Music in the Berkshires

Music is music. Die-hard classical musicians find it very difficult to find the entertainment in the typical I-V-IV-V chord progression of what is spinning on the Top 40. Likewise, those who can not appreciate the beauty and artistry of classical music can not bear to listen to it.

About a year ago I was invited to join an octet and singing with them has been a true blessing. The sheer beauty of singing and hearing our voices blend in harmony when we are together can be spectacular – even if I say so myself. I am surrounded by great singers! This past weekend we headed to the Berkshire’s in MA where we dined with new friends at their farm, re-affirmed existing friendships over bottles of 3-buck chuck around bon-fires, learned of the friskier sides of angelic people on short hikes, and had a time filled with very hearty laughter. Only five of our eight could make it: Two tenors, two bases and one soprano. How serendipitous is it that we had a piece called The Lone Wild Bird?

One of the major events we attended In Massachusetts was A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood. This is a live radio show that is created and hosted by Garrison Keillor and distributed to a wide variety of public radio stations around the USA by American Public Media. The show features numerous guest musicians – generally folk and traditional – whimsical radio drama, high-larious anecdotes and a variety of other elements that make a live broadcast shows a pleasure. As we sat in our lawn chairs around a table filled with home-made delicacies, a group performed a song called Motherless Child. Carey (our lone, wild soprano) was out shopping for the CD already before they were on. I later learned that this song is sung by the Wailin’ Jennys. No, they do not wail. They sing. Beautifully. We listened to their album on the way back home and I dialed a little less into the Top 40 stuff – I’m still a fence-sitter when it comes to choosing between Lady Gaga and Mendelssohn.

Here is a Motherless Child by the Wailin’ Jennys.