Who Were These People, Anyway?
Part of my idea with this piece is that a personal theme makes it much more interesting than if it were just an abstract title like “Symphony No. 1” or something. I also wanted to challenge myself to be more overtly personal, and see what happens.
So here are the characters, in order of appearance. Of course they were much more than what these brief summaries can describe. But I also wonder if even this amount of information would be enough to help an audience enjoy the music inspired by their lives.
Steven Jay Kline. A professor of flow mechanics. Quite focused on career. Opinionated and science-oriented. As far as music, loved Beethoven and some 60’s folk. Was irked when the hippie movement criticized engineers for being unaware of social issues, but eventually decided maybe they had a point and organized a new program at his university to help engineering students think about the wider world and their place in it. A hard person to get along with at times (his colleagues joked about it at his funeral) but also an idealist who wanted to make the world a better place and felt he was doing a good job as a teacher if he was learning from his students.
Barbara Jean Kline (maiden name Banker). Stay at home mom and later, a fundraiser for a community college. A socialite who loved Opera (her mother was actually an Opera singer who studied with Caruso). An accomplished Classical pianist and considered studying music at Peabody but decided not to for reasons that she never really explained to my Dad. Threw large Christmas parties for which she would start baking in July. Actively supported Democratic politics and women’s rights. Suffered two serious mental health crises, losing her grip on reality somewhat, but recovered with treatment. Unknown if she also suffered from anxiety or depression. Died in her 50’s of lung cancer.
Barbara Ann Gilligan (maiden name Kendall). Stay at home mom, then secretary. Loved singing and dancing as a girl and as an adult played honky-tonk piano almost every night at home (that was the way she communicated how she was feeling and what she was thinking about, according to my mom). Had to drop out of college due to nervous breakdown. Suffered two unhappy marriages which both ended in divorce. Became an alcoholic from the 1950’s, continuing to drink heavily the rest of her life. Eventually deteriorated to the point that she would claim preposterous or impossible things had happened (things that clearly never would or could happen in real life).
Gerald Sylvester Gilligan. Tried various cqreerw early on, like journalism, then became quite a successful consultant for the paper industry. Grew up in a working class Irish family but was able to attend Harvard after his brother encouraged him to spend an extra year and complete the college track in high school. Always ready with a joke or a saying, either traditional like “Red sky at morning, sailors take warning” or of his own invention, such as “High temperature, low ice condition. Low temperature, high ice condition.” Liked to claim he was “just a machine” who just went to work every day, and the nickname “Machine” was what everyone in the family called him. Quite proud of his Irish heritage and was excited when fellow Irishman Kennedy was elected. Had 4 kids in first marriage, then remarried and had 3 more across the country. Eventually had the initial 2 boys live with new family out East, while my mom and her sister remained with their mother, who was not in the best of shape as mentioned above. Later in life he expressed regret over the stresses his first 4 children experienced from this complicated situation, even breaking down crying on one occasion when discussing the riots of 1968 which had happened nearby in my grandmother and the kids were living.