A riot of color

There are many things I admire about my mother, who turned 85 last month. Among them is her insatiable curiosity about the world around her, and her desire to be learning new things on a daily basis. When I stopped by her place the other day, she related how she’d recently gone to a concert that featured a Bach cantata, written in 3/8 time, for solo bass voice.  That had sparked a memory of a particular chapter in a book that she owns written by Franz Welser-Möst, the conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra.  The book, which is in German, was on the kitchen counter, and she’d been in the midst of translating passages that addressed the interpretation and performance of 3/8 time in works by Bach.

Every visit to my mother’s concludes with her passing on to me a handled paper bag brimming with reading material that’s struck her fancy: sections of the Wall…