FOR DEAN ALDRICH

An appreciation, on the occasion of
his retirement after four decades of teaching

Composer of ten-thousand classes,
 this is one musician who knew the score,
     forty years worth,
                  who saw it all and never missed a note,
who knew when to sit and when to strike the key, leaving
      whole rooms startled at the clarity
of a sound utterly incontestable,

a pianist whose bench was carved from New Hampshire
    granite, solid, honest, faithful, enduring, who found culture
      in conservatories far from the small town that never
 left him,

     who came to work each day
 sharing entire symphonies of kindness and good sense,
         and leaves now because
                                   the irresistible harmony of such a round number

         meant it was time to go.

 

June 1998
   


All written material © Bill Schechter, 2016
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