I know you’ve memorized Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, including its words “With malice toward none, with charity for all . . .” You may also have read Florence King’s book With Charity toward None. In any event, my latest Music for a While — my latest music podcast — is headed “Charity, malice & more.”
To the second movement of his Symphony No. 1, William Walton gave a very unusual marking: “Presto con malizia” (“Presto with malice”). Where in the world did that come from? Possibly, it came from a broken romance. Musicologists have debated the question.
What about charity? Well, one selection on my new episode is “If I Can Help Somebody,” the old gospel song (or gospel-ish). Mahalia Jackson made a recording of it. So, more recently, did Bryn Terfel, the Welsh bass-baritone. Some words from it came up in the news the other day:
If I can help somebody, as I travel along,
If I can help somebody, with a word or song,
If I can help somebody, from doing wrong,
No, my living shall not be in vain.
Back to malice for a moment. This song is not exactly malicious, but it certainly has a bite to it:
I don’t know what they have to say,
It makes no difference anyway,
Whatever it is, I’m against it.
No matter what it is or who commenced it,
I’m against it.
Groucho Marx sang this in Horse Feathers (1932). Arthur C. Brooks cited it in his column, when talking about cynicism: here. And I have the song on my podcast.
What else? I have an excerpt from a Shostakovich operetta (yes, operetta). (The composer once said, “I like all music, from Bach to Offenbach.”) I have two songs by Lee Hoiby: one setting Wilfrid Owen, the other setting Emily Dickinson. I have Fauré, setting Verlaine, for that matter.
Finally, a tribute to Sofia Gubaidulina, the Soviet-born composer who passed away last week at 93. An impressive, brainy, resilient artist.
Again, for the latest Music for a While, go here.