The Write Way

19 August 2005

Music Hath Charms to Soothe a Savage Breast

Greetings,

I think I've told you before that my son is a musician ... a rock musician to boot, but whenever we go somewhere in his car, his radio is always tuned to a station that plays classical music. He says that after a few hours of performing, he's so high he needs something soothing to help him come back down to the Real World, and classical music fills the bill.

Maybe this goes back to his early music days when he played classical guitar ...

[Fade to a Christmas Past when our children were still in primary school ... See the Love of My Life sneak out to the car when the kids were asleep and smuggle a bulky parcel into our bedroom, the scene of our annual Christmas parcel-wrapping endeavours.]

She began so seriously, sitting on a straight-backed chair and practising the bow movements for different notes ... but she reckoned without the mimicry of her older brother, and it wasn't too long before the pair of them were in gales of laughter, striking poses as they played air-cello around the house ... And even now, all these years later, it sets us all to fits of giggles when one of us does a merry tune on an air-cello.

So, boys and girls, the moral of the story is that some things just have to go together ... like bows and cellos.

Not only must I remind you that cellos need partners.

Yes ... I can see what you mean ... You're waiting for me to complete that thought, aren't you? Whenever you see "not only," you always wait for the "but also" that follows. 

Not only must I remind you that cellos need partners, but also that some words do, too.

These words are called correlative conjunctions (or paired conjunctions) and they just like to stick together.

not only . . . but also

not . . . but

either . . . or

neither . . . nor

whether . . . or

as . . . as

This week's Little Something Extra has more about our friend Congreve (whose words started all this!) And did you note that what music soothes is not a wild animal (savage beast) but emotional turmoil (savage breast). If you've ever wondered just why music appeals to us, then this article is worth a few moments of your time: http://www.buymusic.write101.com/ 

This week's quiz:

While you're humming away, try your hand at these musical terms:

adagio, aerophone, allegro, andante, arpeggio, glissando, grave, sonata, staccato, syncopation

1. short, detached notes, marked with a dot above them 

2. rapid slide through pitches of a scale 

3. fast, cheerful 

4. solemn; very slow 

5. quite slow 

6. instrumental genre in several movements for soloist or small ensemble 

7. instruments that produce sound by using air as the primary vibrating means (such as flute, woodwinds, brass) 

8. broken chord in which the individual tones are sounded one after another instead of simultaneously 

9. deliberate upsetting of the meter or pulse through a temporary shifting of the accent to a weak beat or an offbeat

10.moderately slow; walking pace 

And some bon mots with a musical theme ...

Why was the piano invented?

So the musician would have a place to put his beer.

How many lead guitarists does it take to change a light bulb?

None--they just steal somebody else's light.

Did you hear about the electric bass player who was so bad that even the lead singer noticed?

You'll find these and lots more instrument jokes here: http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/jokes/ 

Last week's quiz:

Since we've been discussing colour a little this week, match up these colour terms:

celadon, saffron, azure, incarnadine, aeneous, ferruginous, smaragdine, griseous, lurid, sable

1. bronze colour - AENEOUS

2. mottled with gray, especially bluish gray; grizzled - GRISEOUS

3. very dark; blackish brown - SABLE

4. shining with a red glow - LURID

5. fleshy pink; blood coloured - INCARNADINE

6. a light shade of blue - AZURE

7. pale to very pale green - CELADON

8. rusty - FERRUGINOUS

9. yellowy-orange - SAFFRON

10.emerald green - SMARAGDINE

And some more from that same site:

"Richard Wagner's music is better than it sounds."

-- Mark Twain

Three violin manufactures have all done business for years on the same block in the small town of Cremona, Italy. After years of a peaceful co-existence, the Amati shop decided to put a sign in the window saying: "We make the best violins in Italy." 

The Guarneri shop soon followed suit, and put a sign in their window proclaiming: "We make the best violins in the world." 

Finally, the Stradivarius family put a sign out at their shop saying: "We make the best violins on the block."

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A Little Something Extra

Wouldn't you love to be one of those people who can just tap into the human psyche and come up with phrases that appeal to All Times?

One such fortunate fellow was William Congreve, who gave us two oft-used comments. And if you tell me you haven't used one of these (in some form) at some time, I won't believe you!

Both, strangely, come from just one of his plays:

The Mourning Bride (William Congreve 1670 - 1729)

ACT I. SCENE I. 

A Room of State. - The Curtain rising slowly to soft Musick, discovers ALMERIA in Mourning, LEONORA waiting in Mourning. - After the Musick ALMERIA rises from her Chair, and comes forward.

ALM. Musick hath Charms to soothe a savage Breast, To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak. I've read, that things inanimate have mov'd, And, as with living Souls, have been inform'd, By Magick Numbers and persuasive Sound. What then am I? Am I more senseless grown Than Trees, or Flint? O force of constant Woe! 'Tis not in Harmony to calm my Griefs. Anselmo sleeps, and is at Peace; last Night The silent Tomb receiv'd the good Old King; He and his Sorrows now are safely lodg'd Within its cold, but hospitable Bosom. Why am not I at Peace?"

And this is the second:

Act 3, Scene 2

Enter PEREZ. - As you'll answer it, take heed This Slave commit no Violence upon Himself. I've been deceiv'd. The Publick Safety Requires he should be more confin'd; and none, No not the Princes self, permitted to Confer with him. I'll quit you to the King. Vile and ingrate! too late thou shalt repent The base Injustice thou hast done my Love: Yes, thou shalt know, spite of thy past Distress, And all those Ills which thou so long hast mourn'd; Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.

Read the whole play here: http://www.4literature.net/William_Congreve/Mourning_Bride/2.html 

Word of the week: Quadrivium (n) the higher division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages, composed of geometry, astronomy, arithmetic and music

This interesting word comes from the Latin quadri (four) via (road) and means place where four roads meet.  

Oxymoron of the week: I know some of you have been thinking of this since we started, so we may as well get it over with before my son sees it ... "rock musician"

And here's a Latin phrase you may hear if you're in the entertainment industry:

Noli me vocate; ego te vocabo. (Don't call me; I'll call you)

[NOH-lee MAY woh-KAH-tay AY-go TAY woh-KAH-boh]

Kind regards,

Jennifer

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Copyright 2005 Jennifer Stewart

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