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My father rarely cussed, but when he did, it usually was about the computer he had been forced to have at work (and which precipitated his retirement). In fact, he even had a PayPal account and bid on things on eBay. But after a few minutes of sadness that our friend had died so young, I listened to the CD with great pleasure, happy to have a new memory of him and to be in on the joke at last.Īfter my father died last February, my stepmother revealed to my siblings and me that my father, too, had had a secret: He could use a computer. I’m leaving out the entertaining-and identifying-details to keep the secret going. Our friend’s wife had now chosen to reveal to a few people that our friend had written the music himself in what became an elaborate practical joke on his publisher. The printed music contained a long description of the discovery of the pieces, a bio of the composer, and commentary on the pieces themselves, all written by the editor, who happened to be our friend. I had played the very pieces on the CD, but the publisher had attributed them to an obscure German composer of the 1800s.
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Our friend was a music editor and composer, and the CD was a recording of some of his chamber music-but not any of the music he was known to have composed.Īnd so I learned a 30-year-old secret.
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Yesterday I opened a padded envelope to find a CD and a note from the wife of a friend who died eight years ago. But as we get older, they more often contain bad news about someone who is fatally ill or has died. They may contain good news about a marriage or a new baby. With its bare trees, long, cold nights, memories of Christmases past, and avalanche of holiday cards bearing good and bad news, late December is a dark and bittersweet time.