Anyone Can Whistle

Actually, not everyone can, no matter what Stephen Sondheim says.

John Lucas and Alan Chatburn have produced a book titled "A Brief History of Whistling." One of the things we learn from it is that Ludwig Wittgenstein could whistle intricate passages from Mozart sonatas.

If Witt were standing on a street corner waiting for a bus and whistling, he might get some odd looks today. Whistling, apparently, is now considered far too personal to be done in public--much more than, say, having a domestic quarrel or breaking up with your girlfriend on your cell phone while standing in a lineup at the bank.

The heyday of whistling came when the Seven Dwarfs were happily at work, despite the imminent danger of mine cave-ins. An air of mystery was introduced by the radio show "The Whistler." And whistling even became seductive when Lauren Bacall gave Bogart lessons in "To Have and Have Not"--"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? Just put your lips together and blow."

There was once a jazz whistler, Ron McCroby, heard on a few 1970s recordings. But we bet he isn't getting many gigs today. Now, if only Bramwell Tovey could book Wittgenstein to whistle with the VSO, we could be in for a whistling revival.

Put your lips together and wish.