A Mother's Day tribute

I am one of those people who pays way too much attention to Who Am I and How Did I Get To Be This Way? One of the things that makes up a majority of me is music. I have a love for all types of music, and sometimes I like to ponder over my musical influences to see where my tastes originated. And the first influences all of us have, if we are lucky, is our parents. So this post will explore music that came from or that makes me think of my Mom.

Classical and choral music, especially Bach and Handel and Vivaldi: My mother majored in music at Texas Wesleyan, and sang in the church choir the entire time I was growing up. I can never remember a time when there weren't at least a few classical records in her collection. Our church choir used to combine with the Wesleyan college choir and a small orchestra to sing Handel's Messiah every Christmas. When I was little, I remember watching the tympani player because he was the most interesting. But now, whenever I get to see a full symphony, I marvel at how someone could write all of those different parts and come up with such cohesive beauty. I now also like Romantic composers, like Beethovan, Rachmaninoff and Brahms, but my first love will always be the Baroque period. My appreciation for choral music has grown slowly. I was flipping through stations one day within the past year, and caught a work on WRR that literally gave me goosebumps. It was like the moment on The Shawshank Redemption when Andy plays the aria over the prison speakers, and time just stopped for the inmates. So now I'm hunting for some choral work CD's, and will be asking Mom for help.

Show tunes, especially from Rogers and Hammerstein musicals: Mom started trying out for musicals when she was in middle school, and performed in quite a few productions up through college. I wish I could have seen her in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado in full geisha makeup. (I think she played Yum-Yum, one of the three sisters). Or in any of her productions. When you grow up listening to show tunes, you never think about the fact that this might be a little unusual. Doesn't everyone know the words to The Lonely Goatherd? Didn't every little girl try to dance like Rita Moreno does in America, swishing our imaginary skirts? This great start Mom gave me led to many classic musical films. I especially like anything with Fred Astaire in it. I think my favorite, though, might be Sweet Charity with Shirley McLaine. I still throw touches of Bob Fosse choreography in when I dance to this day. All That Jazz, a movie based on his life, is in my top ten list. And I still have many musicals to try, still, like Showboat and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Barbara Streisand: Now, I'm not a huge fan. I really only like her stuff from pre-1980. But one of my favorite CD's is Stoney End, where she covers many great songwriters' works (Carole King, Laura Nyro, Randy Newman). But I remember many happy moments as a child with this record playing in the background, or dancing about the house to Don't Rain on My Parade. I can appreciate her amazing singing voice and her ability to hold a note for what seems like forever.

Other sing-along honorable mentions: Here's a few that I remember singing to along with Mom from the days before I had my own car: I Can't Smile Without You - Barry Manilow, Lonesome Loser - Little River Band, Could I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life - Anne Murray.

I think the biggest thing I can thank Mom for instilling in me is a love for harmony. All of my favorite artists to this day (The Beatles, R.E.M., Indigo Girls) have that in common. I love being able to hear and to sing the different parts in a song. And I think I'm slowly returning the favor in a small way by turning her on to people she'd never listened to before but now loves, like Carole King and Kathleen Battle. So thanks, Mom, for giving me the most unique parts of my musical background! I can't wait for the next time we can sing in the car again.