REVIEW POTPOURRI: Sir John Barbirolli conducting the Halle Orchestra

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Edvard Grieg

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Grieg

Peer Gynt Suite No. 1; Symphonic Dances; Two Elegiac Melodies
Sir John Barbirolli conducting the Halle Orchestra; Mercury MG 50164, LP, recorded August 9, 1957.

Peer Gynt 5-act play

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) forged a musical style that was compounded of his life experiences amidst the beauties of the Norwegian landscape; health issues and one major loss; and the tunes and folk songs he heard and made part of his very soul. The fjords, mountains, lakes, meadows were distilled in the justly famed A Minor Piano Concerto, not on this record, and the three works that are contained here.

When he was 17 years old, in 1860, he came down with both pleurisy and tuberculosis but survived them, left in frail health for the remainder of his life. He married his first cousin, Nina Hagerup (1845-1935), in 1867, and they had a baby girl in 1868, only to lose her at one year old because of meningitis.

With respect to the music of Grieg’s formative years, as with such titans as Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler, the bottom line is the quality of sheer genius they and select other composers brought to their own creations. The Peer Gynt 1st Suite has four numbers – the ever-majestic Morning, the haunting tragic Asa’s Death which is my favorite, the rhythmic mystery of Anitra’s Dance and the nasty savagery of In the Hall of the Mountain King. Its endless listenability through piles of different recordings since the early 1900s, every one at least good, has sustained a position among the 10 most well known classical standards.

Sir John Barbirolli

His four Symphonic Dances are a vivacious series of what some have labeled “free fantasias;” the high spirits of countryside festivities – whether in Grieg’s Norway or the Bohemian world of Bedrich Smetana’s opera, The Bartered Bride, and Antonin Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances. The 2nd Dance has the solo oboe, and gently caressing harp and strings in one very well-sustained moment of lyricism that is unfortunately seldom heard.

Two Elegiac Melodies, for strings only, have the titles of Heart’s Wounds and The Last Spring, conveying the sadness and loss of irretrievable memories of happiness.

Sir John Barbirolli (1899-1970) lavished his complete soul on this music as he so often did with other composers. The Mercury record has the most vivid sense of immediacy to be heard on very few records from the 1950s. It too has been transferred to CD and streaming.

 

 

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Suspect Stroke? Call 911

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(NAPSI)—A stroke can happen to anyone, of any age, at any time, so it’s important for everyone to learn and understand the signs and symptoms of stroke. The condition, also known as a “brain attack,” is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and affects more than 795,000 people each year.

Stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen to the brain is blocked by plaque (acute ischemic stroke) or ruptures and bleeds (hemorrhagic stroke). When it comes to treating stroke, every 10 minutes can save up to 20 million brain cells. That’s why it is crucial to recognize the signs of stroke and act with urgency. If you suspect stroke, call 911 immediately and seek medical attention.

Learn the signs to help make a difference

In more than 60 percent of stroke cases, someone other than the patient made the decision to seek immediate treatment. The signs of stroke can be subtle and hard to recognize, so educating yourself and others is key to noticing and responding quickly to the sudden onset of one or more of them. You might know the BE FAST signs of stroke but would you or your loved ones be able to identify all 10 signs and symptoms?

  1. Confusion
  2. Difficulty Understanding
  3. Dizziness
  4. Loss of Balance
  5. Numbness
  6. Severe Headache
  7. Trouble Speaking
  8. Trouble Walking
  9. Vision Changes
  10. Weakness

More than 6.5 million people in the United States are stroke survivors. If you experience a sudden onset of any of these symptoms or recognize the signs in someone else, don’t wait to seek help. It’s okay to overreact because when it comes to stroke, the right care—right away—has the potential to save lives.

Who’s at risk?

While certain risk factors of stroke, including age, race, gender or family history, are out of your control, there are many factors that you can manage to help reduce the chances of having a stroke.

Manageable risk factors of stroke include high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation (AFib), high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, poor circulation, lack of physical activity, and obesity. Choosing healthy lifestyle choices, not smoking or using tobacco products, limiting alcohol consumption and exercising regularly can help greatly reduce your stroke risk.

Educating yourself on the signs, symptoms and risk factors of stroke, and empowering others to do the same, can make all the difference for someone experiencing a stroke. Trust your instincts and take action. Your quick action can help improve treatment and recovery from stroke.

To learn more about stroke and how to recognize all 10 signs and symptoms, visit www.strokeawareness.com.

BE FAST was developed by Intermountain Healthcare, as an adaptation of the FAST model implemented by the American Stroke Association. Reproduced with permission from Intermountain Healthcare. © 2011 Intermountain Healthcare. All rights reserved.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: The night calls of the hermit thrush

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Hermit Thrush

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

We haven’t visited the world of ornithology in quite some time, so it was only fitting this past weekend when someone at the weekly campfire asked a question about a bird that sings at night. After some research, it was determined the song heard was that of the hermit thrush.

According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the hermit thrush’s song has been described as “the finest sound in nature.” It is flute-like, consisting of a beginning note, then several descending musical phrases in a minor key, repeated at different pitches. It often sings from a high open location. The famous author Walt Whitman referred to the hermit thrush as a “symbol of the American voice, poetic and otherwise,” in his elegy for Abraham Lincoln.

It is an unassuming bird with a lovely, melancholy song and lurks in the understories of far northern forests in summer. They have a rich brown upper body and smudged spots on the breast, with a reddish tail that sets if apart from similar species in its genus.

You can look for the hermit thrush in forest openings or along trails. This species spends winter and summer in different parts of the country. In spring and summer, you’ll likely hear their mournful, flute-like song long before you see them.

Hermit thrushes, Catharus guttatus, visit backyards, but generally do not go to feeders. However, during migration, they often forage on the ground or eat berries in yards with trees or shrubs. Males usually gather food for the nest, while females feed the nestlings. They usually make their nests in and around trees and shrubs, but they can also get more creative. Nests have been found on a cemetery grave, on a golf course, and in a mine shaft.

Young are ready to fly at about 12 days old. They usually have one to two broods a year. They eat mostly berries, beetles, ants, caterpillars, true bugs, grasshoppers, crickets and many other insects. They will also eat spiders, earthworms, and sometimes salamanders.

The male will defend the nestling territory by singing, especially in the morning and evening. Their nest site varies with the region, mostly found on the ground in the east and north, in a natural hollow on the side of a hummock and well hidden by overhanging branches or surrounding low vegetation.

The hermit thrush is hardier than other brown-backed thrushes. If it is startled from the ground in the forest interior, it often perches low and stares at the observer, flicking its wings nervously and slowly raising and lowering its tail.

The hermit thrush migrate in early spring and late in the fall, and probably migrates mostly at night. They are not year round residents of the state of Maine, but merely come here during the breeding season. They can only be found year round in Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia.

While most hermit thrushes migrate to wintering grounds in the southern United States and south to Central America, some remain in northern coastal U.S. states and into southern Ontario. They usually breed in forests, but will sometimes winter in parks and wooded suburban neighborhoods.

They are a medium sized bird measuring 6 – 7 inches in length, with a wing span of 9.8 to 11.8 inches, weighing from .63 to 1.31 ounces.

The oldest recorded Hermit Thrush was at least 10 years, 10 months old when it was recaptured and re-released during banding operations in Maryland in 2009. It had been banded in the same state in 1999. They can be found in every contiguous state in the United States.

Conservation-wise, the numbers of the hermit thrush seem to be holding up well.

In culture, the former Canadian indie-rock band Thrush Hermit took its name from a reversal of the bird’s name. It is also shared by the American bands Hermit Thrushes and Hermit Thrush. Also, A Hermit Thrush is the name of a poem by the American poet Amy Clampitt. A hermit thrush also appears in the fifth section of What the Thunder Said, of the T. S. Eliot poem The Waste Land.

The irony of the whole episode is that in the 31 years my wife and I have had this camp, we had never heard it before.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

What Boston Bruins player is the only defenseman in their history to record four points in a single game in the Stanley Cup final?

Answer can be found here.

OPINION: China firemen do not endorse town’s plans for new emergency services building

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Respectfully submitted by,
Chief Dick Morse, South China Volunteer Fire Department,
Chief Tim Theriault, China Village Volunteer Fire Department,
Chief Bill Van Wickler, Weeks Mills Volunteer Fire Department.

To the people of the town of China:

First and foremost thank you all for your continued support. At the June 11, 2019, municipal and RSU #18 election, you will be asked on question 2 to vote on whether or not you want the town to spend $25,000 for an engineering and cost study for an emergency services building and a community building.

The way this proposed project has been presented to the town by the town manager and the select board, by presenting drawings at town meeting and by placing this item on the ballot, has given the impression that this project has been well thought through, and by implication, has the backing of the volunteer fire departments.

This could not be further from the truth. We feel it important to make the residents aware that during several discussions with the town manager and the select board and at two public hearings on the subject, China’s three fire departments have stated unequivocally that they neither need nor want such a building and feel that it would be a waste of the $25,000 to contract for the study since there is absolutely no demonstrated need for an emergency services building.

The China Village VFD has no current plans to move from their station, and if they did they would want to move into a building that they own, not a town-owned building. As we have stated many times, China’s Volunteer Fire Departments are all separate and individual, private nonprofit corporations organized under Maine law and we have no plans to make any changes. As demonstrated by their recent words and actions, the town manager and some members of the current select board appear to want to make changes to this system that has been working very well since at least 1947 and have suggested changes that we cannot agree with. The system we have works very well for the town and there is no need to fix something that is not broken.

By presenting this project in this manner, the town manager and the select board give the impression that we need to start down the road to consolidation or to becoming a municipal fire department. Having had discussions on this topic with the volunteers at each station, we assure you that is the last thing that we would recommend for the town at this time. Such a move would not be a positive change, it would negatively affect membership and would be enormously expensive. Please understand and rest assured that should we have a real need for any major change, the VFDs will not hesitate to come to the town and make it very clear what that change is. This is not that time.

Although supported by the town manager and select board, there was a unanimous vote of ought not to pass by the budget committee and recommendations from the three VFDs not to proceed with this at the budget hearing and budget committee meeting.

We urge you to vote no on this question, thereby telling the town manager and select board that they are not listening and have once again overstepped by putting this on the ballot regardless of the facts.

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: An opinion on emergency building

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by Wayne Chadwick
China resident

I would like to offer up some insight on the proposed warrant articles for the upcoming June 11, 2019 Municipal and RSU #18 election.

You will be asked to vote on whether or not you want the town to spend $25,000 for an engineering and cost study for an emergency services building and a community building. Where is the justification for such an expense? There appears to be a “build it and they will come” mentality with our present town leadership. The town manager stated that there is no town building to meet in that holds 200 people. When asked how often there was such a requirement he gave the annual town meeting and voting as an example. This has historically been done at the school which your tax dollars already pay to maintain. So why do we need another building for a few occurrences per year at best.

Everything we build, even if it is originally provided fully or in part by grant money, still has a tax dollar requirement for maintaining it. You are being asked to pay for an engineering study without being given any estimated cost for maintaining it after the fact. Consider the cost of plowing, mowing, heating, cooling, repairs and preventative maintenance and utilities.

You will also be asked to approve the purchase of land for a potential beach/swimming area and boat ramp. The parcel in question is located slightly north of and opposite the town office. This site is steep, steep enough that it has to be protected by guardrail for the entire length of its road frontage. Here are some potential issues to consider: It was stated at the May 26 select board meeting that DOT did not want to issue a permit for a driveway for the property. The Four Seasons Club has agreed to discuss potentially allowing access across their property for the sole purpose of accessing a boat launch, no swimming area. Additionally, to my knowledge, to date there has been no discussion with the DEP to determine if this site meets requirements for permitting. And last but certainly not least, there is the cost. The extreme grade to this property is unequivocally going to increase the cost of development and maintenance. Issues such as erosion, storm water, etc. These are continuous maintenance requirements that will never decrease in cost.

Here again we are looking at the purchase separate from the potential cost.

I offer this in hope that it will provide a more informed voting public.

THE MONEY MINUTE: Who will inherit your money?

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by Jac M. Arbour CFP®, ChFC®
President, J.M. Arbour Wealth Management

When you pass, who will inherit your assets? Will your assets be distributed via the probate process? (And will information about your estate therefore become public record?) What if someone should challenge your Last Will and Testament? Will the probate of your assets be an extended and costly process for your estate?

Truth be told, most of the pitfalls of estate distribution can be avoided. Your estate can be distributed to whomever you want, as efficiently as you want, and as privately as you want. What is the secret to making this happen? It’s what I call Proper Prior Planning.

When you choose your beneficiaries, think multigenerational: If the primary beneficiary you have listed should pass before you, whom do you want to be next in line? The answer to this question is your contingent beneficiary/beneficiaries. Have you listed one or more contingent beneficiaries as well?

Some of the questions involving beneficiaries can be difficult to think about, but answering them yourself and making your choices clear are gifts you can give your survivors.

What if you have listed two or more of your children as equal beneficiaries and one of them should pass before you? Do you want the surviving child (or children) to receive the deceased child’s share, or do you want the children of that deceased child to receive that percentage? Potential situations like this and many others must be spelled out in your Will or beneficiary designations on insurance contracts and financial accounts.

One of the common errors we see people make is leaving retirement accounts to children without educating them with regard to the tax ramifications. This is when accounts such as IRAs degrade into what I call “IOUs to the IRS.” The good news is, this too is avoidable.

To be prepared, ask yourself all the pertinent questions about estate distribution and develop a thorough plan. The pros at JMA will be happy to help you. And after you choose your beneficiaries, be sure to educate them about what they stand to inherit, people they will need to contact, and your personal preferences about how they will handle your assets.

Here is what I promise: If you do Proper Prior Planning, you will decrease the chances of Potentially Poor Performance!

See you all next month.

Jac Arbour, CFP®, ChFC®

Jac Arbour is the President of J.M. Arbour Wealth Management. He can be reached at 207-248-6767.

Investment advisory services are offered through Foundations Investment Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser.

Give Us Your Best Shot! Week of May 30, 2019

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To submit a photo for The Town Line’s “Give Us Your Best Shot!” section, please visit our contact page or email us at townline@fairpoint.net!

ALL FOR ME?: Val Baker, of Weeks Mills, snapped this yellow-rumped warbler on a suet feeder.

 

BREATHTAKING SUNRISE: Janet Soucy captured this spectacular sunrise over China Lake, at Pellerin’s Campground.

 

CUTE GROUNDHOG: Britt Holmstrom-Salisbury photographed this groundhog in Benton Falls.

SOLON & BEYOND: Margaret Chase Smith Library is an archive, museum, education center

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, my friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

Received this e-mail from Susan Lahti: Good Morning all,

Please help us publicize the annual East Madison Historical Association’s Yard and Bake Sale on June 1 – 2 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

This year we will also have our newly published EMHA cookbook with 200 recipes from members and friends of the EMHA.

Items included in the yard sale include tools, furniture, glassware, small appliances games and puzzles, books and more.

Baked items available are: Yeast and quick breads, cookies, pies candies scones and more.

Thank you for your help in spreading the word!

It certainly seems like winter refuses to step aside for spring but we are hopeful! Stephany Perkins’ talk on her efforts on behalf of JMG in Tanzania was enthusiastically received at the Leeke Lecture. DC political pundit, Sophia Nelson, spoke at Bowdoin and made a point of trekking to Skowhegan to see the library named after her idol. Lions Club Speak-Out Contest selected its regional winner. National History Day in Maine winners were selected at the UMaine contest; now on to nationals. Essay contest winners were announced as well. Community-minded kids from area schools continue to do kind deeds. Maine author, Paul Doiron, will be here on June 11 to talk about his upcoming book. Won’t you join us! This e-mail was from Angela Stockwell.

Author Paul Doiron will visit the Margaret Chase Smith Library on Tuesday, June 11, at 6 p.m., to talk about his popular Mike Bowditch mysteries. Doiron is on the tenth installment of his highly successful series about a crime-fighting Maine Game Warden. He will preview his forthcoming book, Almost Midnight which is due for release in early July. Doiron will also have available for purchase a limited number of earlier titles from the series, which he will be willing to autograph.

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. The Library is located at 56 Norridgewock Avenue in Skowhegan. For more details, phone 474-7133.

The Margaret Chase Smith Library is an archive, museum, educational center, and public forum dedicated to promoting the values of aspirations, service, civics, and civility modeled by Senator Smith during her long, distinguished career in national politics. The above e-mail was sent to me by David Richards.

I greatly appreciate any news shared in this column, either from Solon or Beyond.

Since the above is all the recent news I have received for this week, I am going to print some of an old column when I was writing for the Skowhegan Reporter on November, 3, 1988. That was when my column was called, “SOLON, The friendliest town in the state.” Had told a couple of people that I’d probably have to leave town after last last week’s Reporter came out and one of them commented on Friday that it was well written but he said, “You know most people probably read it and just laughed.” Oh yes, I’m sure of that (that’s what I’m here for is to give every one a good laugh) but this dreamer’s heart can’t help dreaming that maybe a seed of thought was planted in a few minds.” Wonder how many of you noticed it was the full of the moon last week? That will do it every time!

And now for Percy’s memoir, this week it is from an old yellowed page of Actual Announcements from Church Bulletins. And he means no harm, he just wants to give you something to laugh about: “This afternoon there will be a meeting in the south and north ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends.” Another one states: “A bean supper will be held Saturday evening in the church basement. Music will follow.”

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

I’M JUST CURIOUS: June’s wacky holidays

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by Debbie Walker

We will soon be heading into June and I don’t want you to go into the month without being prepared for your fun holidays. Maybe you can work some of these holidays into your vacation time. Let me know what was the most fun for you!

June 1, Dare Day – or a challenge day. Don’t just pass out dares, take one or two yourself. Show your sense of adventure.

June 2, National Bubba Day – If it is not your nickname you can adopt it for yourself for the day. You determine what “Bubba” would do today.

June 4, Old Maid Day – The suggestion on the ‘net’ was for ladies to get out and get noticed, to help you find your prince charming. I like to think that is the day to get out and celebrate ‘you’. Can’t say that I buy into the ‘Prince Charming’ and ‘Old Maid’ days. What is your thought?

June 6, D-Day – World War II D-Day Invasion – It is the largest amphibious assault in world history. Take a moment of silence and thank our soldiers, past and present.

June 8, Best Friend Day – Take this time to reach out to a best friend you may have lost touch with over our busier years. You never know what this might do for them or for you. Just try.

June 9, Donald Duck Day – Donald Duck has a middle name. Did you know? It is Donald Fauntleroy Duck. June 9 was his first performance on June 9, 1934. Do your grandchildren know Donald?

June 10, National Ballpoint Day – The Ballpoint pen was introduced on this day in 1943. The first ones sold for $12.50. They say the invention ranks right up there with canned beer.

June 13, National Weed Your Garden Day – A weed is any plant not wanted in your garden. I have found around the yard there are ‘weeds’ that just look like another flower to me and I keep them.

June 14, Monkey Around Day – Go out and have some untamed fun (something might cause someone to tell you to act your age). You will relax and have some great memories!

June 16, Father’s Day – Remember on this holiday to honor those who are a “Father figure” to you, and that may include some Moms. Think of the Dad’s who have passed and appreciate them while you have them. They are not a forever given.

June 18, International Panic Day – OK, well maybe get the panic out of your system and then calmly carry on for the rest of the year. I have no idea why this one was created.

June 19, World Sauntering Day – Sauntering is a form of strolling, no hurrying. Walk along slowly, happily and aimlessly. Enjoy your stroll.

June 21, Summer Solstice – Finally Summer Day – Longest day of the year. Grab your favorite beverage and enjoy the season because we always feel it is too short a season. (It has been in the 90’s here all week)

June 26, Forgiveness Day – A time to forgive and be forgiven. It may be tied into the Best Friend Day for some. The world will be a better place if we all celebrate this day.

Once again I have run out of allowed words but I am sure you can come up with some ‘holidays’ of your own invention. How about you pass them on to me, maybe come up with some future holidays and share with me??

I’m just curious what you will invent. Please share. Contact me with questions or comments at dwdaffy@yahoo.com. I’ll be waiting. Happy and Safe Holidays for you all! Thanks for reading!

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Paragraphs from E.B. White

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E. B.White

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Paragraphs from E. B. White

I offer two paragraphs from E.B.White’s One Man’s Wheat in which he writes about the movies from the sweet peace of his Brooklin, Maine, farm in May 1939:

“There is no movie house in this town so I don’t get to many pictures; but I keep in touch with Olympus by reading Motion Picture magazine and the daily papers. On the whole, this is a higher type of entertainment than seeing the films-although I miss Tarzan and Lamour, and I am not getting ahead very fast with my study of trees in the movies, a work I have been engaged in for some years.

“The newspapers, of course, keep one informed of the marriages, births, deaths, separations, divorces, and salaries of the stars. If Gable weds Lombard, I know about it. When Tone and Crawford reach the end of the road, I am informed. Separations and divorces are scented with the same delicate orange blossoms as marriages and elopements, the same romantic good fellowship. One of the most interesting accomplishments of the film community, it seems to me, is that it has made real for America the exquisite beauty of incompatibility. Divorce among the gods possesses the sweet, holy sadness which has long been associated with marriage among the mortals. There is something infinitely tender about the inability of an actor to get along with an actress.”

A footnote to the above-mentioned actor Franchot Tone (1905-1968). He is one of the most underrated actors I have ever seen in films and his roles as Roger Byam in 1935’s Mutiny on the Bounty and the President of the United States in Otto Preminger’s 1962 Advise and Consent conveyed his talent at sucking the air out of a room.

Vivid moments from two recent concerts:

I traveled to Portland for the last concert of the Symphony’s 2018-19 season on May 13 at downtown’s Merrill Auditorium. It featured guest conductor Jeffrey Kahane who had already directed two previous concerts this season. Kahane lives with his wife in Santa Rosa, California, and they have another home in Denver, Colorado. He resigned in 2017 as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra after 20 years.

The Maestro led the Beethoven 1st Piano Concerto by memory from the keyboard. He then conducted a powerful Rachmaninoff The Bells for choir, orchestra and soprano, tenor, and baritone soloists and finished with Rimsky-Korsakov’s colorful showpiece, Capriccio Espagnol. The Orchestra has achieved considerable growth in the more than 45 years since I last attended a concert under one of their former conductors, Paul Vermel, who did do very good performances with it. I remember a Berlioz Romeo and Juliet, Charles Ives 2nd Symphony, Brahms Violin Concerto with Itzhak Perlman and a nicely-staged Mozart Cosi Fan Tutte.

Last Saturday’s Detroit Symphony live link featured the 26 year old Italian-born pianist, Beatrice Rana, in the Sergei Prokofiev 3rd Piano Concerto with the Orchestra under guest conductor, Kent Nagano. The Concerto, completed in 1921, was premiered by the Chicago Symphony in 1922 with the composer as soloist. Its technical demands are ferocious, its rhythms very compelling but it has the most exquisite delicacy and lyricism. Ms. Rana brought a wonderful balance of these musical qualities to her playing .

The accompanying Bruckner 3rd Symphony has the gripping power, serenity and eloquence of that composer, along with long stretches of development that need the right pacing or the symphony could become quite dull. As with long-gone conductors Eugen Jochum, Herbert von Karajan, and George Szell and the still living Ivor Bolton and Daniel Barenboim, Nagano met these challenges.

The concert can still be watched for a while through the DSO link.

My favorite Mamas and Papas pop song has always been the 1966 hit record, Go Where You Wanna Go; for those who no longer have that record, it can be heard through YouTube.