Apropos of Nothing

via email:

 I received this e-mail yesterday from Betty Anonymous.  I'd just like to go on record: We were herding van der Stevejincks around Utah, Idaho, Oregon AND Washington, I was making lemon filled cupcakes not pies, it wasn't a church bazaar - it was a talent show, I wasn't making cookies for scouts, I was preparing lessons for my seminary class (we're currently studying the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament...which is a whole other kettle of fish), and with all that, I've been slacking in the blogging department...which is why I adore getting post submissions from any (and all) of our readers.  Enjoy the article and make sure to check out the youtube video!

Betty Debbie

 

Dear Betty Debbie,

I have a new little post for TUJD, if you think the other Bettys might be interested. If you are busy herding the van der Stevejinck clan through the wilds of Washington(?), baking pies for the church bazaar, cookies for scouts parents meeting, or writing your own posts, remember this will keep.

We all know the Great Betty loved music – and so do I. Although I have to admit to a rather un-bettyesque liking for Bach. – But that is neither here nor there. (Whatever that means. Hehehe.)

I was looking for a clip on YouTube and chanced upon a clip from an André Rieu concert performed in Maastricht in the Netherlands. The interesting thing about it is that André Rieu speaks in a local dialect. (It is not Dutch. Although it sounds similar. Some words are more similar to German than Dutch. – Just how many languages do they have in the Netherlands anyway? Not to mention dialects.)

Anyway, I rather like the music and thought I would share it with you.

By the way, André Rieu would not have made an RDD, his hair is too long. But, in younger years, he would have been the perfect cast for the no-good younger brother or ne’er-do-well cousin. (actually, financially they did do well, didn’t they). Rieu even has the name for it: cousin André in An Unlikely Romance. Ha!

Enjoy the music. (I particularly enjoyed watching Anthony Hopkins during the performance.)

Betty Anonymous

 

The other day I wanted to see and hear And the Waltz Goes On, a waltz composed by Sir Anthony Hopkins. And I found this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVB2mfUQqh4

 video clip. There are Dutch subtitles because André Rieu speaks Mestreechs, a local dialect/variant of Limburghish spoken in his hometown Maastricht alongside the Dutch language and the local variant of Dutch.

André Rieu says a couple of months ago his New York office called him up saying there was someone on the phone, who said he was a fan and that he had composed a waltz and wanted Rieu to play it.

"Now, I can tell you I get such phone calls quite often. And letters, too, from people saying I am such a big fan and I have composed a waltz and you have to play the waltz for me. But I can also tell you that, through the years, my experience has taught me that still no new Johann Strauss has ever turned up. And that I still find the music of the good maestro himself the most beautiful."

But when he heard the name of the man who was on the phone he almost fell off the chair and he asked, "Is it really him?" "Yes, it is really him." And then they put him through and he talked to him on the phone, and the man had such a friendly voice and was such a friendly.person And he told Rieu that fifty years ago, before he became an actor, he was a musician. And he composed a waltz. And that he had never let anybody hear the waltz. And that the waltz had never been performed. And that he had seen André Rieu on American tv and said, "You have to play the waltz."

And then Rieu said, "Ok, send me the music." And they recorded the waltz for him and mailed it to him. And he responded straight away and said he found it so beautiful. He was in tears.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is an unbelievably beautiful waltz. ..."

Bettys, I am sure the Venerable Betty would have enjoyed listening to Sir Anthony’s waltz.

Betty Anonymous