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July 4, 2017
Not exactly taking the day: I have been clearing brush - bittersweet, poison ivy, ink berry and wild raspberries - from what was once a nice rock garden and is now an overgrown mess. But, I am taking a day from writing. In honor of the holiday, I leave you with one of my fondest memories from growing up, the annual Boston Pops concert on the Esplanade along the Charles River with Arthur Fiedler conducting. The evening always finished with a rousing rendition of the 1812 Overture. This recording, from 1976, has a bonus: the whole crowd sings the Battle Hymn of the Republic before the gentle strains of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece begins:
