started listening to the audio version of Don't Know Much About American History, a concise overview of our heritage, written for 4th to 7th graders. I believe our kids read this when we were home schooling, but it is a good read for any age. That is, there's plenty of thought food as we revisit our nation's story.

The format is question and answer, but really the author simply uses the questions as clever ways to talk about various people and events. For example, "Did Daniel Boone wear a coonskin cap?" The question is less relevant than the subject matter, which is actually, "What was Daniel Boone's role in early American history?"

With today being Independence Day, it is fitting that yesterday I listened to the section on our American Revolution and thought maybe a few words about Thomas Jefferson would be suitable. When it comes right down to it, history is essentially about characters. The events of history are best understood by understanding the people who were catalysts for these events.

We celebrate July 4 as the birthday of our country, but it's interesting that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson also died on this date, and in fact the same day many Independence Days ago. These two men, our second and third presidents, played major roles in their day. I think it no accident that these two men owned the largest personal libraries in colonies. Both were studious readers.

Jefferson was also a writer. When the Continental Congress decided to declare its independence from England, they called on young Tom Jefferson to draw up the first draft, and a stellar piece of writing it was. In point of fact, when Jefferson died his tombstone makes no mention of his being the third president of the U.S. Rather, he had it inscribed there that he was author of the Declaration of Independence, founder of the University of Virginia and responsible for Virginia's Statute of Religious Freedom.

Jefferson's pen did more than just scribe a critical document in our history. He was also an avid letter writer. Using a machine called a polygraph he made copies of his letters, which numbered more than 16,000 in all, or 19,000 depending on who's count is most accurate. If you've ever been to Monticello, his home in Virginia, you'll also know that the guy was into gadgets. But foremost, he was a writer.

Let's read the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

This was followed by what have come to be the Declaration's most significant pronouncements.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

After this Preamble, there followed a list of grievances, an outline of justifications for such an action as this.

Whereas the ideals are profound, there were still flaws in our founding documents. Slavery remained as an institution, and women had few rights. Landowners still held the power, that is, men with property. But events had been set in motion that would re-shape the future, founded on ideals and dreams.

As you enjoy the day... reflect a little on our roots, and dream.

Veteran Recalls Death “By Friendly Fire”

On one level Pat Tillman was just another soldier. To quote my father-in-law who served in World War II, “The short lives of those killed were hardly a flicker here on earth. Though most of their names will never appear in history books, they were all heroes. Every battle left heroes, the survivors and the dead. I can only have nothing but sad respect for the men who had so few joys and so many miseries, and who gave their lives so others could go on living.”

For me, Tillman was more than just another soldier because he was more than just another person even before he entered the war. What I mean is that Tillman demonstrated his values by his choices. During his football career he turned down a 9 million dollar contract with the St. Louis Rams to play at one-third this price for the Arizona Cardinals. Later, Tillman gave up the money altogether to enlist in the armed forces to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was later sent to Afghanistan.

I remember in April 2004 when the news carried the story of his untimely death while in the service of his country. Tragically, two months later, another Pat Tillman story crossed the newswire. “FormerNFL player¹s death caused by ‘friendly fire'.” Friendly fire is a euphemism for “Oh no, we shot our own man.”

Mistakes happen in life, but when I overtighten a lug nut and it breaks, it is only a hassle. No one has been killed by this foolishness. Mistakes like the death of Pat Tillman are on another scale. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to process the confusion and grief. I know this because my father-in-law Bud Wagner has recently been telling a few stories that did not make the pages of his published war memoir, And There Shall Be Wars.

Today as we celebrate our own Independence as a nation, I wanted to share one of these untold stories which reveal the true costs of our freedom.

There are many, many things not written down in the book as they actually happened. One that comes to mind right away is on page 359 when four American bombers came over a bunch of us. I was out of range but some of the 125 F.A. weren't, and four were killed. Ken Kramer was one of those killed. Read it again. American bombers dropped four 500 lb. bombs to lose weight and get back to England. The Second Corps came out with the report that unidentified bombers dropped bombs.

Kramer was a friend of mine starting in Ireland. Truth is truth, as well as error is error, war or not. Articles like this one were ones that would grip me and others. You could compare it with a person not familiar with the Bible. After he read it you could say, "Well, what did it say?" He would probably say some little thing about it and would have to say, "Well read it again." Probably omitting the statement that those bombers were unidentified. We knew which were enemies and which were friendly bombers. Well, so did the corps.

Many accidents occur because of carelessness. When they permanently take away something that might have been, how does one process this?

While talking with Bud the incident came up yet again. It is also powerfully revealing of why returning soldiers are often so mute about their experiences. Heart breaking. They want to share, but others who were not there can be brutally insensitive or dismissive, or worse.

Once more let’s turn to page 359. Read it again and then try to imagine just what happened. I can't recall much of the details anymore but have to pounce on the fake statements that those bombers were unidentified. First of all by the time they dropped the bombs many on the ground, including myself, knew they were American. Then when they got back to their base they would have known about where they were dropped. This of course was far from the Air Force policy and what about Ken, my old friend who was on radio duty who had to be the one who was killed. The confusion is unbelievable in a situation like this. Medics were close by and all help was used.

The other statement that came to me years later and long after my diary was written was from the original 2nd Corps account of Feb. 7, 1944. I quote, “unidentified aircraft dropped three bombs in the division sector, one of which destroyed the radio relay station slightly infuriating Sgt. Paul Staken, Pvt. Robert Staples and Corporal Bernard Reno. Sgt Kenneth Kramer who was operating the radio received more serious (wounds) and died the next day.” The rest of us knew better. It was a cause of one of the bombers crews missing the target and wanted to get back faster, probably to England or south Italy, and get rid of the bombs. What a morale builder. Try telling this to some civilians fifty or sixty years later and the response is sickening.

I can't go on without telling of the night I came home after four and a half years. Remember I had just got home that day...all my uncles and some others were there to welcome (me) and of course wanted to know all about the war. The youngest uncle asked me afterwards about the Germans killing unnecessarily and I told him a little and his response was "they all do that in war." I kept my mouth shut but much later was able to tell him to try and prove to me where any American soldiers lined Italians up alongside a building and shot them down... men, women and children. Then they covered them up with hay; others weren't always (covered). He would just shrug his shoulders and we soon found out when someone wanted to talk about the war you would get further to just keep your mouth shut. They would mostly think that it was probably true for some but not you as you came back and saw a lot of the country.

And so there was nothing more about the unidentified bomber except what we already knew and my old friend Ken had to do without the years that most of us survived.

As we remember the Fourth, let's make a special spot in our hearts for our veterans.