John Doan: Music

Several years ago a student brought in an old banjo and a stack of music. They had belonged to her great grandfather, William Kietle, a German immigrant who settled as a farmer in Missouri. In his desire to be fully American, he bought the banjo by mail-order and practiced until he became proficient. One day, he realized he was lonely and, remembering how he had acquired his precious banjo, he placed an ad for a wife in a national magazine. Two young women in Portland, Oregon read it and made a game of responding. After telling him how wonderful he sounded and that the writer would marry him, one of the girls, Margaret, signed the letter and included her home address, hoping to exchange correspondence over the months to come. When William received the letter he was beside himself with joy. Resolved to take this next step in his life, he immediately sold everything but the banjo and music and proceeded to walk all the way to Portland. On a cold winter night at suppertime, he arrived at the address on the envelope. When the girl's father answered the door, William said "I've come for Margaret." "How do you know my daughter?" demanded Margaret's father. " She wrote me this letter and I have walked all the way from Missouri to marry her". The shocked father grabbed the letter and was stunned to see the familiar signature. Not knowing what else to do, he invited William in. As they entered the dining room, Margaret's mother asked,"Who is this, dear"? After a long pause the father replied, "This is our future son-in-law." Back then, a persons word was as good as a signed contract, and William and Margaret were wed. William's great granddaughter told me how her mother took her to see William when she was two days old. As he held the child, he smiled and whispered, "Now my life is full." He died two days latter. She told me she finds it hard to fathom that she and her own three children would not exist were it not for this strange series of events. She gave me William's banjo music. I took one of the pieces he seems to have played (there are pencil marks on the page) entitled Spanish Romance and used a theme from it to compose this new tune.