SOUNDTRACK: FROM THE TOP-Tiny Desk Concert #758 (June 22, 2018).
From the Top is a radio show (and podcast) which showcases young, talented classical musicians.
For over 20 years, From the Top (distributed by NPR) has built an impressive platform to celebrate the music, lives and stories of youngsters playing classical music. That’s right. Young people in this country love classical music. We invited three talented From the Top musicians to the Tiny Desk. No squeaky violins here. These kids are terrific players.
From the Top alum Derek Wang is our good-natured emcee, in addition to serving as a sensitive accompanist for two of the pieces.
The first piece is played by 12-year-old violinist Kaia Selden–sparks fly (and bow hairs, too) when she tears into
- Henryk Wieniawski: “Scherzo-Tarantelle, Op. 16”
A bouncy piano opens up this amazingly fast violin piece. Selden plays with fire and passion as her fingers fly over the fretboard for these incredibly fast notes and runs. It’s stunning how composed and confident she is.
She explains that the song is a tarantel, a kind of dance, named after when you are bitten by a tarantula–you have to dance really fast and crazy to get the venom out of your system.
Up next is cellist Noah Lee who uncovers fascinating new sounds on his instrument
- Mark Summer: “Julie-O”
The piece opens with plucked notes and strummed chords. He pays what sounds like rock riffs and then after a minute or so he picks up the bow and begins playing the instrument conventionally–with some quick runs and cool sounds. Then he adds new sounds–slapping the strings with just his left hand and then using his right percussively. There’s some more plucking notes and full chords before ending with more bowed music. It’s a mesmerizing solo piece.
The third musician is Javier Morales-Martinez who makes his velvety clarinet sing in elegant music:
- Francis Poulenc: “Clarinet Sonata, II. Romanza” The
The juxtaposition of piano and clarinet is quite lovely and Javier greats some amazing sounds out of the instrument,.
Javier says that when he was 7 or 8 he used to play music with his dad from Mexico. He was later introduced to classical music and has been playing it ever since.
It’s an inspirational set from amazing young musicians.
[READ: February 9, 2016] “The Flower”
Erdrich had a short piece in the previous issue of the New Yorker, and here she gets a full short story.
I was really surprised to find this story set in 1839 in Ojibwe country (although I see that Erdrich has written extensively about Okibwe country, so that’s my bad, clearly).
The story is a fairly simple one. There is an older Ojibwe woman, Mink, who is wailing and carrying on, demanding the trader’s milk –a mixture of raw distilled spirits, rum, red pepper and tobacco–from Mackinnon. It was driving Mackinnon crazy, but Mink was from a family of healers and could not be denied.
The other man in the tent was Mackinnon’s clerk, Wolfred Roverts who was trying his best to get the sound out of his ears. Wolfred aged 17 was from Portsmouth New Hampshire. He missed his home terribly but there was no life for him back there.
Wolfred finally left the area to collect supplies and when he came back Mink was gone and her daughter was still there. Mackinnon admitted that Mink had sold her daughter to him. He felt that he had saved the girl from Mink (and her violent father) and from potentially being sold into slavery elsewhere. Wolfred was horrified by this news but was comforted to see that Mackinnon hadn’t touched her. She was in the same position as when he left–huddled on the floor filthy and intertwined with blankets.
After Mackinnon went to bed, Wolfred cleaned up the girl (she refused to speak to anyone). As he cleaned her he saw that she was incredibly beautiful, young and quite fit–when she helped him chop wood he saw that she was lithe and strong. As soon as he realized this, he set about making her dirty and unpleasant again–anything to remove temptation from Mackinnon. Soon enough, the girl realized why he was doing that and kept up the ruse as well.
After several days, Wolfred was convinced that Mackinnon would harm the girl, so he decided that he should kill Mackinnon. But how? He had been able to converse with the girl in Ojibwe, and he relayed his idea. At first she laughed at him but when he showed that he was serious, she dug under the snow for a mushroom and prepared a meal with it.
At first nothing happened but then Mackinnon’s face welled up purple and he started hacking a coughing. So Wolfred and the girl set their plan in motion, fleeing with snowshoes across the snow. They had escaped and they slept comfortably until they heard the sound of a coughing spluttering Mackinnon following them calling “wait a minute–my children do not abandon me.”
The story gets more surreal from there and it was unclear to me what was real and what was a dream–and perhaps Wolfred had some of the mushrooms as well? Mackinnon follows them wherever they go, getting closer and closer.
Although Mackinnon never seems to stop chasing them, they reach some degree of safety when they reach a town. However, this changes dramatically when missionaries send the girl to a Presbyterian boarding school in Michigan and try to remove all of the “Indian” from her.
There’s really no relief in sight.
I Just Read About That... 
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