Summary: This article is full of insight and sheet music on this musical dedicated to the hardships and struggles of Alzheimer's. The author uses parts of lyrics and explanations of roles in the musical to help demonstrate the theme of "keeping faith." The characters are people living with AD and believe they lead different lives than those of their sickness. The play reaches out to families members and their experiences with the disease. The music deeply relates and coincides with the disease itself.
Key Facts:
"Find those you love in the dark and light.
Help them through the days and nights.
Keep faith. They sense what they cannot show.
Love and music are the last things to go.
Sing anything."
"The soloists assume the roles of different patients, while the chorus tells the story form the family members' perspective."
"The bewilderment that accompanies Alzheimer's Disease is illustrated musically in the opening of the movement."
"The chorus's text is based on more testimonials about loved ones' final moments; the end of their battle. The pedal tone reminds one of the steady drone of a heart rate monitor, but it also indicative of one of the key themes of the movement - love never ides. Additionally, it is representative of the chorus's constant encouragement of "keep faith" and "find those you love in the dark and light.""
"This wide array of emotions is sensitively and successfully portrayed in both the music and the text, a union that serves as a beacon of light and hope to both performers and audiences."
Cutsforth-Huber, Bonnie. ""Love and Music Are the Last Things to Go" Robert S. Cohen
and Herschel Garfein's "Alzheimer's Stories"" JSTOR. American Choral Director's Association, 1 Aug. 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/23561341>.
No comments:
Post a Comment