Now that I have, I must share it! primarily for this performance, which is so enthusiastic, so powerful, and leaves a smile behind. At three minutes, we get to see how deaf people enjoy musical performance – a humbling experience!
Claude Ely, a songwriter and preacher from Virginia, describes composing the song while he was twelve years old and sick with tuberculosis in 1934. His family prayed for his health, and, in response, he spontaneously performed this song.
It has been recorded multiple times, notably by Johnny Cash, just before his death.
On 23 April Nina wrote her poem, Unsung Heroes, and commented as follows:
*I felt really emotional writing this. Sometimes, Napowrimo feels like a mental excavation and it gets overwhelming when you try and write as authentically as you can. Is it just me? Anyway, it’s a really rough write that needs editing but like a lot of my writes this month, I’ve posted them as is.
“I think this is an amazing piece of writing Nina which reads perfectly and powerfully. I would like to record it as a Spoken Word if I may, and repost it? I particularly like “Death too lurks everywhere as if with a daily quota to tick but sometimes someone’s soul will say not today, Death. Not today.”
Nina said OK, so here it is
Unsung Heroes
So many of them walk among us.
Death too lurks everywhere as if with a daily quota to tick but sometimes someone’s soul will say not today, Death. Not today.
The paramedic who does CPR just in time. The woman who pulls you out of the way of a bus. The lifeguard who drags you out of the current. The allies, the valiant, acting on instinct.
Those who can talk you back from the brink as you stand on a precipice not knowing how you got there.
The deep-sea divers in Thailand some years ago who saved that group of thirteen and braved the flooded cave, the valour, the strength, the resolve it took. I cannot fathom such heroism.
Someone says the odds are slim but courage says let us try, let us try we have to, because we must.
And it’s true that fortune favours the brave for something on high steps in and says I’ll help you.
The firefighters, the soldiers, the freedom fighters performing feats of grit and mettle looking death square in the eye. They signed up for it but how hard it must be to keep your cool in the face of jeopardy and know that one false move means you would perish too.
That is some steel will, right there – Timing, it’s all about timing, isn’t it? One second too late and then –
And of course the good, good parents doing their best every day, all their days the single mothers, the lone fathers guardians, keepers, teachers, carers cos that’s where it all begins with those who keep a watchful eye and do their part to plant the good, good seeds.
“The few own the many because they possess the means of livelihood of all … The country is governed for the richest, for the corporations, the bankers, the land speculators, and for the exploiters of labor. The majority of mankind are working people. So long as their fair demands—the ownership and control of their livelihoods—are set at naught, we can have neither men’s rights nor women’s rights. The majority of mankind is ground down by industrial oppression in order that the small remnant may live in ease.”
—Helen Keller, 1911
Helen Keller portrait, 1904. Due to a protruding left eye, Keller was usually photographed in profile until she had her eyes replaced c. 1911 with glass replicas for “medical and cosmetic reasons”.
A remarkable lady. You can read more about her HERE.
Pianist Lucy Illingworth, 13, the winner of Channel 4 show The Piano, had viewers of the Coronation Concert in tears on 7 May. Lucy, who is blind and autistic, took to the stage to play Bach’s Prelude in C Major. You can see that HERE.
Below you can see her playing Arabesque No. 1 by Debussy. You may need to find a tissue!
Lucy attends Ravenscliffe School in Halifax. This is what they had to say about her performance:
Congratulations to Lucy, Sean, Danny and Jay on a spellbinding performance last night on the finale of Channel 4’s The Piano. We continue to be awestruck by Lucy’s ability, and the best part is that we hear her play every single day, which is an incredible honour. Her music is the soundtrack to everyday life at Ravenscliffe, and our entire community is so lucky to have her with us. Quite rightfully, her teacher Daniel Bath has been recognised for the patience and devotion he has shown to Lucy and her family for over a decade. Daniel is a hugely talented musician in his own right, and also founded Music for the Many, a charity which provides instrumental tuition and other musical opportunities on an equitable and inclusive basis, free of charge, to children and young people. To learn more about their work, or if you would like to support them, please visit their website (www.music4themany.com). We would like to also thank The Amber Trust, who have supported Lucy for many years. They are an incredible charity who give partially sighted and blind children the best possible chance to meet their musical needs and aspirations. If you would like to learn more about what they do, or feel able to make a donation to support them in their incredible work, please visit their website (www.theambertrust.org.uk). If, by any chance, you missed last night’s show (or just want to watch it again, and again, and again!) here is Lucy on stage at the Royal Festival Hall in London. We are privileged to have played a small part in Lucy’s story so far, and we can’t wait to see where her journey takes her next. All rights and footage belong to Channel 4 Television Corporation.
An occasional post of my music choices. No analysis, or explanation, maybe just a few words to say why! My short term memory failed to tell me (thank you Dale) that I featured Abel’s marvellous music in a post on 27 October 2022!
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There is so much going on in this video. I love the music, the artists, the energy, and especially the sartorial extravanganza! Just sit back and let this music hit you in the stomach!
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For anyone who knows a young person learning the cello show them this!
Peter's pondering 
