Today will be my last full day of research in what used to be Luther Henderson’s office. The artifacts of his life are in boxes, soon to be sent off to the Library of Congress where hopefully future generations will not only discover him, but also recognize and appreciate his talents as well as his thoughts about music and life and humanity. He was a truly gentle soul with a utopian outlook and I am feeling very honored to be allowed to write his story.
I leave you today with two quotations. I did not find them in Luther’s archives, but knowing Luther, both personally and through the volumes of correspondance I read yesterday, I am sure that he would concur:
“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”
~ Leonard BernsteinThe love of one’s country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?
~Pablo Casals