The time period “musical genius” is an oft-overused phrase.
For some of us, the time period is apt. Mozart was writing full musical items for piano earlier than the age of 10. Prince Rogers Nelson might get sounds out of something; on many tracks recorded in his early years, he performed each instrument — drums, piano, guitar, bass.
However Tom Lehrer was, actually, a musical genius. Certainly, he was a musician and a genius, He acquired his undergraduate diploma by the age of 18, and had a grasp’s diploma at 19. Throughout these years at Harvard, he began writing comedy songs for piano — some uproariously humorous ones skewering authorities, faith, the veneer of the American Dream, and the army.
Tom Lehrer, who died final week, was one in all many individuals who walked away from fame and led a lifetime of thriller after he dropped out of performing life. Like Greta Garbo, J.D. Salinger, and Harper Lee, you needed to have been very fortunate to fulfill Lehrer in case you had been taking one in all his math courses on the College of California-Santa Cruz, MIT, or Harvard.
And also you had been even luckier in case you had been within the solid of a student-run manufacturing at a kind of faculties. There are legendary tales of him coming to musicals to fulfill solid members and encourage them to higher issues.
Lehrer’s reclusive later life stands in nice distinction to his profession as a performer. All you’ll want to do is watch his live performance filmed in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1967. Even earlier than he performed a notice, he held the viewers within the palm of his hand. I’ve by no means heard an viewers clap the best way it did — rhythmic clapping in unison, compared to the random clapping you hear that feels like a heavy rainstorm.
After that efficiency and others, he turned his profession to writing songs for this new assemble known as “public tv,” penning songs in regards to the suffix “ly” and the silent “e.” However years later, he did one thing utterly revolutionary. In 2020, he launched all of his musical works and lyrics to the general public area.
In an period the place there have been protracted fights over musical works and their worth, Tom Lehrer freed his creations and made them public.
One among my pals within the TikTok universe, a comic and musician, includes a Lehrer music each week for her Tom Lehrer Tuesdays.
If she makes a memorial video tomorrow on her social media presences, will probably be fairly poignant.
