I have been meaning to share this post for a couple of weeks now, but given all that has happened, especially in Pittsburgh, and what is coming next Tuesday (need I say this – VOTE!!!!!!), it feels like it’s really time. At a moment when our voices are simultaneously growing louder and less persuasive, here are two uniquely American musical selections, one that depicts our current national “conversation”, as well as one which offers a more hopeful alternative.
Recently, ProMusica performed Charles Ives’ masterpiece, “Three Places in New England,” and while we were working, I realized that it is the most perfectly American piece of music I know, and a wonderful representation of what is happening right now.
The first movement, haunting beyond words, depicts a Civil War memorial in Boston to slain black Union soldiers, and the last movement beautifully depicts the Housatonic river (at least for a while – as so often happens with Ives, all hell breaks loose towards the end). However, the middle movement of the piece is what I want to highlight here – “Putnam’s Camp”, a glorious mishmash of marches, folk tunes and general mayhem.
The movement begins with a marching band that doesn’t seem to know how to march – the rhythm is thrown off almost immediately, and things spiral downward from there, with various sections of the orchestra either ignoring or clashing with the main tune all the way through. You can listen to the entire piece here, but I want to draw your attention to the very end, when the national anthem manages to interrupt itself (starting on two successive beats), and then, for the last chord, everyone seems to shout at once. I think that sums up the state of things these days perfectly.
As a contrast, let’s listen to a piece I used to play for a living, John Philip Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis” march. In the middle section, there’s a long buildup, that begins with the drums, and adds, one at a time, tubas, trumpets, clarinets, and finally, gloriously, the trombones. Each group has their own line, and they wind up playing all at the same time. Unlike in the Ives, all these voices at once sound beautiful, fit together perfectly, and complement each other. I think that’s a far more optimistic way of looking at America’s national conversation – everyone gets to talk, everyone is heard clearly, and we’re the better for it.
Here are two versions, the first by my former colleagues in the Marine Band, and the second by just one of those colleagues, bassist Eric Sabo, who seemingly had nothing better to do, and learned all the parts himself. I do miss sitting in front of him in orchestra – as you can see, he’s a guy who knows how to have a good time.
Ives had a keen sense of the complexities and contradictions of American life, and expressed them better than any other composer I know of. Sousa, for his part, seems to be expressing the hope and idealism that has guided our country through worse times than this. Though I, and I suspect many of you, feel a lot like the Ives right now, I’d like to think (to quote my mom) that we can get back to living in the America that it sounds like Sousa was hoping for.
As some readers know, I spent eight years as a member of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra. As the name implies, I spent most of my time in uniform at the White House or in other government buildings, performing for various official gatherings. I also got to play a lot of great chamber music, as well as two concertos with orchestra, and made some great friends.
The picture above is one of my favorite moments at the White House, at a Christmas party for members of the Secret Service (the kid’s father was an agent, I believe):
Shortly after I got the job, I spoke with one of my teachers, the Danish cellist Erling Blondal Bengtsson, who was as kind and gentle a person one could ever hope to meet.
The first thing he asked me was “Do you get a gun?” When I told him no, he seemed a little disappointed. This was the first of many conversations I would have (and still have) to explain the unique and sometimes very strange job I had.
“Every Marine a rifleman” is a common expression around the Corps. Well, that’s every Marine except band members – I didn’t go to boot camp. Many people, myself included, would never have considered auditioning if spending 3 months at Parris Island were required, and I think the Marine Corps wisely decided that it wasn’t worth it.
Not everyone we encountered knew that Marine Band members were not combat trained, and it made for some surreal moments. One night, the orchestra was playing at an awards dinner for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (insert joke here).
In between handing out medals to his agents for things like shooting drug dealers and capturing arms smugglers, the bureau’s director gave a special thank you to the orchestra, because, as he put it, “You guys are the ones they send in first.” Strangely, no one corrected him, though I did suggest to my colleagues that if this came up again, the viola section should lead the way.
Many times since leaving the Band, I’ve had people thank me for my service, which can feel a little strange – I certainly don’t consider myself to have been a real Marine, given that I wasn’t trained as one, and could never have been put in a combat situation (it’s in the contract).
Though my time in uniform was pretty different from most, I did get a closer look at life in the military than most civilians do. Maybe because of this unique position, I’ve often wanted to give something back to regular service members, and recently I got a chance to – I’ve been playing at the Cincinnati VA hospital.
The Cincinnati Arts Association, in a partnership with TriHealth and ArtsWave, has begun a pilot program to put live performers into medical settings, to show that music can enhance the healing process, as well as the general well-being of patients and staff.
I’m playing in the Treatment, Recovery and Activity Center, known as the TRAC (the VA, like the Pentagon, likes its acronyms). This part of the hospital offers group and individual therapy, as well as sessions designed to help vets re-adjust to civilian life and deal with post-traumatic stress.
It’s early, so there isn’t any data yet, but I’m sure the music’s having a positive effect – many of the vets I’ve met seem to really enjoy hearing Bach while they are at the clinic, and the staff does too. Here they are – from left, Brian Smith, Cincinnati Arts Association’s Director of Education and Community Relations Joyce Bonomini, Mark Hilt and Dr. Nalda Gordon.
The other day, I had a nice chat with a Navy vet in his sixties, who was in a wheelchair. He told me hearing the cello reminded him how much he missed his guitar playing, which he had to give up several years ago after an injury to his left hand. I reminded him about a great program called Guitars for Vets, which may be able to find him a left-handed guitar and some lessons, so he can get back to it. I hope he does – just talking about his playing made him come alive.
Anyone who has followed the news in recent years knows that the VA has had more than its share of troubles, and it feels good to bring great music into a setting which probably needs it more than most. In addition to furthering the program’s goals of promoting healing and well-being, I’m thanking the vets and the staff for their service, and, in a sense, continuing mine, which feels very good.
Till next time,
Nat
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