Why these selections and not others?
I wanted to present a mixture of sounds that someone might hear on the river – hence birds like the Sedge Wren, Yellow Warblers, various ducks the Red-Winged Blackbird, and others. I also wanted to honor the Native Americans that were here before us, and so I have three songs from the Nibi Walk River Songs from Sharon Day, an Ojibwe artist and activist from Minneapolis.
Plenty of people have sung about water, or about the Mississippi River, from Johnny Cash, to Big Bill Broonzy, to the Soggy Bottom Boys. You’ll find them, and others here, too – we have a rich legacy of songs about our river!
There has been plenty of classical music about rivers, as well, and I wanted to include that. So you’ll find selections from Strauss’s Blue Danube, Wagner’s Rheingold, (both the opening, and the first few bars of the Rhinemaidens’ song) Dvorak’s Rusalka (lovely water nymph!), and a few moments from Smetena’s Moldau.
Just as important as these songs are the recollections of those that lived by the Mississippi not long before we did. The Minnesota Historical Society under whose auspices this installation was built conducted a number of interviews in 2001, speaking with Minnesotans, many who were born early in the last century, about their experiences by the head waters of our “Mother of waters.” I’ve excerpted from them, as well. These files are identified by first name – the transcripts are read by modern-day Minnesotans, but from them you’ll hear tales of log jams and lightning, trappers, farmers and driving that old Model T on to the ice. Lots of fun – just don’t do that at home!
About myself – mostly I’m a painter, although I have done other installations in the past. To see more of my work, visit my website at owenbrownartist.com, or come see me in the Northrup King Building, in NE Minneapolis. You can contact me at owenbrownartist@gmail.com for an appointment, or if you want a ZIP file of all of these. It’s over 100 MB, but I will get it to you.