I remember very little about my possessions I took with me to BYU in 1991. I know I took bedding and dishes and a Brother word processor and an off-brand Walkman and my cassette tapes. But other than that, I have no idea.
I lived on campus that first year but I still had quite a walk to where my classes were, and I never walked without my music. I know I listened to the Pretty in Pink soundtrack, and New Order’s Subculture, but more often than not, I traipsed amongst the leaves and snow of Provo listening to a tape my dad made for me.
On one side of the tape was Dvorak’s New World Symphony. On the other was a Gershwin trilogy: “American in Paris,” “Rhapsody in Blue,” and this lesser known piece. There’s something simultaneously melancholy and romantic about it. Though in my experience, all romance is melancholy in the end, so it makes sense.
This piece was the last on that side of the tape, and I rewound and rewound it until I was sure the tape would just wear out from exhaustion. Thankfully, it never did.
“Lullaby for Strings” by George Gershwin. I hope you enjoy it at least half as much as I love it.
Julie Rowse 