“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.“
– Robert Frost
….A metronome clicks quietly, ticking the time and tracking the music’s heartbeat through the ages, a compass for the musician at the helm to silently guide their ship’s wheel…..
From Carina Raschèr‘s sister, Kristina, and in deepest thanks to both of them for their help with this project:
“Here is a postcard of the small cargo ship Mother and Granny and Staffan took to Colombia from Göteborg, Sweden in 1941.
The merchant steamship M/S Klipparen had a few cabins for passengers, as one can see; also a small dining room where they had meals with the captain, if he wasn’t needed on the bridge.
They left on the 6th of October and arrived on the 30th in Barranquilla, Colombia, so it was rather a long trip.
Mother told me that when the Germans stopped them and entered the boat, she and the captain entertained them on the bridge with aquavit and they left without inspecting below, but a bit tipsy.
I do not recall how many other passengers were below, who didn’t want to be seen.
She had a good laugh, remembering this potentially dangerous moment.
The transatlantic trip took rather long, and that may have been because the “Battle of the Atlantic” was already raging, particularly in the North Atlantic. I don’t know if the Klipparen took a southerly route, but it may have.
From Barranquilla they took the steamship S/S (Vapor) Santa Rosa to New York.
Unfortunately neither Mother’s nor Granny’s passport records the day of arrival in New York harbor.
Along the way Staffan caught whooping cough, so they spent some time on Ellis Island, but I don’t know for how long, his case does not seem to have been very severe.“
All saxophonists and music lovers can extend their warmest thanks to an amazing woman, painter, mother to the Raschèr children, and wife to the Grandfather of our tradition, Ann Mari Raschèr from Sweden, who put her very life on the line to protect, amongst other things, the only existing manuscript of Paul Hindemith‘s “Konzertstück für zwei Altsaxophone“ from the Nazis who boarded that ship on that day.
Lives were saved and music, which otherwise would have been thrown overboard, can be enjoyed by today‘s listeners.
