by Daniel Hathaway
HAPPENING TODAY:
At 5:30 pm, saxophonist Tyler Young, and pianist William Hueholt play a free Rush Hour Concert of Music by Paganini, Saint-Saëns, and Jacob Nance (a world premiere) at Fairmount Presbyterian in Cleveland Hts.
And this evening at 7:30, Cleveland Chamber Music Society hosts the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at Disciples Church for a program of Spanish music in collaboration with the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society (pictured: guitarist Jason Vieaux with soprano Vanessa Becerra).
For details of upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
by Mike Telin
On February 11, 1847, inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. Of course, Edison is responsible for inventing many things that make our lives more pleasant, including the incandescent light bulb, the motion picture camera, and the fluoroscope, as well as improving the telegraph and telephone. Click here to view a list of his numerous patents.
Of all his inventions, Edison’s favorite was the phonograph, which came about from his work on the telegraph and the telephone when, in 1877, he discovered a way to record sound on tinfoil-coated cylinders. He set the invention aside for ten years, and when he returned to work on his phonograph, he began using wax cylinders.
And what were the first words Edison recorded on his new machine? Click here to listen to him recite “Mary had a little lamb” (recorded in 1927 for the 50th anniversary of his invention). Upon hearing his voice Edison said “I was never so taken aback in my life — I was always afraid of things that worked the first time.”
Edison believed the phonograph would eventually be used for letter writing and dictation, phonographic books for blind people, a family record — recording family members in their own voices — music boxes and toys, clocks that announce the time, and a connection with the telephone so communications could be recorded. Click here to visit the informative entries about Edison on the Library of Congress website.
In 1922, a film crew came to West Orange, NJ to document a typical day in Thomas Edison’s life. Watch the 16-minute PBS video here.
Always striving to improve on things, Edison was once asked to give his opinion on the role that physics and mechanical instruments will play in the future. “A great deal — an enormous part,” the inventor responded. “The present instruments of the orchestra are very crude. Take the violin for instance. Don’t tell me that even the best violin cannot be improved. One of the worst things in all music is the E string on the violin.” Click here to read the interview titled New Aspects on the Art of Music, in which Edison also comments on singers’ use of vibrato, which he calls tremolo.
So happy 178th Mr. Edison! Without you, nothing I’ve written about in this article would be possible.
I leave you with an inspiring quote by Thomas Edison. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
