Saturday, May 17, 2014

The Omnipresence of Music?...

Is there, CAN  there be a limit  as to the power of presence given to the mystery we call Music?
My reason for this question  is , for one, the possibility  of musical saturation, innate or otherwise, in the human consciousness - take two examples that come to mind, that emerge from World War II:
One: Operation Mulberry, one of the most ingenious creations of the entire conflict:
As D-Day was being organized and put into reality, it was realized that because the coast of Normandy was chosen for the West to use as a springboard to free Western Europe from the Hitler nightmare, there would be no deep water ports available for disgorging the numbers of men and the mountains of material needed for such a gigantic amphibious undertaking.
And so,  military engineers proceeded to BUILD two ports, both portable so that they could be towed across the channel and used as  breakwaters to disgorge some two million men over about an eight month period, along with the commensurate supplies. Both ports were larger than the port of Dover.
This was indeed done. These two immense man  made  ports did their job, even though one was destroyed by a violent storm only weeks after the primary invasion took place. The remaining port was used for about eight months, insuring the success of Operation Overlord.
Mulberry was the name given to these two ports, having been designed and built  by Englishmen (the second port was named "Port Winston"). The tune "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" was also English, first appearing as a circular parlor game  in the late 19th century,  with the music appearing shortly thereafter. Did the beguiling little tune connect with the military minds in the century following, resulting in the name given to the two giant ports used in 1944? Can any one disprove that possibility?
Secondly; the word "Katyusha," given to the Russian rockets used in the conflict with Nazi Germany.
I think of the tune "Katyusha", coming from the name "Katyushka,"  Catherine or Katie in the  English language;  written in Russia around 1938, dealing with a young girl dreaming about her lover, who is in a war many miles away. This tune became popular in Mother Russia during the war which  began in 1941, some  three years after the tune was  written.
The wailing of the rockets -
The tune; written three years before -
A connection?...

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home