The Big Ride - Day 7, Framingham, MA to Newburyport, MA – a gallery and some reflections (66 miles)
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David YangWhile meandering on a bicycle, looking for a café, you can wind up
And thus concludes our journey. Mona and I are already strategizing about another bike trip next year, maybe a little easier with a nice hotel as a base, maybe we’ll stay indoors if it rains. Hmmm, I wonder where we should go?
Speaking of which, there is one last important person I need to thank: my beautiful Viking shield-maiden, Mona Fixdal. Riding a bike can be a wonderful solitary activity and also great with a group, but my favorite is something in between: heading out, just the two of us.
I’ve presented plenty of angsty music from the past 25 years. For my last favorite work from NCMF, let’s go a joyful route: Aaron Jay Kernis’ (b. 1960) guitar quintet, One Hundred Greatest Dance Hits. We performed this in 2005 with violinists Steve Copes and Jesse Mills, me on viola, Wendy Warner on cello, and Dan Lippel on (amplified) acoustic guitar. Patrick Neas of Guarneri Hall writes:
Much of Kernis’ music has a traditionalist, neo-romantic sound. But certain of his works, like 100 Greatest Dance Hits, capture post-modernism’s fun, irony, and high/low aesthetic. Composed in 1993, 100 Greatest Dance Hits for guitar quintet evokes pop music of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Kernis explains: “I borrowed the title from those old K-Tel advertisements on late-night TV for 100 Greatest Motown Hits or 100 Greatest Soul Hits.” Each of its four movements evokes a popular genre. For example, the final movement, Disco Party on the Disco Motorboat, is Kernis’ tribute to Soul Train. An earlier movement, MOR * Easy-Listening Slow Dance Ballad, is a nod to Muzak.
Although postmodern classical music’s appropriation of pop culture might seem hip or trendy, baroque composers like Bach and Handel drew regular inspiration from the popular dances of their day, like the gigue and courante. Whether baroque or postmodern, great composers have always recognized the vitality in music loved by the masses.
Despite the title, this is a solidly a classical work, but I can’t help but smile at the references it contains to music I heard growing up coming from my sister’s room or thumping from cars on the street. Like the surprisingly poignant animated film “Robot Dreams,” it feels like a love letter to both a place – New York City – and a time – the 1970s - that is long gone.
What better way to close this epic cycling trip/fundraiser than with a poem by Ted Olsson from West Newbury: poet, birder, cyclist, and friend.
David Yang, Artistic Director
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David YangWhile meandering on a bicycle, looking for a café, you can wind up
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David YangThe rain has stopped and it was glorious today. I wish I could say the same about my legs
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David YangWe waited to depart at 10 am since it was still pissing rain; we didn’t arrive until 8 at night. You do the math.
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