Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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3. Music To My Ears. Later Years. Cornell. Well, I began applying to Grad Schools--Duke and Cornell being two. I decided on Cornell in Ithaca, NY, near my maternal grandparents farm on Seneca Lake. (When I started flying, I flew to visit the farm, Repeating the Republic Seabee (pontoon) flight with my father, When I was about 10 years old, first gliding over that same farm!) The Cornell program was experimental, Allowing certain students to skip Masters and proceed straight to Ph.D. My professor was Charles Sibley in the Conservation Department. He was an ornithology specialist and we studied that group, using starch gel electrophoresis. I was being trained in the techniques, And before I made a decision for a study subject, Sibley decided to transfer to Yale. I decided to stay and study with Daniel Q. Thompson, a conservation professor. So, I took up the torch, working with the vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus. As all this was occurring, I joined the Cornell orchestra, Led by the well-known conductor, Karel Husa. I became first bassist, with many concerts following, One of which was playing at the Kennedy Center in New York City, For the one hundredth anniversary of Cornell University! On about my third year at Cornell, with the Vietnam War raging, I, remembering my conducting 'history', approached Karel, And asked if I might conduct the orchestra at some point. He was very kind, but said that there were many 'professionals' in the orchestra, And that would really not be appropriate, but added That if I took his conducting class, I would be obliged to conduct! Such a wonderful person, who understood a person's real desire. I took the course, learned many techniques, and prepared my score-- Brahm's Symphony 2 and one of its movements--I remember not which. I do remember one portion was a delightful two against three rhythm. After weeks of preparation, my time arrived. I watched the 'real' music majors doing their stuff-- So weak, with no real strength in their motions. (A couple admitted to me that they had no interest in conducting.) I wore a blue Tom Jones large sleeve shirt And went through the paces with great gusto! Upon concluding, I was completely elated and on a musical high. Well, a year passed and the end of the term was approaching. I was waiting to be conducted by a new batch of student conductors. After one of the rehearsals, Karel came to me And asked if I would like to conduct again. I was delighted and he invited me to view a score-- It was the 'Unanswered Question' by Charles Ives. The piece had three tempi going on simultaneously! Karel asked me how I would conduct this short, but complex piece. I said I would cue the trumpet and then cue the four flutes, While maintaining my continual conducting of the complete string section. Karel, who was a flamboyant conductor paused To check the Ives' notes in the score-- Karel (I suspected) expected that the instructions would be That one would fully conduct the trumpet and the flutes, While just cuing the whole orchestra. (Impossible, I thought.) Goodness, Ives suggested just what I had proposed! Later, the demonstration went very well, Of course after much work on the score. Karel, I guess, was impressed with my performance, And asked me, since the piece lasted only 10 minutes, To repeat the whole work once again. I was honored and terribly pleased. I left Cornell after my four years with a Ph.D., Having aspirations and anticipation for my continuing, unfolding life. (It is interesting that in my much later (1980's) farm life in Davis, California, I came upon a new bird guide with excellently painted bird figures, published by a David Allen Sibley, undoubtedly, Charles Sibley's son, who took up the ornithological mantle, not with the study of genes, but through pigment and painting. The names in this book were being changed as a result of the newest scientific DNA techniques, the result from some of the work in electrophoresis by his father. History repeats and spirals upwards!) Frank Maurer 3 December 2023 1640 Hours.