There's still snow on the ground around Walt's cabin in the pines, but I heard a cardinal when I made my way out to the little house this morning. Makes the ole heart beat just a bit faster. Here's something cheerful for a grey end-of-winter day: fine fiddle music from a young Susanna Heystek.
Susanna and her family are Boers, and proud of it. They left the "New South Africa" some years ago for what they thought was the Great White North. How disappointed they must have been if they arrived at, say, Toronto. But they followed Horrors Greeley's advice and made their way west to Alberta -- Canada's version of Texas -- where they are doing well.
The Heysteks are the kind of immigrants Canada needs... but not the kind the Liberal government of Blackie McBlackface wants. In recent years the major source country for legal immigrants to Canada has been... wait for it... India.
That's why the so-called Greater Toronto Area and parts of British Columbia's Lower Mainland have become Liberal strongholds. But just to be sure, Mr Socks has directed his minions to find another 400,000 of them this year to swell the ranks even further. If you're a white Sef African or European, his plans for Canada don't include you!
Among the South African farmers who saw the handwriting on the wall back in the 1990s (see my earlier post, today) was the family of Susanna Heystek (great name for farmers!), who joined the "white flees" leaving for the Old Dominions, in this case Canada, where the challenges to farming are of a different nature (read: colour) than they are in Suid Afrika.
The Heysteks settled in Alberta (Canada's answer to Texas!), and Susanna began playing the violin at age five in her hometown of Rocky Mountain House. She went on to study violin in Red Deer and joined the Red Deer Youth and Community Orchestra, of which she was concert master. After graduating high school, she went on to study at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and joined the Artemis Trio. The trio competed at the provincial level in British Columbia and won first place in the Senior Chamber category. Last year, Susanna had the honour of being accepted into the National Art Centre Orchestra's apprenticeship program.
Susanna has developed into a fine classical violinist, and also plays the viola, but hasn't forgotten her country roots. Here she plays "Bowing the Strings", written by Canadian fiddler/composer, Ned Landry. This was recorded in Airdrie AB on 9 May 2015. Intercut are some nice pictures of the wildlife of the homeland of her Afrikaner ancestors, plus picture proof that this talented young lady can still handle the ropin' and ridin'.
Further reading and viewing: Click here to visit Susanna Heystek's website, where you'll find her bio, plus links to other music videos and lots of other good stuff. On the landing page is the link to my favourite of all the classical pieces Susanna has recorded, "The Last Rose of Summer".
Ed. here. Walt is still being seen by doctors who are unable to agree on what ails him. They are bandying about a theory that he's suffering from depression and exhaustion caused by constant exposure to dismaying news about the state of the Church and the state of the Union. It's possible. Consider the demise of Dr Hunter S. Thompson, whom Walt has long regarded as a role model. I (Ed.) say, don't do it, Walt!
In an effort to cheer Walt up -- laughter is the best medicine! -- Poor Len has sent a link to an unusual music video, the finale of the 2010 Pure Laine (geddit yet?) competition held that year at Pembroke in rural eastern Ontario, Canada. About two dozen fiddlers were required to play reels in turn, without stopping and without playing a reel that had already been played. In the finals, the fiddlers play only the "A" part of a reel -- only ten seconds. This clip shows the last minutes of the two-hour contest, with only three participants left: April Verch, Shane Cook and Danny Perreault. The judge, wearing a referee's shirt (natch) is René Dacier. Spoiler alert: the winner is... April Verch!
For a week encore, we see Danny Perreault playing Breakdown à Rosaire, one of his own compositions, while Germain Leduc accompanies him with a bit of stunt piano-playing. Walt loves this stuff and we hope readers will find it at least, errr, interesting. We challenge you to listen to it without tapping your feet!
Musicians out there who are interested in folk music, and old-timey fiddling in particular, can click here to see April Verch give a short demonstration of the different Canadian fiddle styles. Those who like Cajun fiddling will gain a better understanding of the link between Cajun music and the music of French Canada. American fiddle music, by contrast, descends from the music of Ireland and Scotland, which is all comes together in what Canucks call "Down East fiddling". But that differs from much of what you'll hear in Canada's western provinces, where there's a strong Ukrainian influence. I could go on... [Don't. Ed.]
