Baton
The setting….1944 ….Leonia, New Jersey….the Biscaye home. The dinner guests that evening were Gena Branscombe and her husband, John Ferguson Tenney. Ruth Biscaye, for many years a loyal member of the Branscombe Choral, was preparing dinner for her friend and respected conductor. Ruth’s children, Pierre and Peggie, had attended the many Choral concerts at Town Hall and the Broadway Tabernacle Church. Among the family’s prized musical possessions was sheet music autographed by Miss Branscombe with one dedicated to Pierre and Peggie. Most prized, an autographed original manuscript for a choral arrangement of “There was a King of Liang.” That night at dinner Miss Branscombe gave one of her conducting batons to Pierre and another to Peggie. These batons had led the Choral in one of their concerts that their mother sang! Fast forward 70 years, all the above items still exist and thanks to Pierre and Peggie, they are in my possession....