Linda Mack and C. Scott Hagler take a break from preparing for their March 30 recital. Photo: Paul Boyer.

Piano duets have been around about as long as pianos themselves. And surprising as it sounds, piano duets probably shaped the modern-day piano.

Linda Mack Berven and I will present a duet recital Friday, March 30 at 7:00 p.m., the third in the 2011-2012 St. Mark’s Recital Series. The recital will include works for four hands by Mozart, Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky. Tickets, $15 for adults and $5 for students and children, are available online, by calling 1-800-838-3006 and at St. Mark’s, 910 E. 3rd Ave. in Durango.

The recital at St. Mark’s takes place a mere 247 years after the first four-hand recital, held on May 13, 1765 in London. Nine-year-old Wolfgang Mozart and his sister Maria Anna played together on a two-manual harpsichord built for Frederick the Great. Mozart’s first duet, the four-hand Sonata in C (K. 19d) was probably written for this occasion. This was the first public duet recital on record and precedes by three years the first solo piano recital, played by Johann Christian Bach in 1768. Though several unpublished duet sonatas had been composed earlier, one would be tempted to accept a statement said to have been written in a letter by one proud Leopold Mozart, ‘ …up till now, no four-hand sonata had been composed anywhere.’

Mozart loved piano duets; he composed, taught and performed them throughout his life. His duet partners included Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Marianne Martinez and Ignaz Von Beecke. It was with Beecke that he performed one of his last public recitals in Frankfurt in 1790, a program comprised primarily of duets. Shortly after Mozart’s well-publicized duet performances, four-hand music began to grow in popularity throughout Europe and the U.S. All of this piano duet activity made it easy for Johann Cramer and Johann Dussek, in 1791, to persuade piano builder John Boradwood to extend the piano’s range from five to six octaves. Since pianos were built by hand, the range and other aspects of the instruments were not yet standardized. By 1794 six-octave pianos were common, and in 1803, Broadwood make slighly wider instruments (6-1/2 octaves), which were known as “duet range” keyboards. By 1850 they were seven octaves. Finally, in 1870, pianos had the now-standard 88 keys. There is a strong implication here that piano duets played a significant role in the early expansion of the piano’s range. Duettists were striving for a richer, fuller sound, and they found it much more practical and comfortable for two people to play side by side at the wider keyboard.

The first piano duets ever published were those of Charles Burney, in London in 1777. Even though this music is of minor importance, Burney’s preface influenced the development of the piano duet. He wrote that duets are more practical than two-piano works because two pianos seldom stay in tune together and because one rarely finds a living room large enough to accommodate two pianos. He also wrote of the numerous musical benefits derived from playing four hands: the joy of making music with another person, the challenges of keeping together precisely while at the same time working toward flexibility, and finding appropriate balance among the hands.

The changes in dress style during the 1780s had an indirect effect upon the popularity of the piano duet. Elaborate wigs faded from fashion and shorter, natural hair became the mode; corsets (which had held both men and women in rigid posture) began to be perceived as being unhealthy; and the hooped petticoat and “false hips” (panniers) gave way to the less restrictive bustle. Soon the stiff, rigid garments were replaced by simpler attire patterned after the ancient Greek and Roman styles. This new and simpler style of clothing made it much easier to perform side-by-side at the piano.

The first 15 years of the 19th century were dominated by the Napoleonic Wars, and this misfortune indirectly contributed to the growth of the piano duet. The French soldiers invaded Vienna in 1805 and again in 1809. The high taxes levied by Napoleon against the Austrians for the war effort (and related costs) caused the country to go bankrupt in 1811. Wealthy families, which had enjoyed hiring an orchestra or chamber musicians for their homes, could no longer afford such luxury, so piano duets became a substitute form of entertainment. Almost as soon as a symphony, chamber work or even an opera was introduced to the public, either the composer or his assistant would issue a duet version of it. By the 19th century, duets were rivaling piano solos in popularity.

The first great duet composer of the romantic period was Franz Schubert, who composed more than 70 works for this medium. Felix Mendelssohn, a duet enthusiast, often performed with his sister Fanny. Franz Liszt was an enthusiastic composer and performer of piano duets. He often wrote his pieces in various ways: for piano solo, for piano duet and for orchestra. When one thinks of Brahms as a duet composer one generally recalls the Waltzes, Op. 39, Hungarian Dances, Liebeslieder Waltzes and perhaps the Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann. However, there are also arrangements of at least 20 of his larger works, done by the composer himself. As the 19th century drew to a close there were several great duet composers at work: Max Reger, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Gabriel Faure, Edvard Grieg, Amy Beach, and one of the finest, Antonin Dvorak.

In the early 20th century, the popularity of piano duets began to wane. With the advent of recordings, radio, television, movies and easy transportation to public concerts, the musical scene changed from active participants making “do it yourself” music, to a passively listening public. The piano recital began to satisfy the need for music once provided by “Hausmusik.” Simultaneously, duets began to fade in popularity. By 1950 there was so little interest that publishers were making only a limited number of piano duets available. In the past few years, however, there has been a reawakening of interest in piano duets.

Great piano teachers of the past encouraged the study of piano duets. We know from letters that Mozart wrote to his father in 1777 and 1781 that he was including piano duets in his teaching. Schubert taught the two Esterhazy sisters in 1818 and 1824 and kept them occupied for hours playing piano duets. Beethoven requested that Czerny, who was the teacher of Beethoven’s nephew Karl, include piano duets in their work together. Schumann, in his Eighty-eight Rules for Young Beginners, wrote “One should never miss the opportunity to play piano duets.”

Durango Children's Chorale, Durango Choral Society and Durango Women's Choir on stage for A Traditional Family Christmas, December 4, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.

It came to me several years ago, and the idea stuck: I wanted to create a new arrangement of The Little Drummer Boy. I mentioned to Linda Mack, artistic director of the Durango Choral Society, my idea to create an exotic arrangement of the timeless piece for all three DCS choirs and percussion, and a commission was born. Linda had been wanting a way for the Choral Society to honor the memory of Morley Ballantine, Durango’s grande dame of the arts, and this seemed perfect.

The Little Drummer Boy has been a perpetual holiday favorite since it was recorded in 1955 by the Trapp Family Singers and made even more popular by a 1958 recording by the Harry Simeone Chorale. The song has been recorded dozens and dozens of times since. It seems everyone, and I do mean everyone, has recorded the work, from Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, The Brady Bunch, and in just the last couple years, Mariah Carey, Pink Martini, The Black Eyed Peas and Justin Bieber.

The piece, originally titled Carol of the Drum, was written and published by the American classical music composer/teacher Katherine K. Davis in 1941. Her manuscript is set as a chorale, the tune in the soprano with alto harmony, tenor and bass parts producing the drum rhythm and a keyboard accompaniment marked “for rehearsal only.” It is headed “Czech Carol freely transcribed by K.K.D,” these initials were some time later deleted and replaced with “C.R.W. Robinson,” a name under which Davis sometimes published. The Czech original has never been identified.

The song appealed to the Austrian von Trapp singers, who first brought the song to wider prominence when they recorded the Carol of the Drum in 1955, shortly before they retired; their version was credited solely to Davis and published by Belwin-Mills. In 1957 it was recorded, with a slightly altered arrangement, by The Jack Halloran Singers for a record to be released on Dot Records but the recording was not made in time for Christmas and was not released. Dot’s Henry Onorati introduced the song to his friend Harry Simeone and the following year, when 20th Century Fox Records contracted him to make a Christmas album, Simeone, making further small changes to the Halloran arrangement and retitling it The Little Drummer Boy, recorded it with the Harry Simeone Chorale on the album Sing We Now of Christmas. Simeone and Onorati claimed joint composition credit and royalties with Davis (which is ridiculous. Don’t get me started).

The album and the song were an enormous success, and the single scored on the U.S. music charts from 1958 to 1962. In 1963 the album was reissued under the title The Little Drummer Boy: A Christmas Festival, capitalizing on the single’s popularity. The following year the album was released in stereo. In 1988, The Little Drummer Boy: A Christmas Festival was released on CD by Casablanca Records, and subsequently, on Island Records. Harry Simeone, who in 1964 had signed with Kapp Records, recorded a new version of The Little Drummer Boy in 1965 for his album O’ Bambino – The Little Drummer Boy. The story is somewhat similar to a 12th century legend retold by Anatole France as Le Jongleur de Notre Dame (French: Our Lady’s Juggler), which was adapted into an opera in 1902 by Jules Massenet. In the French legend, however, a juggler juggles before the statue of the Virgin Mary, and the statue, according to which version of the legend one reads, either smiles at him or throws him a rose (or both, as in the 1984 television film, The Juggler of Notre Dame.)

Katherine Kennicott Davis (June 25, 1892 – April 20, 1980) graduated from high school in 1910, and studied music at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. After graduation she continued at Wellesley as an assistant in the Music Department, teaching music theory and piano. At the same time she studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Davis also studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. She taught music at the Concord Academy in Concord, Massachusetts, and at the Shady Hill School for Girls in Philadelphia. Though The Little Drummer Boy was her most famous work, Davis wrote over 600 compositions for the choirs at her school. Another famous hymn by Katherine Davis is the Thanksgiving hymn Let All Things Now Living which uses the melody of the traditional Welsh folk song The Ash Grove. She was a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) as I am. Davis continued writing music until she became ill in the winter of 1979-1980. She died at the age of 87 in Littleton, Massachusetts. This is cool: She left all of the royalties and proceeds from her compositions, which include operas, choruses, children’s operettas, cantatas, piano and organ pieces and songs, to Wellesley College’s Music Department, where the funds are used to support musical instrument instruction.

Many community, church and school choirs (and musical ensembles of all variety) commission new works on a regular basis, even annually, or for important milestones or special occasions. This is the Choral Society’s first commission. The Durango Women’s Choir is co-commissioning a work from Santa Fe composer Linda Rice Beck with the Santa Fe Women’s Choir. Joint concerts are planned to debut the new work in Durango and Santa Fe  in June.

Unless the song is in the public domain, a composer has to ask permission from the copyright holder to do the arrangement. Thankfully, publishers have made it much easier since I last asked for permission to arrange a piece, probably 20-plus years ago. Initial contacts are made via email, forms are emailed back, and the completed form and a check go in the mail. Considering that Alfred Publishing is a huge company, I think the process was actually quite easy.

Where it all began...

Where does music come from? I find composing to be part inspiration, part exploration and part hard work. A lot of the quest for interesting harmonies and chord progressions is purely experimental. Sometimes you hear it in your head, and sometimes you just have to go looking for it. Before I actually sat down to work, I had ideas for three musical passages, and knew I wanted it to have an exotic, Middle-Eastern vibe. I opened Finale, the music-composition software I use on the Mac, and discovered that I had actually begun to input some notes two years ago, including the exact same musical phrases that were on my mind at that moment. I think it was a sign. Though undaunted by the piece’s illustrious history (go figure), I was very conscious of messing with the well-loved melody, and, in fact, didn’t alter the melody or lyrics at all; it’s exactly like what was in the sheet music my Mom bought for me 30-ish years ago. Everything around the melody has changed, though, and I think it’s turned out pretty interesting. The piece clocks in right at four minutes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if each minute of music took 20 hours on the computer, not to mention the countless hours of listening to the voices in my head!

Six percussionists from the Fort Lewis College Percussion Ensemble will join about 150 singers from the Durango Children’s Chorale, Durango Women’s Choir and Durango Choral Society to close the Traditional Family Christmas concert with the world premier of my arrangement of Carol of the Drum (The Little Drummer Boy). I hope you’ll be there!

Durango Choral Society’s Traditional Family Christmas
Sunday, December 4, 2011 • 3:00 p.m.
Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado

Tickets: DurangoConcerts.com, by phone at (970) 247-7657 or at the Concert Hall Box Office at 7th & Main

Imagine my surprise at discovering that there’s a word for the fear of poetry: metrophobia. Sounds like the fear of a big city. Or the subway, perhaps. According to Ask.com,

Metrophobia, or the fear of poetry, is surprisingly common. Many people first develop this phobia in school, when overzealous teachers encourage them to rank poems according to artificial scales, break them down and search for esoteric meanings. Others simply feel that poetry is somehow “beyond” them, belonging only to the realm of the pretentious and highly educated.

Metrophobia can take several forms. Some sufferers fear all poetry, while others fear poems that deal with specific subject matter or are written in a specific style. If you have metrophobia, you may become extremely anxious in English classes. You may refuse to participate in reading out loud, or even start to skip classes. You may become uncomfortable when friends forward emails that contain poems. You may be reluctant to read unfamiliar books for fear of coming across an illustrative poem.”

We need only look to popular culture for a treatment plan. The Ask.com article continues: “Who could forget the early scenes of the film Dead Poets Society, in which teacher John Keating leads his class in ripping out the pages of their poetry textbook that deal with the numerical grading of the written works? The liberation of removing the focus on “expert opinion” and narrow definitions of greatness, allowing creative work to be enjoyed for its own sake, becomes a hallmark of the film. Many of the students then go on to re-found the title society, learning to love and become inspired by poetry of all types.

“For many metrophobia sufferers, this is all that is needed. Therapy may be largely focused on stripping away the negative thoughts and beliefs that sufferers experience by helping them to realize that poetry transcends meter and verse. Helping the sufferer to recognize the creative freedom that poetry provides to both the creator and the reader is a major goal of metrophobia therapy.”

Poetry transcends meter and verse? Provides creative freedom? Aha! This is where the heart of my fear lies: being bound to a certain number of syllables and lines, what rhymes where…

Enter Renee Podunovich, local poet, published author and teacher. I first encountered her poetry when she submitted work for Poetry for the Spirit, one of the three main events in the Sacred Arts Festival, hosted by 3rd Ave. Arts in Durango each fall. Last year, as part of the festival, Renee offered a poetry workshop. I took her class, and felt my phobia lessen. Renee’s gentle demeanor and supportive teaching style, along with permission to move beyond meter, verse and any preconceived rules, allowed me to explore that creative freedom, even for just a bit.

Renee is offering another workshop on the 2011 Sacred Arts Festival on Sunday, October 23 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 910 E. 3rd Ave. in Durango. The fee for the two-hour workshop is $20. Preregistration is requested, but sign-up at the door is welcomed.

“You may not become a poetry lover, but you can learn not to fear it,” the Ask.com article concludes. “A good therapist will work with you to develop the treatment plan that is best for you.”

I found that therapist in Renee Podunovich.

Additional information: Visit Renee’s website. Learn more about the Sacred Arts Festival.

The series opens Friday, October 28 at 7:00 p.m. with violist Sharon Neufeld & Friends in a program entitled “The Viola in Chamber Music.” Neufeld holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and has enjoyed performing with orchestras and chamber ensembles around the country and overseas. She is based in Durango, where she operates a Suzuki violin and viola studio, directs the Durango Chamber Music Academy, works with the Bayfield Elementary School Orchestras and Bayfield Youth Symphony and plays in the San Juan Symphony. “I really enjoy collaborating with other local musicians to bring great chamber music to our community,” Neufeld commented. Repertoire for the recital includes Handel’s Passacaglia; Dohnanyi’s Serenade in C Major for String Trio, Op 10; Vaughan-Williams’ Quintet in c minor for Piano & Strings; and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto # 6 in B-flat Major. Joining Neufeld are Faith Winstead, violin; Kristina Lambert, viola; Katherine Jetter, cello; Lech Usinowicz, double bass; Mika Inouye, piano; and advanced students Nolan Reed, violin; Iliana Sawyer and Jassana Baizel, viola.

On February  3, 2012, perennial favorite soprano Gemma Kavanagh returns for her seventh performance on the series with guest trumpeter Mick Hesse.

Linda Mack and C. Scott Hagler will perform a four-hands piano recital on Friday, March 30, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

The season closes with former Fort Lewis College professor of music Douglas Owens playing bassoon on May 4, 2012.

3rd Ave. Arts is the non-profit umbrella organization that presents the recital series, Durango Bach Festival, Durango Chamber Music Festival, Durango Salsa Festival, Sacred Arts Festival and more. More information is available at www.3rdAveArts.org.

October 28, 2011
Sharon Neufeld & Friends
The Viola in Chamber Music

February 3, 2012
Gemma Kavanagh, Soprano
with Mick Hesse, Trumpet

March 30, 2012
Linda Mack and C. Scott Hagler,
Piano four-hands

May 4, 2012
Douglas Owens
Bassoon

Majesty of Christmas

December 18, 2011

A Celtic Music Celebration for St. Patrick’s Day

March 16, 2012

Durango Bach Festival

March 18–24, 2012

Durango Chamber Music Festival

May 11, 18 & 25, 2012

Durango Chamber Music Academy Summer Institute

June 11–15, 18–22, 2012

Durango Salsa Festival

September 15, 2012

Visit www.3rdAveArts.org for details and tickets, or call (970) 247-1129.

Reception and Trunk Showing

Friday, October 21 • 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church • 910 E. 3rd Ave. in Durango

Charles Carrillo's retablo of San Isidro

New Mexico artist Charles Carrillo is recognized not only as the primary authority on this Hispanic folk tradition, but also as the most accomplished artist practicing the art. Come meet Charlie, who will be displaying a variety of retablos (available for sale). He is also happy to autograph his book, available at the reception.

Introduction to Retablo Painting Workshop

Saturday, October 22 • 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church • 910 E. 3rd Ave. in Durango
$50 + $20 materials fee. Class size is very limited; preregistration required

This is a rare opportunity to learn the basics of the art of retablo painting from the preeminent expert. No prior experience necessary. Students should bring pencils, drawing paper and good-quality watercolor brushes. Materials fee covers paints and pre-gessoed board. Students may have a finished retablo at the end of the day, or the ability to complete it on her or his own. Class is limited to 20 students to maximize one-on-one interaction with Charlie. To pay by check, download the form here. To register online, click here. Please note: credit card charges incur an additional $3.44 fee.

The tradition of the santero, a carver and painter of images of saints, is an old one. The depiction of saints for religious purposes dates to the 18th century in Hispanic New Mexican communities. Charles Carrillo started his creative journey in 1978 [Read more...]

ICON, visual expressions of the sacred, opens with an artists’ reception Friday, September 30 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Around 80 works of art in paint, photography, clay, fiber, glass and mixed-media media will be on display through October 31. Free and open to the public.

Poetry for the Spirit and the release of the 2011 poetry anthology are scheduled for Saturday, October 1 at 7:00 p.m. Most poems will be read by their authors. A reception follows; free and open to the public.

Music for Sacred Spaces is Sunday, October 2 at 2:00 p.m. Musicians perform original compositions and arrangements reflecting their view of the sacred. A reception follows; free and open to the public.

We’ve added a variety of workshops and talks to the festival this year. I’m particularly excited to bring santero Charles Carrillo in from Santa Fe to offer an Introduction to Retablo Painting workshop (read my separate blog post or visit www.SacredArtsFestival.com for photos and videos). Local artists, poets and presenters, including Jenny Treanor, Katherine Barr, Robert Bridges, Renee Podunovich and Luri Owen, will offer sessions during the festival. See below for the schedule of events. Additional information and details are available at www.SacredArtsFestival.com or by calling (970) 247-1129.

2011 Sacred Arts Festival Schedule of Events

Friday, September 30, 2011, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
ICON Artists’ Opening Reception
Labyrinth and meditation garden open
Free; open to all

Saturday, October 1, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
Poetry for the Spirit, Poetry Reading and Reception
Free; open to all

Sunday, October 2, 2011, 2:00 p.m.
Music for Sacred Spaces, Concert and Reception
Free; open to all

Thursday, October 6, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
Potluck and Roundtable Discussion
All are invited; RSVP requested. Please email Scott or Cheryl or call (970) 247-1129.

Sunday, October 16, 2011, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Meditation in the Labyrinth: Renew, Refresh, Rejoice 
Presented by Luri Owen
$5 requested donation

Thursday, October 20, 7:00 p.m.
Spiraling into the Heart of the Divine Feminine 
presentation by artist Jenny Treanor
Free; open to all

Friday, October 21, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Reception and Trunk Showing for santero Charles Carrillo
Free; open to all

Saturday, October 22, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Introduction to Retablo Painting with Charles Carrillo 
$50 + $20 materials; pre-registration required

Sunday, October 23, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Writing Poetry: The Practice of Sacred Language 
with poet Renee Podunovich
$20; pre-registration appreciated

Saturday, October 29, 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Accessing Beginner’s Mind: Perception and the Sacred Arts 
with Robert Bridges and Katherine Barr
Donation requested

“Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me NOW!
It is fun to have fun
But you have to know how.”

—Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat (Deluxe Edition)

Who doesn’t love Dr. Seuss? I’d bet that almost every kid in America grew up with not only his books, but the quirky animated TV specials as well. Durango and the Four Corners area has an unprecedented opportunity to get into the Seuss groove this October.

Seuss on the Loose, a selection of Dr. Seuss’ original drawings from children’s books, political cartoons and advertising, will be on exhibit at the Durango Arts Center from October 7 – November 12, 2011. The opening, a ticketed reception, is set for Friday, October 7, 2011 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Tickets, $25 for Durango Arts Center members and $30 for non-members, are available at the Durango Arts Center box office and DurangoArts.org. The exhibit will offer a rare opportunity to see selections from the Seuss collection, housed at the University of California San Diego. Admission to the exhibit is $3 for members, $5 for non-members and free for students of all ages. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free for everyone on Sunday, October 16. Durango Arts Center is located at 802 E. 2nd Ave in Durango.

The curators for Seuss on the Loose are artist Mary Ellen Long and cartoonist Shan Wells. Long says that “This six-week festival is a community-wide event, centering on a selection of original children’s book drawings and political cartoons by Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss). The exhibit will focus on Ted Geisel’s process in publishing his many books and cartoons. Exhibits of these original Dr. Seuss artworks rarely travel from the Seuss Collection in La Jolla, California, so it is a wonderful opportunity for the Durango Arts Center to bring many local and regional viewers into our galleries. I have worked to secure this unusual opportunity due to my inclusion in the artists’ book and collage collection and many years of connections at UCSD and the San Diego Book Arts Community.”

“Our town will be exploding with activities throughout the six weeks of the exhibit,” Long continues. “The public schools, the Durango Public Library and many businesses around town will be involved with children’s art programs. The Durango Arts Center will offer art experiences to children in their education studio. The docents will give tours and provide activities based on Seuss art. There will be a reading center, a Seuss Film Festival, a lecture series, his political cartoons during wartime and the history of the Seuss collection, as well as Seuss-inspired art by local artists and dancers.” Durango Performing Arts Company will also stage Seussical the Musical during the festival.

Dr. Seuss, born Theodor Seuss Geisel, lived from 1904 to 1991. He was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist best known for his children’s books, 46 in all. Geisel wrote under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and Rosetta Stone. His most-loved books include bestsellers Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Horton Hears a Who!, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Dr. Seuss’ works have been adapted into 11 television specials, four television series, three feature-length films and a Broadway musical.

Geisel supported himself and his wife through the Great Depression by drawing illustrations for advertising for many companies, including Standard Oil, General Electric and NBC. He became nationally famous from his advertisements for Flit, a common insecticide at the time; his slogan, “Quick, Henry, the Flit!” became a popular catchphrase. As World War II began, Geisel turned to political cartoons, drawing over 400 in two years as editorial cartoonist for the left-leaning New York City daily newspaper, PM. During the war, he worked for the U.S. Army as an animator and wrote Design for Death, a film that would go on to win the 1947 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.

In May 1954, Life magazine published a report on illiteracy among school children, concluding that children were not learning to read because their books were boring. William Ellsworth Spaulding, director of the education division at Houghton Mifflin, compiled a list of 348 words he felt were important for first-graders to recognize. He asked Geisel to cut the list to 250 words and write a book using only those words. Spaulding challenged Geisel to “bring back a book children can’t put down.” Nine months later, Geisel, using 236 of the words given to him, completed The Cat in the Hat. It retained the drawing style, verse rhythms, and all the imaginative power of Geisel’s earlier works, but because of its simplified vocabulary could be read by beginning readers. The Cat in the Hat and subsequent books written for young children achieved significant international success, and remain popular to this today.

For a complete listing of activities, visit www.durangoarts.org. For information, call (970) 259-2606.

I’m excited to write not only about the arts organizations I’m involved with, but the broader arts scene in Durango and the Four Corners area. I might talk about a recent restaurant visit, or even throw out a low-carb gluten-free recipe now and then (from one of my upcoming recipe books!).

I’m also writing for Examiner.com, and am likely to cover an even broader range of topics in my posts as Durango Arts Examiner.

I welcome your comments and questions, and appreciate your subscribing to my blog and forwarding to your friends.

©2011 C. Scott Hagler