Pianist echoes First World War classics

By Greg Murphy

BELLEVILLE – “The last Canadian soldier to die in the First World War was killed at two minutes to 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918,” Rick Penner said to a silent audience.

Listening intently as the local pianist wrapped up his history lesson on the First World War, some gasped and shook their heads. One audience member muttered, “what a shame.” Penner then turned back to his piano to finish his performance.

This was at Penner’s 38th Musical Gifts Series performance, a monthly pairing of music and history at the Parrot Gallery on the third floor of Belleville’s public library. For an hour on Friday Nov. 14, Penner played wartime classics in the chronological order they were written in, pausing between each song to tell its background story. For an hour, bright piano chords rolled along the walls of the gallery adorned with colourful pieces of local art. Echoing their compositions, Penner’s tenor voice rose and fell like those of the young men crusading through Europe in mud-filled trenches 100 years earlier.

“This has been the most important remembrance day for a long time being that it’s exactly 100 years this year since the start of the First World War,” said Penner, packing away his sheet music after the performance.

His passions are history and music. Playing old pieces of music helps him learn about historical events, which he then crafts into free, hour-long performances for those who are interested in learning history as well.

“I wanted to find out more about what happened in World War One and the battles and so on. I always felt I didn’t understand it very well. I always learn a lot more when I’m doing the pieces because I’m always curious and doing the research around the piece,” Panner said. “I’m glad people come out to my performances. It shows me they’re interested in history as well.”

Penner played 18 songs written by Canadian, American and British soldiers from the start of the war to its end.

“I didn’t play any German ones this time, no. I mean I could have. The Germans wrote some pretty good songs as well back then. But this performance was for the allies, to shed light on the war from their perspective,” he said.

The audience accepted the performance well. They tapped along to the rhythms and squinted down at their programs to find the lyrics to sing along. It was a relatively full house in the gallery with only 10 empty seats out of 47. They were mostly the elderly, staring thoughtfully at Penner as he played.

For Penner, there was a personal connection to the music he played that day.

“I just enjoy music and also I guess the reason I do it partly is because, like I was saying, it brings back memories. I remember some of these songs from when I was very young not that I was in the first world war, or the second…And I could remember people in the 50s singing these songs, believe it or not, they did. So it brings back those memories,” he said.

He has been playing the piano for 63 years, but he said he does not think of himself as a musician.

“I never considered myself a musician. Its a hobby of mine. I used to work at the weather office in Trenton on the base for many years although I worked many other places too. And when I retired a few years ago I did more music,” Penner said.

Though he insisted he is not a musician by trade, he liked being called a historical pianist.

“I like that. Historical pianist, yeah. I like that phrase,” he said.