JULY ’26 DIARY 250: PROTEST, SHAME, & MEDITATION

The American Revolution was as much a civil war as it was a war of independence. The hard times were as intense as they ever would be in the USA—despite the current estimate of as many as 850,000 casualties by the effective end of the Civil War in 1870. We start this diary with self-taught Stephen Foster (July 4, 1826-January 1864), the well-named young “father of American music”.  Not only was he born on the 4th of July, but his moon was also in Cancer! Jesse Welles, the “Tik Tok Woody Guthrie”, is a Scorpio with a razor-sharp tongue and the passion to speak his mind uncovering hidden realities. He picks up Foster’s narrative thread. “Slavery”, perhaps Welles’ most powerful indictment, reveals Alabama’s slave labor economy embedded in an entirely corrupt prison system masked by Governor Kay Ivey, aka “MeMaw”, (see The Alabama Solution on HBO)—alongside a global corporate culture of enslavement. Playlist contributors include the most daring rugged individualists of American piano writing—John Cage, Henry Cowell, Frederic Rzewski & John Adams—alongside  the extraordinary violin artistry of Randal Goosby & cello wizardry of Matt Haimovitz. Surrounded by cool waves of sound, floats the late Eva Cassidy’s deeply felt and uniquely successful interpretation of “Imagine.” Brian Keene’s haunting orchestral music for the incomparable PBS series “New York” adds depth. For me, Stravinsky’s 1966 “Requiem Canticles”, his last major work, was written for the fallen in the Vietnam War. He died in 1971. Stravinsky’s haunting woodwind interlude recalls his earlier masterpieces for winds. Here it serves as a prelude to “Rothko Chapel”, a 1971 capstone by Morton Feldman who turned 100 this year. Written to honor his friend the painter Mark Rothko, this lightly scored choral music was premiered in the meditative non-denominational home of his 14 monumental paintings in Houston, Texas. Outside is a pond reflecting “Broken Obelisk”, a sculptural tribute to Reverend Martin Luther King by Barnett Newman. I hope you will find Feldman’s 26 minutes of serenity helpful in processing the hard times—such as they are—that so many face today.