Anton's Melody Waltz

Anton Rubenstein
Russian pianist, late Romantic period composer, and conductor
(28 November, 1829 - 20 November, 1894)
This MP3 Selection Expired on 12-01-2007
Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra - Melody in F
(adapted from Rubenstein's
Melodie in F, Op. 3, No. 11)

Dancing in the Dark

Arthur Schwartz
American-born composer
(25 November, 1900 - 3 September, 1984
This MP3 Selection Expired on 11-27-2007
Ronnie Aldrich, piano (2005)
Dancing in the Dark (Schwartz, 1931)

The Sandpiper

Johnny Mandel
American composer and arranger
23 November, 1925
This MP3 Selection Expired on 11-25-2007
The Nordisle Bois Orchestre (1987)
The Shadow of Your Smile (Mandel,1965)

Thanksgiving 2007

This MP3 Selection Expired on 11-23-2007
Mantovani (1959)
Turkey in the Straw (Traditional)

President Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation (highlighted passages are this blogger's emphases):

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

Abraham Lincoln

I Saw Old Autumn in the Misty Morn

"But here the Autumn melancholy dwells,
And sighs her tearful spells"
-- 'Autumn' Thomas Hood (1798–1845)

Francisco Tárrega
Spanish composer
Father of neo-classical guitar playing
(21 November, 1852 - 15 December, 1909)
This MP3 Selection Expired on 11-21-2007
Liona Boyd, classical guitar (2000)
Prelude for Guitar No. 8 in A-Minor "Lágrima" (Tárrega)

The Wind of Forgetfulness Blows

Johnny Mercer
American lyricist and singer
(18 November, 1909 - 25 June, 1976)
This MP3 Selection Expired on 11-20-2007
Nana Mouskouri (1979)
Autumn Leaves (Mercer and Kosma)

Autumn Leaves (1947)
Words: Johhny Mercer
Music: Joseph Kosma

Artist: Nana Mouskouri (1979)

Autumn leaves fall and are swept out of sight
The words that you said have gone too
Autumn leaves fall and are swept out of sight
So are the memories of love that we knew

The wind of forgetfulness blows then
Into the night of regret,
The song you would often sing
Is echoing, echoing yet

The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sunburnt hands I used to hold

Since you went away, the days grow long
And soon, I'll hear old winter's song
But I'll miss you most of all, my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

When autumn leaves start to fall

The Dean of American Composers

Aaron Copland
Amercian composer and conductor
(14 November, 1900 – 2 December, 1990)
This MP3 Selection Expired on 11-18-2007
Aaron Copland and the New Philharmonia Orchestra (1949)
Morning on the Ranch Orchestral Suite (Copland)
from the film 'The Red Pony' 1949

Veterans Day Prayer and Meditation, 2007

Veterans Day Prayer and Meditation
Susan Kramer

May we take a few moments to reflect,
remembering those who served our country well ...

"You gave for peace with courage
That families may be free
So children could grow strong
And safe they'd ever be.
In giving for the sake of peace
You may have suffered loss
Your body may still show its wounds
From taking up the cause.

May remembrance of your time away
Your sacrifice for peace
Spur us on to strive more strongly
For freedom, that there'll be release.

From causes that sent some away
To fight that we may freely live
With gratefulness we thank you, veterans
For all you gave and give!"

The Summer Knows...

Marilyn Bergman
American-born lyricist and author
10 November, 1929
This MP3 Selection Expired on 11-13-2007
Nancy Lamott (1995)
The Summer Knows & Summer Me, Winter Me
(Bergman & Legrand)

Air for the Royal Mistress of Louis XIV

Karel Komzák II
Czech-born Viennese composer
noted for his dances and marches
(8 November, 1850 - 23 April, 1905)
This MP3 Selection Expired on 11-10-2007
The Slovak Radio Symphony (2000)
Louise de Lavallière, Air (Komzák)

The Ray Conniff Suite Theme

Ray Conniff
Trombonist, Composer, Chorus and Orchestra Leader
(6 November, 1916 - 12 October, 2002)

This MP3 Selection Expired on 11-08-2007
Ray Conniff (1958)
Orchestra and Chorus
Early Evening (The Ray Conniff Suite Theme}