On October 21, 1892 Theodore Thomas conducted the nascent Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a performance of George Chadwick's Columbus Ode which he wrote for the opening of the Chicago World's Fair.
Chadwick based his composition on the poem Columbian Ode by Harriet Monroe.
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Monday, September 21, 2009
Bear Down!
I was all of two years old when the Bears captured their last Super Bowl win--as a result, every Chicago-area kid with the ability to speak was taught the words to "Bear Down, Chicago Bears." Good teams have been few and far between since that time, and our collective memory of the song's complete lyrics seems to have fallen by the wayside. Following last night's Bears victory, the first in the Jay Cutler era, I feel it's time that we relearn the lyrics and history of our beloved fight song.
The song, sung at Soldier Field (and Wrigley Field before it) following each Bears score, was written in 1941 by Jerry Downs--a pseudonym for Al Hoffman, member of the Songwriter's Hall Of Fame.
(He also wrote "If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked A Cake")
"Bear Down, Chicago Bears" was written to reference the 1940 NFL Championship Game, where the Bears "thrilled the Nation" with their offense's "T Formation," implemented to whomp the Washington Redskins by the score of 73-0; a score which remains the league's widest shutout margin in any game in its history. The game's officials asked the Bears coaching staff to run or pass for their last few PATs as they were running out of footballs since the bears kicked so many into the stands following all those touchdowns. The game was also the last that an NFL player (Bears end Dick Plasman) played without a helmet.
Let's refamiliarize ourselves with the lyrics--you'll want to sing along with the performances posted below:
Bear down, Chicago Bears, Make every play, clear the way to victory! Bear down, Chicago Bears, Put up a fight, with a might so fearlessly!
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation With your T formation. Bear down, Chicago Bears, And let them know why you're wearing the crown. You're the pride and joy of Illinois Chicago Bears, Bear down!
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/ Sir Georg Solti
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Friday, May 29, 2009
Messiaen Goes Math Rock
I caught a show at Schubas Tavern last week headlined by District 97, CSOcellist Katinka Kleijn's metal/math rock band. The group is currently finishing up their new studio record for which I will be attending a mixing session a week from today.
I brought by recorder along and plugged into the sound board for their cover of Olivier Messiaen's ("Messy Anne" as Katinka calls him) Dance of Fury for Seven Trumpets from Quartet for the End of Time. Katinka has been telling me about this rendition since we were in Beijing on the CSO's Far East Asia Tour--at which time I suggested the band cover Electric Light Orchestra's Mr. Blue Sky (and it better be ready the next time I see you guys!). You'll find the audio (in multiple MONO--my only option for plugging-in to the board) below along with pics from the show.
(Click to listen or right-click to Save As... Cntl+click on a Mac to do the same)
District 97 takes the stage at Schubas Tavern and opens with the Messiaen.
Katinka gets Messy on the Messiaen with her electric cello.
Terri Hemmert (Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (!) and my radio instructor from Columbia College) [L]--didn't catch your name in the middle, sorry--Katinka Kleijn [R].
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Saturday, March 28, 2009
Happy 100th Birthday Nelson Algren
Today is the 100th birthday of author Nelson Algren and so I dedicate this entry to him.
Born in Detroit on March 28, 1909, he moved to Chicago at the age of three when his father, a Swedish convert to Judaism, and his mother, an American Jew, moved the family to a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side. For a while they lived at 7139 S. South Park Avenue. Then when he was eight they took up residence in an apartment at 4834 N. Troy Street in the Albany Park neighborhood, not far from the auto shop on Kedzie Avenue where his father worked as a mechanic. Until his death in 1981 Algren lived at 1958 W. Evergreen Street. The seamy underbelly of tough life on the urban streets pulsed through almost everything he wrote.
The building on Troy is still there and since it's not too far from where I live I did a drive-by the other evening in homage to this writer who so beautifully recorded the dark side of the city he knew and loved so well.
Studs Terkel loved the man and his work so well that he created a radio play based on Algren's writings. If I've managed to post it correctly, here is a small sample of that program, along with some images of the author and some of his work which I pilfered with gratitude from the internet.
It isn't hard to love a town for its greater and its lesser towers, its pleasant parks or its flashing ballet. Or for its broad and bending boulevards, where the continuous headlights follow, one dark driver after the next, one swift car after another, all night, all night and all night. But you never truly love it till you can love its alleys too. Where the bright and morning faces of old familiar friends now wear the anxious midnight eyes of strangers a long way from home.
--From Nelson Algren's "Chicago: City on the Make"
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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Failed Postcards From Hong Kong
A walk through Kowloon's Flower Street in Hong Kong. I was hoping to see the bird market, but it had closed two hours early.
I swear to you, this was the one and only time there weren't at least 10 people in front of the hotel incessantly begging for my business. This was also the emptiest the hallway (up the steps) had been during our stay. I wish you could have seen it when it was busy--which it was all the time.
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Friday, February 6, 2009
Hong Kong - Pirate Ships (fishing and tourist boats)
Have you seen The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou lately (Bill Murray, 2004)? Fishing boats (and some tourism boats--we think) look much like the pirate ships that take captive Bill Murray's crew in the film. Here's Andrew with another Postcard from Hong Kong.
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Ferry Boats to Downtown Hong Kong
Greetings from Hong Kong! Firstly, I must say that the climate here is incredible--humid and roughly 65 degrees Fahrenheit--a huge difference from what locals called a "mild winter in Japan" (we could see our breath on the streets a couple of days).
Many commuters that come to Tsim Sha Tsui (the island on which the Hong Kong Cultural Center is located) travel by train from the mainland via an underwater passage. For those that live directly across the water (downtown Hong Kong), however, it's easier to take these green and white ferries across the water. Here's Andrew Patner with this Postcard from Honk Kong.
