<![CDATA[The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Katz%2C+Mickey+%28cello%29+63719871&output=rss2 Thu, 28 Mar 2024 10:14:13 -0700 burnsref@bc.edu (The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music) Boston College Libraries Zend_Feed http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Miss Chrysandra Walter]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/403

Story

Writing the stories of these tunes brings back many memories. When Sandy, my late wife, was diagnosed with kidney cancer, my life was turned upside down. We were so happy together and loved doing and planning different things: places to see, friends to visit, recordings to make. To help and encourage young and talented people, and to travel, were part of our dreams. After I left Chrysandra at the hospital, late at night whilst driving home I thought of how good she was to me and how she wanted to make my life comfortable and easy. She always said, 'When you are with me, Baby, all you have to do is breathe'. She gave her whole life to me and, until the day she left us, was dedicated to me and to her beloved National Park Service of the United States of America.

Anyway, as I drove home that night, many tears flowed like a river and the pain hurt, but the beginning notes of this tune came to me. As I sat in her hospital room for the next few days I worked on the air, writing it on the corners of the local paper 'The Boston Globe'. The end result is what you have on this track. It is played by my friend Bonnie Bewick Brown, a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Bonnie also arranged 'Miss Chrysandra Walter' for cello and viola and invited her friends to perform it, and they did so beautifully. I am forever grateful to Bonnie for this wonderful arrangement and for all the help she gave to me on this project. I know Sandy would be very proud of this tune and how it was played. My dear wife and friend Chrysandra will be forever remembered by me, and through this tune her memory will live on!

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
09-01a_Miss_Chrysandra_Walter_full-Air.pdf
09-01b-d_Miss_Chrysandra_Walter_Parts-Air.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:09 -0800
<![CDATA[I'll Always Remember You]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/404

Story

Performed by my friend Bonnie Bewick Brown on violin, along with her friends Julianne Lee on viola and Mickey Katz on cello, this tune came to me on the morning in 1988 when my mother passed on to her place of eternal joy and rest. Being away from one's homeland and receiving a phone call at 6 A.M. somehow sends chills through your body. Usually, these calls relay some bad news or something you would prefer not to hear. 'Yes, Mama has died,' my brother Michael said. For some unknown reason, when I hung up the phone the first thing that I did was take out my fiddle and play. And play I did, all the while thinking of the music we had in our home as I was growing up. I played some of the tunes that my mother taught me, and I thought of all that she did for me as I endeavoured to play the music that I loved. Somehow and from someplace, this tune came to me. I went to Ireland that night and said goodbye to my Mom and when I returned to this great United States I began to work on the tune and make it my own. Looking back now over the last twenty-six years, I have come to realise that this was the last tune that my mother, Lena, gave to me. The beautiful arrangement of the melody comes to us courtesy of Bonnie. Bless you, my friend. Lena Connolly will always be remembered.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
09-15a_Ill_Always_Remember_You_violin-Air.pdf
09-15b_Ill_Always_Remember_You_full-Air.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:10 -0800