portrait of the artist as a music lover
DESCRIPTION
A piece dedicated to my late mother and her love of music, which, along with her love, was her legacy to me.TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Portrait of the artist as a young music lover
Portrait of the artist as a young music lover
by Liz Craig
![Page 2: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
It all began before I was
born.My mother, a
professionally trained soprano, sang to me when
I was just a germ of a person.
![Page 3: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
She liked to play Helen Traubel
records.
My dad, on the other hand, preferred jazzy
Frankie Carle.The sounds of one or the other often lulled me to sleep when I was little.
![Page 4: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Both my parents were musicians.
My mother sang popular romantic songs on the
St. Louis University radio station every week -- like
“L’amour, Toujours L’Amour.”
![Page 5: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
My dad played drums.
At Mizzou, he was a member of the very hep
Sunset Terrace Orchestra. Gordon Jenkins played
“Tiger Rag” to audition for the band, but they didn’t think he
was hep enough.
![Page 6: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Fast forward.I began playing our piano at about age two. By age
three, I had composed my first
opus, yummily titled “The Cherry Song.” At five, my mother began teaching me to read notes. From
six on, I took piano lessons.
![Page 7: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Leonard Bernstein
was my idol.I sat transfixed before the TV set watching his Young
People’s Concerts.
![Page 8: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
As a child, I was a big fan of Beethoven.The first record album I
owned myself was a Columbia recording of Beethoven’s “Pastoral”
Symphony conducted by Arturo Toscanini. I played the grooves off that disc.
![Page 9: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Later, I switched my affections to
Bachwhen I learned Two-Part
Inventions. Later, I would fall for Mozart, then Brahms
and Schubert. Now I like everybody. Except for
Schoenberg.
![Page 10: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Fast forward.Years later, house-sitting
for someone with a piano, I wrote my first adult tune.
I didn’t know I could do that.Wow!
![Page 11: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
I wrote more music.
But neighborhood teachers hadn’t taught
me theory. So I studied jazz theory with John Elliott. He had
played piano with a combo at the Playboy
Club downtown for decades.
He called guys “cats.”He was definitely hep.
![Page 12: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
I worked in theater until my money
ran out.
I directed a dramatic play for a community theater
group and wrote and performed the theme and
incidental music for it. I also co-directed a couple
of musicals.
![Page 13: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
At ad agencies, I got to work
for arts organizations.
Ballet Omaha, Opera Omaha, and the Joslyn
Museum had slim budgets, but I enjoyed
doing TV, radio and print for them.
![Page 14: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Great music and inspired visions have
always thrilled me.And they always will.
![Page 15: Portrait of the Artist as a Music Lover](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022061208/54879ba6b4795984178b50ed/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Thanks for watching.Thanks for watching.
Liz Craig913.236.7595
[email protected]://lizcraigwriter.com