Music written about childhood is typically pretty light-hearted, bright, and very energetic. But if you think back to your childhood, it wasn’t always playtime, right? Even kids slow down and take a break from time to time, and there’s orchestral music to match. Hi there – I’m Loki Karuna, and on this edition of Noteworthy it’s music both childlike and lazy, by the late composer David Baker.
David Nathaniel Baker Jr. was born in Indianapolis back in 1931, and started making a name for himself in jazz circles as early as the late 40s. A car accident ended his career as a trombonist in 1953, so the remainder of his career was dedicated to education and composition. While blues and jazz represented the bulk of his output, he did write works on the more classical side, including this very slow-moving piece of music from a work he called “Images of Childhood”.
About a decade and a half after the premiere of this work, David succumbed to complications due to Parkinson’s disease, but in that time he still managed to continue teaching, leaving an impact on countless students who he engaged along the way. The music he left behind gives audiences the chance to experience his many moods, from the very jazzy, to the extremely classical, and even the slightly lazy. Long live David Baker: one of history’s most noteworthy composers.
Noteworthy is a production of WDAV classical public radio.
Pictured: Noted jazz musician David Baker is shown holding a trombone. A bass violin is in the background.
Credit: Indianapolis Recorder Collection, Indiana Historical Society