Thought for Today

"A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company."

~~~~~ Charles Evans Hughes

Thought for Today

"A good upbringing means not that you won't spill sauce on the tablecloth, but that you won't notice it when someone else does."

~~~~~ Anton Chekhov

Thought for Today

"Don't look at the downside of everything that comes along. It helps life move along so much smoother and nicer."

~~~~~ George Smathers

The Comedian Harmonists

[Originally published 7/8/08. Updated 12/21/13.]

Here's a treat for those who enjoy close harmony. If you've never heard The Comedian Harmonists before, prepare to be amazed.

The group was formed in Germany in 1927, and quickly became enormously popular throughout Europe and the rest of the Western world. Unfortunately, though, their meteoric rise coincided with the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. Since three of the group's six members happened to be Jewish and another had a Jewish wife, they were forced to stop performing in 1934.

For a brief summary of their sad history, take a look at this Wikipedia article, Comedian Harmonists, and click on its associated links.

Meanwhile, though, listen to this brilliant 1932 Electrola recording of a German song, "In einem kühlen Grunde" ("In a Cool Valley"). It will give you goose bumps (and will be a special treat for those of my readers who understand German – which I, unfortunately, do not).

Comedian Harmonists – In einem kühlen Grunde [take 1]

(Sorry, but embedding has been disabled on this video.)

The lyrics are the first, second, and fifth verses of a poem by Joseph von Eichendorff:

In einem kühlen Grunde
In einem kühlen Grunde,
da geht ein Mühlenrad.
Mein Liebchen ist verschwunden,
das dort gewohnet hat.

Sie hat mir Treu versprochen,
gab mir ein'n Ring dabei.
Sie hat die Treu gebrochen,
das Ringlein sprang entzwei.

Ich möcht als Spielmann reisen
wohl in die Welt hinaus
und singen meine Weisen
und gehn von Haus zu Haus.

Ich möcht als Reiter fliegen
wohl in die blut'ge Schlacht,
um ferne Feuer liegen
im Feld bei dunkler Nacht.

Hör ich das Mühlrad gehen,
ich weiß nicht, was ich will.
Ich möcht am liebsten sterben,
da wär's auf einmal still.

The Comedian Harmonists (from left: Robert Biberti, Erich Collin, Erwin Bootz, Roman Cycowski, Harry Frommermann, Ari Leschnikoff)

MEMBERS:

• Harry Frommermann (1906 - 1975), buffo-tenor
• Ari Leschnikoff (1897 - 1978), first tenor
• Erich Collin (1899 - 1961), second tenor
• Roman Cycowski (1901 - 1998), baritone
• Robert Biberti (1902 - 1985), bass
• Erwin Bootz (1907 - 1982), pianist

Thought for Today

"Courtesy is the one coin you can never have too much of or be stingy with."

~~~~~ John Wanamaker

Thought for Today

"I never use a score when conducting my orchestra. Does a lion tamer enter a cage with a book on how to tame a lion?"

~~~~~ Dimitri Mitropoulos

Thought for Today

"You can tell by looking at me that I've got more miles behind me than I've got in front of me. When you reach that point, if you've got some good years left, you want to make sure that you use them wisely."

~~~~~ Tom Osborne

Thought for Today

"The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him."

~~~~~ Pablo Casals

Thought for Today

"There is no such thing as a person that nothing has happened to, and each person's story is as different as his fingertips."

~~~~~ Elsa Lanchester

Thought for Today

"The opportunities of man are limited only by his imagination. But so few have imagination that there are ten thousand fiddlers to one composer."

~~~~~ Charles F. Kettering

Thought for Today

"Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons."

~~~~~ Robertson Davies

Thought for Today

"Cruelty towards others is always also cruelty towards ourselves."

~~~~~ Paul Tillich

Thought for Today

"Children rarely want to know who their parents were before they were parents, and when age finally stirs their curiosity, there is no parent left to tell them."

~~~~~ Russell Baker

Thought for Today

"Do your best when no one is looking. If you do that, then you can be successful in anything that you put your mind to."

~~~~ Bob Cousy

Thought for Today

"Sometimes I'm asked by kids why I condemn marijuana when I haven't tried it. The greatest obstetricians in the world have never been pregnant."

~~~~~ Art Linkletter

Thought for Today

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."

~~~~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Thought for Today

"A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever."

~~~~~ Jessamyn West

Thought for Today

"People don't ever seem to realize that doing what's right is no guarantee against misfortune."

~~~~~ William McFee

Thought for Today

"Not a day passes over the earth, but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words and suffer noble sorrows."

~~~~~ Charles Reade

Thought for Today

"Try and live your life the way you wish other people would live theirs."

~~~~~ Raymond Burr