When I was 17, I visited Oberlin College, the school where my mother went. The two-day trip was a powerful experience for me in many ways, and left an indelible memory burned in my mind. First, this was my first visit to a college. I went there, had a lesson with the organ professor, and spent the night in the dorms as a guest of a current student. Oberlin really puts the “liberal” in liberal arts (and that’s probably a gross understatement), and the people I met left a strong, positive impression on me. In that two-day and one-night trip, I went to a midnight organ concert, played Quake with other students on the college network (this was a brand new experience for me – it was just 1997, after all), went to the art museum, and went to one of the weirdest and best movies I had ever seen.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is … well, I don’t know how to best describe it. It’s a French-Jazz-Musical-Opera-Art Film. The colors are truly technicolor and exaggerated to the point of being obnoxious. The story is heart-wrenching. Michel Legrand‘s film score is awesome: at times hilarious – like the opening number, an upbeat jazz number where the hero, Guy, sings about fixing cars; at times so corny that it traverses the corny spectrum and becomes good again – like the strings’ main theme; at times, somewhere in between – like the love duet between Guy and Geneviève.

Seeing this movies as an impressionable teenager, accompanied by the witty and clever commentary of the Oberlin students, instantly made it one of my favorites. If you don’t know this movie, I would highly recommend seeing it. There’s nothing quite like it. I don’t know what exactly it is, but I like it.

John Williams is easily the most-performed living composer. His film scores are so good that they can elevate an average movie to epic status. Seriously, Star Wars would not be what it is without its music. There are plenty of good film composers, but Williams stands out in his ability to write memorable melodies that become as iconic as the movie itself – merely mention one of the movies he scored, and you’ll hear the music: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Superman, ET, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEneq8fKpQw&ab_channel=AntonioCabralAntonioCabral

Earth Day – there is so much to say! But I will hold my tongue; this is not a science blog. Please consider ways you can help take care of our planet and counter the negative impact humans are having on our world. Nature has been a constant inspiration to artists and musicians since humanity’s earliest years – and needs to be a source of inspiration for many millennia more!

Thanks to composer George Fenton and his marvelous work scoring the BBC documentary, Planet Earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dc74Oao9kQ