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Thanks once again to Tabatha for making it happen!

Well, here it is...the rush of adrenaline that comes at this time of year: the calendreal limits of the summer, the moment when projects must be finished, first days to prepare for, new classrooms to discover the delights of.  With these also come that "oh no!" feeling of realizing that some plans have to be abandoned--such as my plan to properly round up today the riches I received from my Summer Poem Swap partners this year.  Instead I offer this instadraft in your plural honor:



Summery

This is how I sum it up,
full of gratitude:
Some were early,
some were late,
colored, plain and luscious.
Some are moving,
some are still,
folded, flat and precious. 


To know that you sat,
walked, shopped, thought,
scribbled, cobbled;
To know that you sought
to say something to me,
for me, of me--
that you made your words
a gift of art--
your gifts are greater than the
sum of all their parts.

[draft] Heidi Mordhorst 2015
all rights reserved 

The round-up is in the comments today at Reading to the Core, where Catherine is grieving and the rest of us are with her. Of all things, poetry may suffice.

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#11 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2011.

              

Why, yes. That would be Herr Mozart himself, escorting the lovely Tabatha Yeatts, who's bringing a tasty bit of music history to the party today.

Please help yourself to a cup of rich, steamy Viennese coffee and make yourself comfortable. Nothing like the combination of coffee, chocolate, cinnamon and cream to alert you to the beauty in the world.

        
              jeremy1choo/flickr

You may know that besides being a brilliant composer, dear Wolfie was somewhat of a prankster. He took great pleasure in razzing those he loved best. He was great friends with Austrian horn player Joseph Leutgeb, whom he met while Leutgeb played in the Archbishop of Salzburg's private orchestra. Mozart composed concerti especially for Leutgeb, and some of the scores are "embellished" with coarse jokes, crude asides and blatant name-calling -- all in the spirit of fun.

Consider this bizarre narrative, parts of which were strategically placed in Mozart's autograph score for his Horn Concerto No.1 in D major, written in 1791:

For you, Mr. Donkey—Come on—quick—get on with it—like a good fellow—be brave—Are you finished yet?—for you—beast—oh what a dissonance—Oh!—Woe is me!!—Well done, poor chap—oh, pain in the balls!—Oh God, how fast!—you make me laugh—help—take a breather—go on, go on—that's a little better—still not finished?—you awful swine!—how charming you are!—dear one!—little donkey!—ha, ha, ha—take a breath!—But do play at least one note, you prick!—Aha! Bravo, bravo, hurrah!—You're going to torture me for the fourth time, and thank God it's the last—Oh finish now, I beg of you!—Confound it—also bravura?—Bravo!—oh, a sheep bleating—you're finished?—Thank heavens!—Enough, enough!

Tsk, tsk. Boys will be boys. Good thing Herr Leutgeb had a good sense of humor, fully realizing how much Mozart respected his extraordinary musicianship (further evidenced by the difficulty of the composition). There's a little more to this story, but first let's hear from Tabatha:

I enjoy writing about history and spotlighting a particular moment. My daughter plays French horn and I have heard her practice Mozart's horn concertos many times. I offer my sincere respect to horn players.



MOZART SENDS CONCERTOS TO THE HORN PLAYER JOSEPH LEUTGEB
by Tabatha Yeatts

Leutgeb accepted these gifts
as the challenges they were --
tributes wrapped in golden paper,
fastened with knots that would take
months to untangle.

He laughed as he read them.
The audacity!
He imagined his friend
sharpening the nib of his pen,
finishing the rondo with a flourish:
"Play that,
if you can!

When you have conquered these notes,<

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