The Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra Joins the Westminster Symphonic Choir to Offer Hope and Comfort—and a Nice Night Out at the Kimmel Center, a Performance of Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem), Opus 45

By Catherine J. Barrier

Ein deutsches Requiem, Op.45 is Brahms’s longest choral work and was composed during three different periods of his life but completed between 1865 and 1868, perhaps as a result of the death of the composer’s mother in February 1865.  Ein deutsches Requiem has little in common with the typical Requiem Mass of the Catholic faith.  It does not use the standard Missa pro defunctis or the common liturgical text.  This Requiem is a large-scale work for orchestra, chorus, and soloists.  It is a sacred but non-liturgical work, and its libretto is in German, composed of texts from both the Old and New Testament Scriptures, as well as from the Apocrypha.  The text was chosen by Brahms from the German Lutheran Bible, rather than from the more typical Latin Catholic liturgy, and the Requiem does not include material about the Last Judgment, but was written, as Brahms stated, to comfort the living.

“The Choir is really the focus in this requiem, unlike in many requiems, where the choir only sings once in a while,” said Anne Sears, the Director of External Affairs at the Westminster Choir College and spokeswoman for the Westminster Symphonic Choir.  “The Choir is singing through virtually the entire work.”

The Westminster Symphonic Choir is composed of juniors, seniors, and graduate students at the Westminster College of the Arts, one of four colleges at Rider University.  The main campus is in Lawrenceville, NJ, and there is also a campus in Princeton.  The Choir, conducted by Joe Miller, is recognized as one of the world’s leading choral ensembles and has recorded and performed with major orchestras in concert, and as the opera chorus, under virtually every internationally known conductor of the last 75 years, setting a standard in choral music.

The Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra

The Dresden Staatskapelle is one of the world’s oldest orchestras, having been founded by Elector Moritz von Sachsen (or Maurice of Saxony) in 1548.  On September 22, 2008, the orchestra celebrated its 460^th Jubilee.  In the 19^th-century, some of the orchestra’s more famous Chief Conductors were Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner.  In the 20^th-century, Richard Strauss was closely connected with the orchestra.  In fact, it is sometimes called the “Strauss Orchestra” because composer Richard Strauss was linked to the orchestra for more than 70 years, and so many of his operas were premiered in Dresden (e.g., Elektra, Salome, Der Rosenkavalier).  He even dedicated his Alpine Symphony to the Dresden Staatskapelle and conducted the orchestra numerous times, but not as its Chief Conductor.  More recently, from 2007 until February 2010, Fabio Luisi held the position of Chief Conductor for the Staatskapelle, but the position is currently vacant.  Today, the Staatskapelle is the orchestra of the Saxon State Opera, and in 2007 was recognized as one of the top five orchestras in Europe, voted so by the editors of several European music magazines.  The orchestra was the first recipient of the “Prize of the European Culture Foundation for the Preservation of the World’s Musical Heritage” that same year.

“The Brahms Requiem is one of my favorite pieces—and also one of the most famous and important German works,” said Christiane Karg, the soprano soloist for the upcoming performance.  “I sang it a lot of times in the choir when I was a child, and I remember that I was deeply impressed by the words and touched by the wonderful music.  Even now, every time I listen to it, it hasn’t lost this effect for me and will always be very special.”

The Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Daniel Harding, will be joined by the Westminster Symphonic Choir and soloists Christiane Karg (soprano) and Hanno Müller-Brachmann (bass-baritone) to perform Johannes Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, nach Worten der heiligen Schrift, (A German Requiem, To Words of the Holy Scriptures), Opus 45, on Tuesday Night, November 2, at 8:00 p.m., in the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall, located at 300 South Broad Street, in Philadelphia.  Tickets: $39-$113.  To order tickets, or for more information, see www.kimmelcenter.org, call (215) 893-1999, or stop by the Kimmel Center Box Office at Broad and Spruce Streets (19102).  Open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and later on performance evenings.

A limited number of $10 community rush tickets for the concert will be available at the Box Office starting at 5:30 p.m. on the day of the performance.  Limit: one ticket per person.

Maestro Daniel Harding

Conductor Daniel Harding was born in Oxford and made his debut with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1994.  Since then, he has conducted and directed numerous symphonies throughout Western Europe, Scandinavia, the United States, and beyond.  He is a regular Guest Conductor with the Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra and has extensive experience conducting operatic works.  He holds numerous positions as Principal Conductor and Principal Guest Conductor with symphonies worldwide and is the Music Director of the Swedish Symphony Radio Orchestra.  He records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon.  Harding’s 2010-2011 season includes an eight-city fall tour with the Dresden Staatskapelle.  With the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Westminster Symphonic Choir, he opens the Kimmel Center’s orchestral season this November 2.

“The Westminster Symphonic Choir is a choir of about 150 voices, made up of juniors, seniors, and graduate students [at the College],” said Anne Sears.  The Symphonic Choir is the choir that sings with different orchestras.  The Westminster Choir, a smaller ensemble made up of about 40 voices forms the core of the Symphonic Choir but is a separate group.”

“[The Westminster Symphonic Choir] was invited to sing the Brahms Requiem with the Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra by the Orchestra’s management,” explained Sears.  “They knew we were one of the most prominent choirs in America and wanted to be with the best.”

Soprano Soloist Christiane Karg

Christiane Karg, the soprano soloist for the November 2 performance, was born in Feuchtwangen, Bavaria (in Germany) and started her musical career at an early age with piano, recorder, and dance lessons.  In 1998, she won a national prize for young musicians and after high school attended the Music Conservatory in Verona, Italy.  She later earned her Master of Music in Opera and Musical Theatre Studies from the Mozarteum.  She received the Lilli Lehmann Medal from the Mozarteum Foundation for her distinctive achievements.

Karg distinguished herself early in her career with well-known parts in church oratorios by Johnann Sebastian Bach, Handel, Pergolesi, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Mendelssohn.  She has performed with numerous orchestras in Germany.  Among her concerts have been performances with the Bamberger Symphoniker (Mendelssohn’s 23^rd Psalm), with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus at the Musikverein Wien (Vienna), in the role of Silvia in Haydn’s opera L’isola disabitata, and with the NDR Radiophilharmonie singing Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.  She enjoys lieder (songs) recitals and has performed at many regional music festivals in Germany. She also recorded a CD of lieder—accompanied by Burkhard Kehring—released on the Berlin Classics label.

Karg has also interpreted numerous operatic roles, such as that of Melia in Mozart’s Apollo and Hyacinth, that of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) and that of Musetta in La Bohème— the last two with the Frankfurt Opera.  She received outstanding reviews for her portrayal of Ighino in Pfitzner’s Palestrina at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, under Simone Young, in 2009.  She will be making her U.S. debut in the upcoming Brahms Requiem performance at the Kimmel Center.

“The soprano solo is not a large part; it consists of only one aria, but a very difficult one,” said Karg.  “Technically, it is a challenge.  The tessitura is quite high, and you have to concentrate on every note, but at the same time, it should sound very easy, natural, and fluent.  The singer has to comfort [the audience] with a warm legato sound, but also produce a pure and clear sound, like the voice of an angel.”

“I studied the aria a long time ago, but I only performed it for the first time this summer—at the Salzburg Festival,” said Karg.

Baritone Soloist
Hanno Müller-Brachmann

Hanno Müller-Brachmann was born in Germany in 1970 and began his musical training in Basel and Freiburg.  Following his success in several international competitions, Müller-Brachmann performed in concert halls throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States.  He makes regular guest appearances at festivals, such as the Schleswig-Holstein and Salzburg Festivals and has performed with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the New York Philharmonic, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Concerto Köln.

Müller-Brachmann made his operatic debut in 1996, in Georg Philipp Telemann’s Orpheus, under René Jacobs at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin (Berlin State Opera), where he has been a member of the ensemble since 1998.  Among the roles he has played there are those of Leporello, Figaro, Guglielmo, and Papageno in Mozart’s operas and the role of Schaunard in La Bohème.

In addition to opera and oratorio, Müller-Brachmann devotes himself to lied (song) and can be heard in recitals at the Berlin Staatsoper and Philharmonie.  He has also given song recitals all over the world.  He made his debut at both the Chicago Symphony Hall and at Carnegie Hall in New York in February 2000.  In 2004, he made his debut at the Vienna State Opera as Guglielmo, under Seiji Ozawa, and his debut at the San Francisco Opera in the same role, under Michael Gielen.  Müller-Brachmann has also appeared in various radio and television productions and has recorded CDs for Harmonia Mundi, including a Schubert recital disc.  He will be featured as the baritone soloist in the upcoming performance of the Brahms Requiem.

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms, a Romantic German composer and virtuoso pianist, was born into a poor family in Hamburg, Germany in 1833.  He began music lessons at the piano at age 7, with his father, Johnann Jakob Brahms (1806-1872), who played a number of instruments.  At age 19, he made a concert tour and began to be known as a pianist.  He later moved to Vienna and was introduced to Early Romantic composer Robert Schumann, who welcomed Brahms into his home.  Schumann became both a friend and a mentor to Brahms and introduced him to the Viennese public.  Brahms soon became a musical leader with considerable popularity and influence.  He composed music for piano, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestras, and for voice and chorus, and was involved in the premieres of many of his works—as a soloist, accompanist, or chamber music participant.  He was also a skilled conductor of choral and orchestral works, and many of his compositions are found in modern concert repertoire.

Brahms used traditional Baroque and Classical compositional forms and techniques and was a master of both counterpoint and development.  He greatly admired Beethoven, Mozart, and Hadyn, but especially Beethoven, and studied Johann Sebastian Bach’s work in great detail.  The Early Romantic composers, such as his friend and mentor Schumann and Franz Shubert, greatly influenced his music style as well.  Brahms introduced some new, bold harmonies, irregular rhythms and phrasing, and at times approached melody a bit non-traditionally.

Brahms favored “absolute music” in contrast with many Romantic composers, who preferred music in some way attached to particular scenes or narratives, and he thus avoided composing operas or symphonic poems.  At times, his works, when performed, drew mixed reviews because his music was often considered “old-fashioned”, compared to the music of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner.   But Brahms found his opponents’ music to be too full of “excesses”.  Brahms’s works were often large and had complex musical structures.  In contrast, probably one of his most well-known shorter works is Brahms’s Lullaby.

In his 50s, Brahms wrote clarinet trios, quintets, and sonatas, cycles of piano pieces, and other works, including settings for piano and voice of numerous German folk songs.  His Hungarian dances were very popular and these compositions sold well.

In 1889, with the help of Thomas Edison’s company, his recording of his first Hungarian dance on piano became, and still remains, the earliest recording made by a major composer.

He died of complications from cancer on April 3, 1897.  He was 63.

The unifying element of the Requiem is a 3-note musical motif, which consists of up a major third and then usually up another one-half step.  This motif pervades every movement throughout the work.

The Requiem is a carefully balanced musical piece, with many of the musical ideas of the first movement restated in the last movement, providing unity to the work.  The text of the first movement is taken from “The Beatitudes” in the Sermon on the Mount.  The second movement is a funeral march in B-flat minor and focuses on the short duration of human existence.  The third movement, which contains a fugue, includes a baritone solo that focuses on physical death, but then the work moves into the lighter fourth movement, which is the turning point of the “message” of the piece.  The fourth movement is a transitional one, moving the listeners from solemn grief toward hope and future comfort.  The soprano solo in the fifth movement, accompanied by woodwinds, horns, muted strings, and chorus, describes the feelings of those still living after someone’s death.  The theme of resurrection is in the sixth movement, which contains a fugue.  This movement is the most dramatic of the work and even refers to the Christian belief in the future catching-up and taking away of believers to be with the Lord (sometimes referred to as the Rapture).  The Requiem then concludes with a reworking of the music found in the first movement and finishes by communicating a sense of enduring peace.

The work was first premiered in a 6-movement version in the Bremen Cathedral on Good Friday, April 10, 1868.  The fifth movement was later added—in May 1868—and the full work, with all 7 movements, was premiered the following year.  Despite its unorthodox text, this Requiem served to confirm Brahms’s international reputation as an exceptional composer, and the public recognition spurred him on to complete numerous works that had been in progress for some time.

The Requiem is scored for soprano and baritone soloists, mixed chorus, 2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons and contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, harp (one part, preferably doubled), organ, and strings.  A high-level of craftsmanship has been noted in the work by many music critics over the years, and the work has been recorded often.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, a world-class performing arts venue in the heart of Philadelphia, opened its door on December 16, 2001 as the centerpiece of the downtown’s Avenue of the Arts.  Described by architect Rafael Viñoly as “the [two] jewels inside a glass box”, the two freestanding performance halls enclosed beneath vaulted glass serve as the home for such world-famous companies as The Philadelphia Orchestra, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops®, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, PHILANDANCO, the American Theater Arts for Youth, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Ballet.

Joe Miller, Conductor
Westminster Symphonic Choir

The Westminster Choir College is a professional college of music that prepares students at the undergraduate and graduate levels for careers in teaching, sacred music, and performance.  Joe Miller, now in his 5^th year at the College, is both the Director of Choral Activities and the Chair of Conducting.  He oversees the extensive choral program, which includes 8 different choral groups that each performs different kinds of music and/or is made up of different groups of students.

Joe Miller is also a visiting and guest conductor of other choral groups.  “He just came back from Berlin, where he conducted the Berlin Radio Symphony Chorus,” said Sears.

“[Joe Miller] works frequently with colleges and high schools, doing lectures,” said Sears.  “And we [at Westminster College] just finished recording a second CD with him [directing the Choir], entitled Noel, a collection of French Christmas music on the Westminster College Label (to order:  http://www.westminsterchoircollege.org/).

“The message of this requiem is one of hope, peace, and solace—very different than many other requiems,” said Sears.  “The focus is on the people left behind [after someone’s death] and not on the kinds of things usually focused on in such works.  Many choirs really enjoy singing it because it’s so inspiring.”

“This will be my first time working with all of these wonderful musicians,” said Karg.  “I’m very excited, and I’m looking forward to performing the Brahms Requiem with them.”

The upcoming concert promises to be an uplifting one that should not be missed.

* Photos of the Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra and Conductor Daniel Harding Courtesy of the Kimmel Center.
** Photo of Conductor Joe Miller Courtesy of the Westminster Symphonic Choir.
***  Photo of Christiane Karg - Copyright Steven Haberland.  Used with permission.
**** Photo of Hanno Müller-Brachmann - Copyright Monika Rittershaus.  Used with permission.

© 2010 by Catherine J. Barrier.  All rights reserved.

Frightful Treats and Treasures in the Season of Trick-or-Treat, or a Visit to the Home of a Talented but Tragic and Mysterious Author

By Catherine J. Barrier

The time has come again when our culture focuses anew on ghosts and goblins, haunted houses, and the supernatural.  Halloween preparations are underway, and more parties and publicity focus on the scary, the mysterious, the horrific.  In the Philadelphia area, October is also a month when many choose to visit one specific place in the city that reminds them of the Halloween themes and preparations: the National Park Service’s Edgar Allan Poe Historical Site.

Edgar Allan Poe
Painted by Oscar Halling in the 1860s

Edgar Allan Poe, one of the earliest American short-story writers and one of the first well-known American writers to try to live off of his writing, was mostly known as a literary critic during his lifetime and was one of the first American writers to become more popular in Europe than in the United States.  He greatly influenced both the mystery and the horror genres in literature and has been referred to as both the “Master of Horror Fiction” and the “Father of the Detective Whodunit”, but Poe, who lived in Philadelphia from 1838 to 1844, lived a life that was, like so many of his works, both tragic and mysterious.

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809 to theatrical parents who both died before he was 3.  Poe was then raised by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia.  Although they never formally adopted him, he took their name as his middle name.  Poe had a sweetheart, Sarah Elmira Royster, before attending the University of Virginia in 1826 for one semester—to study languages, but things did not work out for them, and in 1827, Poe was doing odd jobs as a clerk and working as a newspaper writer in Boston.   Having “fallen out” with his foster father and not having much money, on May 27, 1827, Poe enlisted in the Army, where he eventually received the highest rank of any non-commissioned officer, that of Sargent Major, but tragedy soon struck in his life again, with the death of his foster mother on February 28, 1829.

By 1831, Poe had his third collection of poems, entitled Poems, released with the financial help of some of his friends.  He then began to write short stories to try to support himself through his writing.  This was difficult since there were no international copyright laws and publishers normally pirated the works of British writers and did not pay for new works by American writers.  Poe found some work, but like other American writers at the time was often paid sporadically or not at all.

To get extra money, Poe entered a writing contest at the Baltimore Saturday Visiter [sic] in October 1833 and won—for his short story, “MS. Found in a Bottle”.  As a result, Poe got a job as assistant editor for the periodical Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond in August 1835, but soon got fired for drunkenness.  In the end, he got his job back and stayed there until 1837.

Arguably, the 6 years Poe lived in Philadelphia were the most creative years of his life.  By the time he moved to the area, he had already married his young cousin, Virginia Eliza Clemm—in 1836, when she was only 13.  He then had to support not only himself and his wife but also his aunt, or mother-in-law, Maria Clemm. 

Gothic fiction was in demand in Poe’s time, and its elements included both psychological and physical terror, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses, death, decay, madness, secrets, and even the Devil.  Poe reinterpreted Gothic fiction using some of the same elements, but for him the real terror was the “terror of the soul”.  Poe’s recurring themes focused on questions of death, resurrection, mourning, being buried alive, the decomposition of the body, and the physical signs of death.  And Poe believed that a work should be brief and focus on a single effect.

“Poe was more stably employed while he lived in Philadelphia,” said Helen McKenna, a site Ranger at the Edgar Allan Poe house, who has been with the National Park Service for 15 years.  “He was not drinking anymore, which meant [he had] much better creativity.”  It was during Poe’s residence in Philadelphia that he wrote some of his best-known short stories, among them “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, which explores the “terrors of the soul” and includes the themes of aristocratic decay, death, and madness, and the “Murders in the Rue Morgue”.  Poe’s poem “The Raven” was most likely written in the house, too, as well as his short story “The Black Cat”, which was inspired by the basement in the home.

Poe developed the urban detective story with his works, such as “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) and “The Mystery of Marie Roget” (1842), which both offered vivid images of the horrors of living in a decaying, large city, where the people were impoverished and all kinds of “dark”, mysterious things took place.  In his works, Poe used a new kind of character, a detached observer of the urban life around him, someone able to see and “read” the things around him as others could not—and solve problems others could not.  Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin could interpret these terrors of the urban environment.

“Arthur Conan Doyle often gave Poe credit for the mystery story,” said McKenna.  “Poe’s detective, C. Auguste Dupin, is the prototype for Sherlock Holmes.”

Edgar Allan Poe has also greatly influenced other well-known artists, namely the French author Jules Verne, the film director Alfred Hitchcock, and horror-books author Stephen King.

The Edgar Allan Poe Historical Site is located at 532 North Seventh Street(near 7^th & Spring Garden Streets), in Philadelphia.  It is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Admission is FREE, and visitors may choose from either a self-guided or a Ranger-led tour.  The standard tour is 45 minutes long.  For more information, check the Website at www.nps.gov/edal or call (215) 597-8780.

“Our primary exhibit is the Edgar Allan Poe house, the house he lived in,” said Ranger Helen McKenna.  “We don’t have the house furnished; we don’t know what he had in the house, but we ask people to use their imaginations and call it a ‘testimony to human creativity’.”  City directories from the period and a letter addressed to Poe at that address indicate that this was his residence.  “Poe moved into this house, the only one that is still standing of the 5 homes Poe lived in during his 6 years in Philadelphia—and the only one considered a National Historical Site—sometime in December 1842.  He moved out on April 6, 1844.”



Edgar Allan Poe's Ideal Room - the Reading Room
at the Edgar Allan Poe Historical Site in Philadelphia


The Edgar Allan Poe House contains a Reading Room, which is furnished according to Poe’s preferred aesthetic for interior decorating, as outlined in his essay “The Philosophy of Furniture”, published in May 1840.  In this work, Poe celebrates English interior decorating above that of other cultures and indicates that he believed decorating a room was a form of art that required that all the elements in the room should work well together.

His complete works are in the Reading Room in book form, and there are CD’s of his works that visitors can listen to.  “It’s a great opportunity for people to sit down and relax and get more familiar with Poe on their own terms,” said McKenna.  “My favorites [of the CD’s] are those recorded by Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, and Christopher Walken.”

“We have a very nice exhibition on Poe’s life and his literary legacy,” said Helen McKenna.  “And there’s an 8-minute audio-visual presentation.”

There are several specific activities for children at the site.  Youngsters can try on 19^th-century clothing, solve puzzles, or try to find hidden clues throughout Poe’s home.

The National Park Service acquired the Edgar Allan Poe house in 1978 from Richard Gimbel, whose family owned Gimbel’s Department Store in Philadelphia.  Gimbel had purchased the house in a Sheriff’s Sale in 1933 and made it into a museum, highlighting the fact that Poe’s poem “The Raven” was most likely written there. Gimbel installed a Professor Frayne, from the English Department at the University of Pennsylvania, and his family, as the curator of the home, and the Frayne family resided there for 30 years.

When Richard Gimbel died in 1970, he left the house to the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia.  The Library welcomed the manuscripts and the written works but asked the National Park Service (NPS) if it wanted the house.  After some extensive research, the NPS acquired the property and opened it as the Edgar Allan Poe Historical Site in 1980.

“Poe was America’s first full-time literary critic,” said McKenna.  “He stepped on a lot of toes.  His critics called him ‘Tomahawk Man’ because of what they considered his very rigid criticism, but Poe felt that if American literature was going to [survive, develop into something better], it needed more rigorous criticism.”

While living in Philadelphia, Poe was editing and contributing articles, stories, and reviews to William Burton’s Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine.  He only worked there for about a year.

“Burton had told Poe it would be a part-time job and would take him about 2 hours a week, but Poe was spending many hours laboring over it, wasn’t getting compensated, and was getting angry about it,” said McKenna.  Later Burton sold his magazine to George Graham and it became Graham’s Magazine.  Poe became its editor in February 1841.

“[Graham’s Magazine] became the most successful magazine in the county at the time,” said McKenna, “and as the editor, Poe had a lot of influence.”

”Murders in the Rue Morgue”, first published in Graham’s Magazine, where Poe was still working as an editor in 1841, is considered by many to be the first detective tale.  It was well received, and after this, Poe wrote “The Mystery of Marie Roget”, a “true crime” set in Paris featuring his fictional detective, C. Auguste Dupin.  The story is based on the real-life murder of Mary Rogers in New York City.  Rogers had been found dead in the Hudson River in 1841, and in Poe’s story, he presented his solution to what had happened to her.

Poe wanted to see the development of better American literature, and his dream was to establish his own literary journal.  He was on the verge of doing so but postponed his plans to go to work for Graham and never realized this ambition.

Tragedy had already struck again in Poe’s life by 1842.  His wife Virginia became ill, was sick for 5 years, and finally died in 1847.  Poe began to drink even more heavily during her illness. 

Poe’s poem, “The Raven was published in the Evening Mirror in New York in January 1845.  It secured Poe as a national success despite the fact that he only received $9 for its publication.  Graham, at Graham’s Magazine, had turned down publishing it because he didn’t like the poem.

After his wife’s death, Poe became somewhat unstable, but eventually returned to Richmond, where he resumed a relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Elmira Royster.

In the summer of 1849, Poe gave a series of lectures in Richmond, Virginia featuring his poetry and fiction and critiquing and analyzing other works.  On September 27, 1849, Poe had stopped drinking, was engaged to be married to Royster, had completed his successful summer lecture tour, and according to friends, was in good spirits as he left Richmond, heading by boat for Baltimore, with plans to continue on to an appointment in Philadelphia.  Mysteriously, he never showed up for that appointment.

On October 3, Poe was found in an apparent delirious, drunken state, on a street in Baltimore, and taken unconscious to Washington Hospital.  He soon had tremors in his limbs, went into delirium, and was pale and perspiring,   He could not be calmed.  Poe called out “Reynolds” repeatedly on his deathbed, but no one has ever learned who Reynolds was.  Poe died there on October 7, 1849, and the actual cause of his death remains uncertain.  He was only 40 years old.  Poe had a problem with alcohol off and on throughout his life, and initially alcoholism was blamed for his death, but some were convinced that he had been murdered.

Also mysterious is the fact that every January 19, the anniversary of Poe’s birth, since 1949, a hooded man enters the cemetery where Poe’s now buried—near his wife and mother-in-law—in the dead of night, and places 3 roses and a small cognac on Poe’s grave (surprisingly, this did not happen in 2010).  And all Poe’s medical records, and even his death certificate, have been lost.

Griswold, who detested Poe and had succeeded him at Graham’s Magazine, tried to defame Poe’s character after the latter’s death.  He wrote about Poe, using Poe’s weakness for alcohol against him and even accused Poe of being a drug addict, which he was not, but, tragically, some readers believed the lies.

The Edgar Allan Poe House’s Website indicates that there are a number of surprises in Poe’s home, but it does not indicate what they are.

“[People] should come and find out for themselves,” said McKenna.

This month is an ideal time to check out these mysteries.

© 2010 by Catherine J. Barrier.  All rights reserved.

Autumn Alive! Returns to Downtown Quakertown This Weekend

By Catherine J. Barrier

Quakertown is alive with excitement this fall, as preparations are underway for the annual Autumn Alive! celebration.

Autumn Alive! 2010 will take place on Saturday, October 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. right in downtown Quakertown, PA.  The event will feature a Broad Street Pet Show, a Talent Showcase contest, and a Grower’s Market, but there will be many other special activities and live entertainment as well.  This is a fair weather event, and there is no rain date.  For more information, check the Website at www.quakertownalive.com, or call (215) 536-2273.

“This is our 11^th year for the Autumn Alive!, which is a harvest festival,” said Naomi Naylor, Quakertown Alive!’s Main Street Manager.



Poster for This Year's
Autumn Alive!

 “We’re going to have a Pet Parade on Broad Street,” said Naylor.  “This is our second year for this.  It went over so well last year that we decided to have it again.”  There are four contest categories for the Pet Parade this year: Best Halloween Costume; Best Pet and Owner Look-Alike; Best Pet/Companion Team Costume; and Ugliest Pet.  “It’s all a lot of fun, and although the judges sometimes react to having to judge the last category, the owners don’t really get upset, and everyone has a lot of fun with it, so we’re looking forward to that again.”

“We’re becoming more of a pet-friendly town,” said Naylor.

Those wishing to enter the Broad Street Pet Parade can register at the Pet Parade Registration Booth up until 12:45 p.m. on the day of the event.  The registration fee to compete in each category is $10.00 per entry.  The Parade will begin at 1:00 p.m., but all pets should be checked in between noon and 12:45 p.m.  For more information, check the Website or call (215) 536-2273.

New this year will be the Talent Showcase contest.  The contest is open to all ages, and participants should prepare a 5- to 10-minute performance.  Those interested can register by filling out an application, where they will be asked to describe their family-friendly talent, and by submitting an entry fee of $10.00.  If selected to perform, participants should be prepared with all their needed equipment.  A microphone will be provided.  For questions, call (215) 536-2273 or e-mail info@quakertownalive.com.  The application form is available to be downloaded on the Website at www.quakertownalive.com.

“This is our first time doing this,” said Naylor.  “We’re excited!  The committee wanted to do this, and the top prize will be 4 hours of free [studio] recording time.”  Sonlight Productions (2067 Milford Square Pike-Quakertown) is sponsoring the contest, and there will also be other smaller prizes.  Contestants should bring a Blank, Recordable CD to the Showcase to receive a FREE LIVE Recording of their performance, courtesy of Sonlight Productions (http://www.sonlightproductions.net/).

“We’re having a great scarecrow contest, and so far, the businesses have really hopped on with it,” said Naylor.  The merchants have been asked to create themed scarecrows, according to their kinds of businesses, and all of them, and even many of the non-profit organizations, are getting involved.  “Some businesses already have their scarecrows out on the street.”

A team of judges is used to determine all the winners.

Tonya Rupell, the owner of Stone Soup Designs, is a vendor who is looking forward to the event.

“I wire-wrap gemstones into pendants,” said Rupell, who has been involved with the spring, juried Arts Alive! program, also sponsored by Quakertown Alive!, for a number of years.  She will be joining the Autumn Alive! celebration for the first time this year.  “[Being involved in the Arts Alive! events] has really helped give me a great jump start with my business,” said Rupell, who also offers affordable classes to teach people how to wire-wrap the gemstones and whose daughter has joined Rupell wrapping the gems—making it a family thing.  “It’s just great to be a part of it!”

“We keep our pendant prices down—to $6 and $8 each, or to 2 for $10,” said Rupell.  “We like to share our art work—and I do consider them pieces of art—and we like to see people wear our creations.  We’ve made about 5,000 pieces in the past 2 years, and we do them all by hand.  We also demonstrate all day long, as we sell.  We’ll have some extra things added for the upcoming Christmas holidays.”

“There will be community and animal rescue groups, vendors and crafters on the street, live entertainment—such as different demonstrations by local dance schools and karate clubs, markets up at the train station, . . . and even the United Friends, up at the other end of the block, will participate,” said Naylor.  “We work in conjunction with them because we want them to do well, too.  [The Friends will] have a bus to transport people back and forth from their area.”

“People really like [the festival] because it has a family focus; it’s good for the community; and it focuses on children’s activities—such as rides,” said Naylor.  The rides include a train going around the town and a moon bounce, and there will be a big red wagon with the large Clydesdale horses at the event.  (There will be a nominal charge for the carriage rides and the children’s rides.)  Magicians, stilt walkers, and balloon sculptures will also be present.

“All the restaurants in town will be open and will have their own specials,” said Naylor.  There will also be a Food Court, located right in the Triangle Square area.  And the downtown stores will have all kinds of special sales.

“But we’re having a Grower’s Market, too,” said Naylor.  “People can come out and get their farm-fresh fruits and vegetables.”

“There’s plenty of parking by the Borough [Hall], across from Broad Street, on 5^th Street, and by the Trolley Barn near the Train Station.  There will be signs posted around indicating where to park,” said Naylor.  “We’ve never really had a problem with parking.”

“Red Ace”, a fluid band made up of young representative musicians from the Upper Bucks Alliance for Creative Expression (UBACE), will be featured as part of the live entertainment at the event.  This 4-member band, comprised of a lead singer, guitarist, drummer, and bass guitarist, will perform for an hour or so, focusing on classical rock and on some rock-and-roll music of the 1950s.  Additional musicians will join them for individual numbers.

“UBACE is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization that works with middle and high school musicians to teach them how to form a band, what it’s all about, and how much work is involved in putting on a show,” said Samantha Beattie, a member of the UBACE Marketing and Events Committee.

“UBACE is a good opportunity for young people to meet other, like-minded kids,” said Beattie.  Together, with the help of several adults, these young, usually numbering between 30 and 40, musicians rehearse each spring and fall for about 3 months—in preparation for each of their 2 big yearly concerts.  Professional musicians normally get involved anchoring as well.

UBACE focuses on providing these basically non-competitive young musicians with a safe mentoring place to practice and creatively express themselves.  Through their experiences at UBACE, the young people gain musical experience and learn collaboration and responsibility, how to resolve conflicts, and how to apply themselves to get something positive accomplished.

“It’s like a family here,” said one student at UBACE, who stressed that one easily feels accepted there, in a place where everything is based on music. “The music brings us together.”

This year, UBACE’s fall concert, Rock and Roll - The Early Years, will be held on Friday night, November 12, at 8:00 p.m. at the Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University, located at 420 East Packard Avenue, in Bethlehem, PA.  For more information, see www.ubace.org.

Officer Bryan Lockwood from the Quakertown Police Department will be on hand to demonstrate how the K-9 dogs help keep the community safe.  Officer Lockwood, who has been with the Quakertown Police for 6 years and working with the K-9 program for the past 2, will bring his dog, “Kito”, a narcotics-detecting dog, to show how Kito works, when necessary, to find hidden narcotics in an area.

“The dogs are trained in North Carolina with their ‘handlers’ in an initial course, and then there’s regular follow-up training twice a month—on Patrol Day and Scent Day,” said Officer Matthew Molchan, whose dog, “Jynx”, is the town’s explosives-detection dog.  The dogs work as part of a team with their individual handlers, the particular officers they patrol with on a regular basis, and even go home with their handlers.  “They’re ‘take home dogs’—one dog to one handler.”

“The dogs do dual-purpose work,” said Officer Molchan.  “They do trailing, tracking, and narcotics or explosives detection.”  While not patrolling or specifically doing detection work, the dogs assist in missing child cases, in missing vehicle cases, and in building searches.  “Their keen sense-of-smell allows them to know if someone is still in the building, hiding—even when we [, as humans,] may not be sure.”

“The dogs are great!” said Officer Molchan.  “They’re social dogs.  However, when they’re on patrol and alone in the patrol car, people usually can’t approach them too easily, but when they’re with their handlers, they’re fine.  They’re working dogs.  It’s what they do, and they like it.”

Quakertown Alive!, the volunteer-driven non-profit community development organization that sponsors Autumn Alive!, exists to provide leadership and resources to help downtown Quakertown be further developed and revitalized in such a way that the quality of life for all who live in the area continues to improve.  The organization was formed by the local Chamber of Commerce in 1998.

Today, Quakertown serves as the cultural, economic, and social center of Upper Bucks County.  Officially, it was organized in 1855, after a land grant was originally obtained from William Penn in 1701—by English and Welsh speculators.  The Religious Society of Friends (known as the Quakers) then settled the area, especially up through 1720, and then the German settlers started to arrive.  The town has undergone several name changes; it was at one time called “The Great Swamp” and later “The Richland” because of the abundant rich land in the area.  A Quakertown post-office was established in 1803, the year President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase from France’s Napoleon Bonaparte and, therefore, more than doubled the size of the United States.  Quakertown was officially incorporated as a borough in 1855.  By 1905, it had about 3,400 residents and was considered a workingman’s town in the countryside.  At the time, it was already a major trade and business center, and today, about 9,000 people call Quakertown home.

“Autumn Alive! is a nice day out,” said Beattie.  “And it grows and grows each year, too.”

Come join the (other) Quakertown residents and the working business community as they celebrate the fall harvest season this weekend.  It is sure to be a fun-filled, family event.

* Photo of Poster Courtesy of Quakertown Alive!

© 2010 by Catherine J. Barrier.  All rights reserved.

"C'mon, Get Happy" Revisited: David Cassidy at the Keswick Theatre, Danny Bonaduce Makes His Bass-Guitar-Playing Debut

By Catherine J. Barrier

David Cassidy in Concert
with Danny Bonaduce at the
Keswick Theatre, October 23rd

Even before David Cassidy appeared weekly as Keith Partridge on the 1970’s family sitcom The Partridge Family, he was on the cover of teen magazines and the single “I Think I Love You” had been released.  Despite the Partridge Family’s being only a pre-fabricated musical group marketed through television—the TV Partridge Family never performed musically together or recorded any music—the song became the best-selling record of 1970.  At 21, David was the world’s highest paid solo live performer, and he soon had the biggest fan club ever—even bigger than Elvis and the Beatles.  In all, David has had 18 gold and platinum records, has had hits in every decade since the 1970’s, and continually fills concert halls even decades after his initial success.

Dante Daniel Bonaduce, or “Danny” as 94WYSP morning listeners know him, was born in the Greater Philadelphia Area—in Broomall.  His father was a veteran TV writer and producer, who later became jealous of his famous son, and Danny got his start in show business at age 2.  At 10 years old, after his family had moved to the West Coast, Danny was cast in the role of the precocious, red-haired Danny Partridge, Keith Partridge’s younger brother, who was always “up to something”, often with the family’s manager, Reuben Kincaid, played by Dave Madden (who later became like a surrogate father for Danny Bonaduce).  So David and Danny played brothers on The Partridge Family, but their “family kinship” extended beyond the set, and they still remain close.  Over the years, they have helped one another, not just professionally but personally.  This month, they join each other on stage at the Keswick Theatre for a very special kind of “reunion”.

The Challenge

As the host of 94WYSP’s The Danny Bonaduce Show (airing M-F 5:30 a.m.-9:00 a.m.), Danny has a rule: “Don’t surprise me on my own show,” but David didn’t know that when he was on with Danny on July 21.  That morning, David challenged Danny; he dared him to do something that is going to make the upcoming concert at the Keswick Theatre later this month a unique evening indeed.



David Cassidy & Danny Bonaduce

 “I’m throwing this out to you, Buddy,” said Cassidy that morning.  “This is for real.  You’re going to have to learn a specific song […] You’re going to come out and join me, for the very first time in history, with a bass . . .  that you’re going to plug in, . . . and you’re going to play the bass on a Partridge Family song, and sing, . . . with me, and [for the very first time in history], we will be the Partridge Family—live.”

“The challenge was an on-the-spot thing,” said Bonaduce, who has several contract jobs with CBS—and elsewhere.  He didn’t need to add anything to his busy schedule, such as learning to play the bass guitar, but David had dared him.  “I never played an instrument in my whole life, but all I have to do is learn one song.”  Danny is learning to play the bass for this concert but says doing so is harder than he thought it would be.

The Concert

David Cassidy and Danny Bonaduce will appear at the Keswick Theatre, an acoustically superb, renovated 1928 vaudeville house, located at 291 Keswick Avenue, in Glenside, PA on Saturday night, October 23, at 8:00 p.m. For tickets, see www.keswicktheatre.com or call the box office at (215) 572-7650.

On hand will be David’s band: bass guitarist Frank Fabio, drummer Teri Cole, keyboardist Craig J., and guitarist Matthew “Sully” Sullivan.

“They’re amazing artists in their own right,” said Cassidy.  “They teach master classes.  We’ve been together 9, almost 10 years, and they’re my friends.  They love the music.  We have a great time, and we celebrate together with the fans.  It really does mean something to them.  They’re not just hired musicians.”

David Cassidy Then and Now

While Danny is originally from the Philadelphia area, David knows the area, too.

“I love Bucks County!” said David, who lived in New York with his mother, Evelyn Ward, as a young boy and traveled to the area during the summers with his parents, who performed nearby.

“One of my father’s favorite places on the East Coast was Bucks County,” said Cassidy, who especially remembers the town of New Hope.  “My dad (actor Jack Cassidy) had a love for the charm of the place.  It’s a magnificent place!  I have very fond memories of Bucks County—of all around New York and Pennsylvania.”

These days, family and work still keep David busy.  In late September, his wife, Sue Shifrin, had just returned from London, and his son, Beau, had just gotten in from Boston for a few days.  David was trying to work with Beau on a project.

“Both my children are very talented and have a very good work ethic,” said Cassidy, who stresses to them that the important thing is to do a good job at what they do.  “Talent is the only commodity that survives,” Cassidy tells them.  “Don’t ever do a job [just] for the money.”

His daughter, Katie, has been doing Gossip Girl in New York this year, and both she and Beau are trying to succeed in show business on their own, although they do ask David for advice sometimes.

David will soon begin some network TV shooting, and has several upcoming concerts yet this year.  He has also been spending more time in the Pennsylvania area.

“Horses have been my passion for years,” said Cassidy, who breeds and sells horses and now keeps some of his mares in Pennsylvania for the first time.  He’s going to sell some of them in November and plans to return to the area to see the mares and foals again before they are sold.

David Cassidy in Concert

When asked who he is, the man and not just the image, Cassidy responded, “Balanced.  I’m still ‘hungry’.  The essence of me is still the same. I have a wife, and children, and I can do the things I love and want to do—produce, play, write—mostly because of the fans.  I have the same love and passion.”

“One thing age does is make one appreciate more,” said Cassidy.  “If year after year of experience and going through personal disappointments, pain, and adversity teach you anything—and I’ve had my share of those—they teach you to appreciate things.”

C’mon Get Happy: Fear And Loathing On The Partridge Family Bus, is Cassidy’s 1994 autobiography in which he writes about his fame and the business side of his early career.  A subsequent work, Could It Be Forever?: My Story was published in the U.K. in 2007.

Danny Bonaduce Then and Now

“Most of the cool things in my life are connected to The Partridge Family,” said Bonaduce.  “The Partridge Family was a much nicer family than I ever had.”

“I got all these awards for being Danny Partridge,” said Bonaduce.  “I just got the right part at the right time.”

Things weren’t easy for Danny after The Partridge Family finished.  He had only been making $400 a week for 26 weeks out of a year while on the show.  Afterwards, he was out of work for 14 years.  “I had no money; I never had any money,” said Bonaduce.  Finally, broke and homeless at 28, he moved back to live in his mother’s guest room in Havertown.  Soon thereafter, shopping at the King of Prussia Mall, he was stopped by a DJ who recognized him and began to ask him some questions.  Impressed by Danny’s answers, the man had Danny meet with his boss, Charlie Quinn, the station’s General Manager, and Danny got hired on the spot.  He soon had his first radio show.  He’s been in radio ever since.

“Radio’s the real thing,” said Bonaduce, who has also written and hosted several reality shows and authored an autobiography entitled Random Acts of Badness.  “I’d never quit radio, and I’ve never missed a show.  I’ve only missed 4 days of work in 20 years—and I was in the hospital during those times.  I just work.  I love to work.  Nothing against my fiancée [Amy], but my radio show is the most fun 4 hours of my day.”

“I put a lot of thought into my show,” said Bonaduce, who worked for the same radio company from 1990 through 2007, but who has done the morning show at 94WYSP for the past two years.

“I don’t lie on the radio—ever!” said Bonaduce.  “I tell stories for a living, but I don’t endorse things I don’t believe in.  The sponsors know it, and my listeners know it.”

Danny has been called the “Employee of the Year” by CBS every year.  He constantly does live appearances.  While his contract only calls for a handful a year, he did well over 200 last year.

One part of Danny’s morning show is “Life Coach”, a time when people can call up with problems.  “I’ve made more mistakes . . . , and assuming that people learn from their mistakes, . . . what I say [advise] may not always be moral, or the best advice to follow, but it will fix the problem,” said Danny.

Danny has a genuine fondness for Philadelphia, and especially likes “. . . the history, the architecture, and my home—the smallest home [I’ve ever had], but my favorite home ever!”  His home was built in 1850, has the rooms stacked one on top of the other, and has a grain elevator.  “It’s a fabulous home!  In California, I had a 72,000 square-foot house, and I hated it.  It was like a museum, and . . . I get thrown out of museums.”

“You have no idea what the Declaration of Independence means to me,” said Bonaduce, who can see Independence Hall from his 24,000 square-foot home in Philadelphia and who lives down the street from Christ Church, one of the oldest churches in the country with continuous services.  “I believe the hand of God wrote the Declaration of Independence.  [Even in our modern age,] it’s still relevant and exact.”

“I like the people here [in Philadelphia] a lot more [than those in Hollywood],” said Bonaduce.  “Everyone’s exactly who they say they are here.  At one time, I would eat your young [to get ahead].  People in Hollywood are like that, but I couldn’t see it.  I’d always been one of them.  It’s a better place here [in Philadelphia].”

David Speaks of Danny

“He’s always looked up to me.”  Danny didn’t have a very good home life, and one morning during the [Partridge Family] show, Danny showed up with a black eye.  “When you see a little boy like that in that state, . . . we had a very close connection.”

“Danny has humor and wit, and he’s brilliant,” said Cassidy.  “I’ve always said that.  I mean Danny was always the funny guy—even on the show.”

“Danny’s a very good human being; he really is—bright, intelligent, talented,” said Cassidy, who back in the early 1990’s took responsibility for Danny, who had been fired from his job and had been into substance abuse, by calling Danny’s parole officer and arranging to have Danny join him (David) on a concert tour.  During that tour, David met with the general manager of a radio station to speak on Danny’s behalf, saying that Danny had been out on tour with him and was brilliant, having opened for David’s concerts with a comedy act.  The general manager ended up coming to a show, saw Danny’s performance, and later hired him.

Danny Speaks of David

“David and I have a good relationship,” said Bonaduce.  “I don’t go out of my way to book him on my show, but I’m always glad to have him on with me.  I’m sometimes afraid of him.  When I see David, I still see the old David.  He was the important guy on the set.  Sometimes I get nervous, star-struck.”  Danny remembers the large number of girls always outside the studio, waiting for David. “‘I Think I Love You’ and ‘Let It Be’ came out the same day,” said Bonaduce.  “‘Let It Be’ went to #6, but ‘I Think I Love You’ went to #1—and stayed there for 12 weeks or more.  David still holds the records for selling out [concerts].”

Both David and Danny Value Their Loyal Fans

“My fans mean everything to me,” said Cassidy.  “Without them, once one’s really successful, . . . the only way to survive is to have them be supportive. I’m blessed to have all the things that I have, and I’ve always basically been able to do what I’ve wanted—because of my fans.  They’ve done everything for me.  I need to do all I can to do good work for them.”

“You don’t eat without the listeners,” said Bonaduce.  “I don’t put food on the table without them.  I work for them.”

Getting Ready

“When this gig came up at the Keswick, and with Danny back on the radio [in Philadelphia now] . . . ,” said Cassidy, “well, we did The Today Show together, and I asked him ‘Why don’t you come and open for me’, and he agreed.  When I was on Danny’s show, I said, ‘Here’s the challenge, and you’re going to do it’.”

David explained that Danny had called him up a few days earlier to say that he was, indeed, learning to play the bass—and he even played a bit of the song for David over the phone.  “He’s being very diligent about it,” said Cassidy.  “It was a little odd, but it was great!”

TV "Brothers" and Good Family-Like Friends

“This is going to be a very special, emotional show for me because of the years [behind its coming about]—and to see Danny actually play [the bass guitar],” said Cassidy.  “We share this unique bond, and Danny loves the music; he really does.  He’s got a good ear, and he can sing, although his voice is a bit raspy.”

“I hope people come—and the fans especially,” said Cassidy.  “I think it’s going to be an incredible show.”

“It’s coming along well,” said Bonaduce.  “I’m really doing this for David.  I want [the concert] to go well for him, but David doesn’t know what I might do to his show.  I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet.”  Danny, whose radio bosses will also attend the concert, indicated he would not be satisfied just to come out and play one song, so what he will actually do is still to be determined.

One thing is certain: this “Partridge Family reunion” is going to be one happy event.

* Photos Courtesy of JAG Entertainment

© 2010 by Catherine J. Barrier.  All rights reserved.

FYI:  Danny Bonaduce moved to Seattle after WYSP changed its format in August 2011.  His Philadelphia house was then put up for sale.