History-Faux and Otherwise

February 24, 2007 at 3:06 PM

Yesterday, I picked up a silly faux scholarly tome called "The Art of the Funerary Violin". The writing is along the lines of "Why Cats Paint", "The Journal of Irreproduceable Results" and "The Areas of My Expertise". It's an entirely fake history of a secret guild of funeral violinists who were persecuted and forced underground by the Vatican (hmm, Da Vinci code, anyone?). Strad almost ran article by the author, but realized the ruse in time. I guess there's a reason we learn how to do research in college!

Today, I have a symphony concert with the Redding Family. Otis Redding was a native of Macon, GA. He (and Little Richard) grew up in the Pleasant Hill area-the first section of town where African Americans could buy houses. There are rows of shot-gun houses, many of which are boarded up or in need of great repair. I-75 now bisects through the historic area as well. If you go up a few blocks, you can see another historic area-there, you will find mansions like the opulent Hay House, a residence of the treasurer of the Confederacy (a secret room in a stairway was an alleged storehouse for Confederate gold). These extremes are slammed together in Macon and still effect life here on a daily basis. So while it is entertaining to ponder the woes of an imaginary society of violinists, it is so much more important to know about the real past and understand how it shapes our lives today.

From Jim W. Miller
Posted on February 24, 2007 at 7:18 PM

Many shotgun houses in the South ought to be national landmarks. In fact they ought to put the area around Helena, Arkansas under a bubble and just move everybody out.

From Anne Horvath
Posted on February 25, 2007 at 3:15 PM

I picked up Kriwaczek's book last fall, and am now just getting around to reading it. Funny in small doses...

I came across a good review this morning in the Sunday NYT of "Overture", by Yael Goldstein, ISBN 10: 0385517815 or ISBN 13: 978-0385517812. It is a novel about a violinist and her daughter. I just now ordered it from my local bookstore.

Now, time for ZZZ. We had terrible storms all night, and the thunder-and-lightening show was louder than Shosti 8. Even the cats were under the bed.

Oh yes, my home town of Louisville is full of shotgun houses, which I always admired for their nifty design. There are few shotgun houses here in B'ham, but this city isn't very old. Anything that has any architectural interest at all has been ripped down for more parking lots.

From Charlie Caldwell
Posted on February 25, 2007 at 3:40 PM

Thank you for the Sevcik Op. 3 suggestion. I will take some time to look at it today. And it is nice to see someone else from Georgia on the forum.

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History-Faux and Otherwise

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