Just Chillin


world’s greatest composers, Johannes


W Chrys-


ostomus Wolfgan- gus Teophilus Mozart was born at Getreidegasse 9 in the quaint


city


of Salzburg, Aus- tria. Travelers still can climb the worn away rock stairs in that ancient stone, yellow


painted


house to visit the very apart- ment in which the family first lived, since it is a popular museum: harpsichord, paint- ings, and more. Te “sound of music” that he created still “rocks” the world of classical mu- sic today ev- erywhere it is performed. H a p p y 263rd Birth- day, Wolferl Amadeus!!! Te great


A m er ic a n children’s books author and il- lustrator, Maurice Sendak, of- ten spoke of Mozart’s influence on him, since Sendak chose to play Mozart’s music while he was creating his marvelous il- lustrations of “Where the Wild Tings Are” and more.


Sen- dak wrote that he always re-


TM


January 2019: Music is “…the Food of Love”


by Ellie Schmidt of Santa Rosa, CA. ~ eschmidt@upbeattimes.com


ay back, on a snowy, freezing day, January 27, 1756, one of the


plied to young fans who wrote to him. One youngster sent Sendak a note of thanks with a little drawing of his own as a giſt. Sendak was so charmed by that he returned the fa- vor by thanking the child and added a Wild Ting draw- ing for him to have. Te boy’s mother wrote back and said her son loved the card so much he ate it! Sendak told how


much he loved the thought of that happy kid displaying pure joy by gobbling up his Wild Ting. Happy Twelſth Night, one and all! Janu- ary 6th is the big, party fi- nale of each holiday sea- son through- out Europe. Will


Shake-


speare gave us his glori- ous “Twelſth Night,” a mar- velous mix-up of contrary,


unforgettable characters, mis- understandings, and merri- ment that is a sheer delight. Act I, scene 1 gives us: “If music be the food of love, play on!” Te happy ending brims over with music and dancing. Scientists have proven, by long careful study what music


fans have felt for a long time. Making music is a marvelous experience not only for the mind but for the spirit as well. Te neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin’s book: Tis is Your Brain on Music reveals that “we are all hardwired for mu- sic.” More startling, he main- tains music may be more fun- damental to our species than language. He claims we’re all musical. And yet another inimitable


quote from Albert Einstein: “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I oſten think in music. I live my day- dreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” Recently, Te Global Citi-


zen Festival held a memorial fund raiser, in honor of the late Nobel Peace Prize winner President Nelson Mandela, in South Africa in Johannesburg. Beyonce and Jay-Z took part. Mandela once wrote: “Music is a great blessing. It has the power to elevate and liberate us. It sets people free to dream.” Mandela was not alone in hav- ing eclectic musical tastes. He said in interviews that he loved traditional Xhosa music; South African artists, especially; as Paul Simon helped us all en- joy: Ladysmith Black Mam- bazo; and Miriam Makeba; and opera; and jazz! His au- tobiography tells how, while imprisoned on ghastly Robben Island, he and other inmates would sing to one another for


“A great song should lift your heart, warm the soul and make you feel good.” ~ Colbie Caillat


comforting and upliſting. He liked to sing the Scottish ballad “Bonnie Mary of Argyle,” and a friend sang “Galway Bay.” All the songs they sang became music that expressed, although they were imprisoned, their free spirits


soaring in mak-


ing music. He wrote singing became a “symbol of defiance and a triumph of spirit.” What a Ghandi-like cultural expres- sion of defiance “against small minds, forces of evil, and a tri- umph of courage and determi- nation over human frailty and ...continued on page 30


“Courage is the most


important of all the


virtues be-


cause without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue


consistently.” Maya Angelou


A year for more


compassion & Joy


UPBEAT TIMES, INC. • January 2019 • 5


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