Caregiver Care

If you’ve been in the caregiver game long enough, you know that in order to win the game, you must take care of yourself.  For me, this includes attending musical events whenever possible.

Thanks to the kindness of season ticket holders, and the availability of George’s caregiver Greg, I was able to attend the final concert of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s 2017-2018 season.  It was a special joy because my dear friend Heather was able to attend the concert with me.  The program was conducted by KSO Music Director Aram Demirjian, and highlighted by an excellent young pianist, Michelle Cann.

An All-American program, it featured music composed by Bernstein, Florence Beatrice Price, George Gershwin, and Aaron Copland.

The concert began with a stirring rendition of Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide (1956).  According to the program notes, the American author Lillian Hellman suggested to Leonard Bernstein (perhaps as early as 1950) that the two of them collaborate on a musical adaptation of Voltaire’s Candide  (1759).  It took a few years, but the work has energy, lyricism, humor, and incredible emotional impact.  The brief and rollicking overture has become a popular staple of concerts during the second half of the 20th century.  It has a sparkling orchestration with many woodwinds, brass and percussion in addition to strings.

Florence Beatrice Price was an African American composer born in Little Rock Arkansas in 1887.  Her music was new to me, but I was happy to make its acquaintance.  Her Concerto in One Movement for Piano and Orchestra (1934) contains three sections:  Moderato – Adagio – Allegretto.  It was extremely challenging writing for the soloist, but Michelle Cann’s assertive, bravura playing was up to the task.  The concerto was notable for including traditional classical and folk elements.  I especially noted the style of Scott Joplin’s Ragtime piano, and the finale thrilled us with the Juba, an African-American antebellum dance.  It was so gratifying to see and hear such a talented African-American woman play the music of another African-American woman from a bygone age.  Maestro Demirjian noted in his opening remarks that had she been male, Florence Beatrice Price’s name would be as well known as Gershwin or Joplin.

Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (a personal favorite) completed the first half of the program.  I have heard it many times played by several different pianists, and have multiple recordings of it as well.  The opening clarinet “riff” is what we all await with unbridled anticipation and we love to hear.  Unfortunately, Gary Sperl’s clarinet was not the best part; rather, Michelle Cann’s piano was every bit as virtuosic and emotionally charged as if George Gershwin himself had been on stage!  The quintessential American concert jazz piece, The Rhapsody in Blue never fails to disappoint, but I doubt if I’ve ever enjoyed it more than on Friday evening, May 18.

If you love brass and percussion, you would have loved Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3 (1946).  A rather lengthy piece, it is in four movements:  Molto moderato, Allegro molto, Andantino quasi allegretto, and Allegro risoluto.  In the words of Copland:

“I do borrow from myself by using Fanfare for the Common Man (1942) in an extended and reshaped form in the final movement.  I used this opportunity to carry my Fanfare material further and to satisfy my desire to give the Third Symphony an affirmative tone.  After all, it was a wartime piece–or more accurately, and end-of-war piece–intended to reflect the euphoric spirit of the country at the time.”

I cannot stress how much performing or listening to music does for my soul.  For you as a caregiver, you may find reading, art, needlework, or other activities spiritually uplifting.  Make sure as you manage medications, exercise, and diet for your loved one, you make time each day for yourself to rejuvenate, replenish, and recreate!  We are all busy, but even 15 minutes a day devoted to a favorite activity can help you cope with stress.  Both you and your loved one will be glad you did!