Songs Near and Far

During the year I took off graduate school I worked in DC and took in a Washington Capitals game. One of the intermission entertainments was a performance by Lynn-Holly Johnson the star for Ice Castles. It was quite impressive and so I went to see the movie too. This is the theme song from Ice Castles and plays during the climatic scene when she triumphs in a skating competition. [Spoiler] I still get teary eyed at the moment the crowd begins to realize that she is blind as she trips over the flowers thrown to the ice. There are occasional moments in quite mundane movies and shows that somehow are transcendent despite the ordinariness of their surroundings. [The ballroom scene in the recent Cinderalla where Lily James bursts into the room just as the waltz is to start comes to mind as another.] For me, this song recalls that very special moment and feeling.

The theme for 12 O'Clock High was the piece that most inspired me to take up the flute.  It's very simple -- primarily a descending minor scale -- very simple.  But I had always loved it from when I first heard it when the series was on television.   Google informs me that the series ran from '64-'67 so I was between 8 and 11 years old at the time.  I really enjoyed seeing Robert Lansing commanding his bomber group. The plot seemed very sophisticated at the time compared to the other fare on the tube.  Later I saw the movie on whose music the TV theme was based.  That had Gregory Peck and -- doubtless influenced by the show -- I enjoyed that as well.  That shows up on cable from time to time, but I haven't seen the show in a long time.