At age 94, in July of 2009, conductor David Randolph (who recently celebrated the 49th anniversary of his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall) experienced his first hospitalization and surgery, an aortic valve replacement, at NYU Medical Center. He sent frequent e-mails to relatives, friends and members of the St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra, which he has conducted twice a year in Carnegie Hall for the last 40 years. The following is an excerpt from one of his e-mails.This entire hospital experience has given me a completely new perspective on the concept of sound and noises. I could not have imagined that such a variety of bells, whistles, alarms, hoots, and poundings could have existed. First, the bells-which continue with incessant repetition: three bells, three beats of silence; three bells, three beats of silence; lulling you into a false sense not of security, but of resignation, whereupon the three bells change to four!or are answered by only two!
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