Listeners and Friends:
I thought I would be able to manage my little once-a-week show while I was traveling, but unfortunately Internet access is difficult, and on top of that, my computer died. I think it can still be resuscitated, but until it is, the program will be at the mercy of my friends over at WXPI. I still don't know what aired on Saturday last, but it was planned to be a repeat of an earlier show.
Among the things I found left behind by my Dad is a recording of Handel's Messiah by the Scholar Consort, which had several more authentic versions of numbers from Messiah which are very different from the versions that have come to be familiar to us. This mania to look for the earliest version of well-known works is distressing, because composers often wrote a piece, which they were dissatisfied with, and then proceeded to improve it. Beginning in the 1970s, it became fashionable among younger musicologists to give reasons why the earlier version was "better" than the final version, and to tinker with the earlier version until it was performable, and then to record it. This must have earned them many research credits, and much money from the recordings, but in retrospect it seems rather presumptuous to declare that their opinions concerning a composer's work must supersede those of the composer's. If a composer liked an earlier version, wouldn't they have said so, and destroyed the later versions? In some cases, they have. But in all other cases, it makes better sense to present earlier versions as mere interesting curiosities, and that is the trend nowadays. So we're no longer subjected to recordings of early versions of Bach's Brandenburg No. 5, for instance, as if it were the only worthwhile version. (Apologies to Christopher Hogwood and his co-conspirators. Since those misguided days, Mr Hogwood has produced wonderful recordings, many of which we have used on the program.)
The version of Messiah I listened to last night include a skippy version of Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion in compound time which borders on the comic. I'm bringing the recordings back with me, since my family here either doesn't care to listen to Baroque music, or if they do, would prefer more familiar versions of better-known pieces.
Anyway, keep the faith, and I'll try my best to put together a nice program for the New Year.
Archie
P. S. Did you listen to our Radio Play about Archie Andrews and his Christmas Shopping adventure? I had a great time being The Floorwalker, and I hope some of you caught the play on Sunday at 8 a week ago!
Arch
The companion website for the radio program that formerly aired Saturdays 8-10 PM! The program no longer airs, but these posts are a nearly complete record.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Show 116: Magic
The theme for this show is magic, but I have also included a number of cuts by the group Swingle Singers, who are famous in certain knowledgeable quarters, and a few seasonal pieces (most shamelessly a piece commonly played at Holiday time, arranged by myself, in my teens, to be sung by my siblings and myself at our parents' wedding anniversary. You can watch an animated version of it here).
America: You Can Do Magic
This happens to be the fighting song of the Williamsport Millionnaires at one time, and I put it in at the last second, because I had forgotten all about it!
Mozart: Magic Flute and Magic Bells from Der Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
This Singspiel (music folk-drama) by Mozart has lots of magical artifacts in it, and this scene has the Magic Flute itself, and Papageno's magic bells making an appearance.
Please Release Me (Let Me Go), sung by Engelbert Humperdinck
The singer who became popular in the sixties under the name Engelbert Humperdinck was born with an entirely different name (Dorsey, if I remember correctly). The name Engelbert Humperdinck actually belonged to a writer of opera of the Wager school, whose best-known opus is the children's opera Hansel and Gretel, excerpts from which are described in the next item.
Engelbert Humperdinck: Overture, "Little Brother, dance with me!" from Hänsel und Gretel
This story is, of course, all about magic. Two of the most memorable tunes from the opera are the Children's Prayer, and the little duet Brother, dance with me sung by the two children.
Wagner: Themes from The Ring Cycle
One of my most treasured compact disc albums is this one by musicologist Deryck Cooke, who made a study of the themes from the Wagner operas Das Rhinegold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Gotterdammerung. Wagner developed the idea of associating a musical fragment with a particular idea (or psychological element) to a very high level, which was necessary, Deryck Cooke says, to give coherence to the enormous work consisting of these four operas, which would last for close to 15 hours, if played continuously one after the other. Many of the objects of importance in the drama have their own themes, and we play excerpts from Cooke's recording which illustrate the themes or motifs, and their development.
Cooke: The Joy of the Rhinegold
Almost the very first piece of sung music in the entire drama is the three Rhinemaidens (sort of river nymphs) singing the praise of their nugget of magic gold. Cooke is able to trace, from this simple melodic fragment, the themes that represent the ring forged from the gold, and its various aspects.
Wagner: Magic Fire Music
The chief of the Valkyries is Brunhilda. (In a sense, the four operas are the story of Wotan, and his machinations.) Wotan has arranged for a child to be born from Siegmund, and Sieglinde, who happens to be married to another man. Siegmund and Sieglinde have eloped, and spent the night, and the child has been conceived. But Wotan's wife sees what is happening, and insists that the child and its mother should be allowed to die. So a showdown is on the way, and Wotan is forced to warn the valkyrie Brunhilda not to interfere. Brunhilda's sympathies are with Siegmund and Sieglinde, and despite Wotan's warning, when Siegmund is killed, she puts the pregnant woman on her horse and rides furiously away. But she can't elude Wotan; when the chief of the gods catches up with her, she has already stashed the pregnant woman in a deep cave. Wotan reads her the riot act, and puts her into a magical sleep, and calls upon Loki (or Loge), the god of Fire and Mischief, to raise a ring of magical fire around the sleeping Brunhilda. In this entirely instrumental cut, we hear Wotan's parting words to the Valkyrie, the entrance of Loki, the magic fire music, and the magical sleep music.
Could It Be Magic, sung by Barry Manilow
This song, popular in the eighties, is based on Chopin's Prelude no. 20 in C minor. This particular extended version of the song starts off with the prelude, and after the song ends, a few bars of the prelude close it.
Chopin: 24 Preludes, Op28 - 20 in C minor
This is the original prelude, played by Maurizio Pollini
Magic, sung by Olivia Newton-John
This song from the movie Xanadu was a multi-million-seller for Ms Newton-John. It was written by a team including John Farrar.
Archie: Twelve Days Of Christmas
This arrangement of the popular Christmas song, is from my misspent youth. It has all twelve days, and is arranged for two groups, with a flute, clarinet, bassoon and trombone on one side, an oboe, English horn, and two bassoons on the other side. Enjoy!
Wagner Parsifal Overture
A large part of the King Arthur legend has to do with the search for the Holy Grail, which was for centuries considered to be simply the vessel from which Jesus and the disciples drank at the Last Supper. Since Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, however, we have been made aware that a significant number of people take the view that it was code for the descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The mere suggestion that these two could have had children infuriates most believing Christians. At any rate, Sir Galahad was a most determined seeker of the Holy Grail, and Percival is his son. In the particular legend that Wagner has chosen to set to music in his opera, Percival ---or Parsifal has lots of miracles in it. So here is an abbreviated version of the Overture to the opera.
Mozart: Die Zauberflote - Overture, sung by the Swingle Singers
I was completely dumbfounded by many of the pieces automatically selected by the computer system that ran the program for me last week, especially the lovely pieces by the Swingle Singers, formed by Ward Swingle in the early Sixties in Paris. So this week, I'm playing a lot of Swingle Singers. This is the overture to the Magic Flute.
Mozart: Minuetto from Symphony No 40
We've listened to this piece in the show whose theme was dances.
Mozart: Finale from Symphony No 40
The last movement from the same symphony.
Mozart: Un' Aura amorosa sung by the Swingle Singers
This aria is from Cosi fan Tutte which means, in Italian "So do they all," meaning that women are sentimental and easily influenced creatures.
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik - Finale Swingle Singers
Mozart: Canzonetta from Don Giovanni
Another lovely aria, with an interesting countermelody, also sung by the Swingle Singers.
Mozart: Cosi fan tutte - Terzettino
An utterly bewitching ensemble number from the opera.
Mozart: Piano Concerto No 21 - Andante
The melody made famous in the movie Elvira Madigan
Mozart: Requiem - Hostias
Mozart: Piano sonata in A major - Finale, Alla Turca
Another famous tune from Mozart, the last movement from the sonata which opens with a set of variations we played some weeks ago.
Mozart: Fantasia in F minor and major
This is from one of Mozart's little-known organ pieces.
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker - Waltz Of The Flowers
There is a lot of magic in The Nutcracker, which is also a piece with a Christmas theme, so it seems to fit in well with the music for this week.
Nina and Frederik: Little Donkey
The group of Nina and Frederik were well known in the Fifties. I was dismayed to learn that after the couple divorced, Frederik joined a drug trafficking gang in the Philippines, and was gunned down in a gang-related shooting. That has little to do with this piece, so I will leave it alone.
Nina and Frederik: Mary's Boy Child
This is my favorite version of this carol. It is from an album featuring Louis Armstrong, but I'm not sure whether we can conclude that the trumpet solo is by him...
Archie
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
The Swingle Singers
The last edition of Archie's Archives was, as I explained, generated by random selection of an enormous collection of music files I had placed in a folder at WXPI, just for the eventuality that I might someday not have a program (of the usual sort) ready to air. The selection of tunes on the program were as much a surprise to me as it might have been to anyone listening to the broadcast. Among other things, it reminded me about what an awesome group the Swingle Singers were.
From what I can gather, The Swingle Singers was formed in the early Sixties in France, by Ward Swingle, an American jazz musician. The original group performed all sorts of music, but their genius was the scat singing (singing to the nonsense syllables used by jazz singers) of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, most famously, the Air from the Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, which has come to be known by the odd name The Air on the G String, because some fellow decided to play it on the G string of his violin. (Some years ago, the local Civic Chorus decided to sing this piece Swingle Singers style, and I was in love. It was just awesome to sing, and just as great to listen to. The original movement, in four parts, was a masterpiece of writing, and the Swingle Singers sing it essentially unaltered.)
You can read the Wikipedia article on them for yourself. (The Wikipedia folks make some snide remarks about documentation, but the information about recordings credits and commercial appearances are a matter of record anyone can look up, e.g. on CD inserts, and the credits for TV shows.)
All along, I gather, they have sung works by a variety of composers, even if their fame rests largely on their singing of Bach. Their singing of Mozart, especially, seems very effective.
I'm still working on the show with the theme of Magic for this weekend, but I might include a number of pieces by the Swingle Singers, in particular their Mozart pieces, and among them the Canzonetta from Don Giovanni that was played last Saturday.
Archie
From what I can gather, The Swingle Singers was formed in the early Sixties in France, by Ward Swingle, an American jazz musician. The original group performed all sorts of music, but their genius was the scat singing (singing to the nonsense syllables used by jazz singers) of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, most famously, the Air from the Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, which has come to be known by the odd name The Air on the G String, because some fellow decided to play it on the G string of his violin. (Some years ago, the local Civic Chorus decided to sing this piece Swingle Singers style, and I was in love. It was just awesome to sing, and just as great to listen to. The original movement, in four parts, was a masterpiece of writing, and the Swingle Singers sing it essentially unaltered.)
You can read the Wikipedia article on them for yourself. (The Wikipedia folks make some snide remarks about documentation, but the information about recordings credits and commercial appearances are a matter of record anyone can look up, e.g. on CD inserts, and the credits for TV shows.)
All along, I gather, they have sung works by a variety of composers, even if their fame rests largely on their singing of Bach. Their singing of Mozart, especially, seems very effective.
I'm still working on the show with the theme of Magic for this weekend, but I might include a number of pieces by the Swingle Singers, in particular their Mozart pieces, and among them the Canzonetta from Don Giovanni that was played last Saturday.
Archie
Sunday, December 7, 2014
I know what you're thinking!
Was that a crazy show last night (Dec 6, 2014) or what?
I was trying to get a show of the usual kind ready for 8:00, but late on Thursday I knew I just could not make it. So when I went in to help Curt Musheno, our audio engineer, with getting our first radio play ready for broadcast (which will air, I think a week from tonight, at 8:00 p.m.) I prevailed upon him to make my show run automatically.
I described this process a couple of months ago. Basically, it goes like this: I create folders at the Station, on their main computer, with hundreds of music tracks from many of the CDs I own. Then Curt coded the program to play from a new playlist. This playlist only had that crazy sign-on thing that sounds like a commercial: “If you, or someone you love, is interested in classical music, listen carefully...” Then, when it runs out of music —which it will in just thirty seconds— it looks in that huge music folder for music to play at random.
The tunes are played totally at random. A disproportionately large number of Beatles songs aired last night, before Tune-In Radio quit on us. I think this is because I have ripped almost all the Beatles CDs, whereas I have ripped just a few of my Beethoven CDs, for instance. This is not the case with other CDs, unless I bought a CD digitally, in which case of course all I do have is the MP3s.
The program keeps track of the files it plays. (Can you believe this?) And if I do this again —which I will, because I'm going to be out of town for several weekends— it will not repeat a track until it has exhausted all the tracks it hasn't played yet. So you're not going to hear Helter Skelter, which is a lot of work. (That thing seemed to die several times, and get right back up and keep going! Hoboy.)
Amazingly, there were some tunes that got played last night that I had never heard before. One of them was just gorgeous —well, a little trite, so I couldn't stand to listen to it too many times, but still really lush and pretty— and it must have been among my MP3s, but as I said, it was completely new to me. I have to find out what it is, and I'm hoping that the computer program that runs the station (called Sam) has the playlist somewhere I can see it. Now that's really amazing.
Now, note: the program for Saturday, December 20th I have planned to make a special Christmas edition. It will have a few cuts from Messiah, an equal number of cuts from The Christmas Oratorio by Bach, a couple of comedy tracks (Tom Lehrer and Weird Al) and Leroy Anderson, Engelbert Humperdick, and sundry other Christmas-related pieces.
This Blog had 9 visitors this morning, more than ever before. Some of you had your minds blown by the program, obviously, but I cannot say whether in a good way, or bad. Please let me know; if you would prefer not to have too much Beatles, I can arrange to remove the Beatles tracks from the database.
Regards,
Archie
“”—
I was trying to get a show of the usual kind ready for 8:00, but late on Thursday I knew I just could not make it. So when I went in to help Curt Musheno, our audio engineer, with getting our first radio play ready for broadcast (which will air, I think a week from tonight, at 8:00 p.m.) I prevailed upon him to make my show run automatically.
I described this process a couple of months ago. Basically, it goes like this: I create folders at the Station, on their main computer, with hundreds of music tracks from many of the CDs I own. Then Curt coded the program to play from a new playlist. This playlist only had that crazy sign-on thing that sounds like a commercial: “If you, or someone you love, is interested in classical music, listen carefully...” Then, when it runs out of music —which it will in just thirty seconds— it looks in that huge music folder for music to play at random.
The tunes are played totally at random. A disproportionately large number of Beatles songs aired last night, before Tune-In Radio quit on us. I think this is because I have ripped almost all the Beatles CDs, whereas I have ripped just a few of my Beethoven CDs, for instance. This is not the case with other CDs, unless I bought a CD digitally, in which case of course all I do have is the MP3s.
The program keeps track of the files it plays. (Can you believe this?) And if I do this again —which I will, because I'm going to be out of town for several weekends— it will not repeat a track until it has exhausted all the tracks it hasn't played yet. So you're not going to hear Helter Skelter, which is a lot of work. (That thing seemed to die several times, and get right back up and keep going! Hoboy.)
Amazingly, there were some tunes that got played last night that I had never heard before. One of them was just gorgeous —well, a little trite, so I couldn't stand to listen to it too many times, but still really lush and pretty— and it must have been among my MP3s, but as I said, it was completely new to me. I have to find out what it is, and I'm hoping that the computer program that runs the station (called Sam) has the playlist somewhere I can see it. Now that's really amazing.
Now, note: the program for Saturday, December 20th I have planned to make a special Christmas edition. It will have a few cuts from Messiah, an equal number of cuts from The Christmas Oratorio by Bach, a couple of comedy tracks (Tom Lehrer and Weird Al) and Leroy Anderson, Engelbert Humperdick, and sundry other Christmas-related pieces.
This Blog had 9 visitors this morning, more than ever before. Some of you had your minds blown by the program, obviously, but I cannot say whether in a good way, or bad. Please let me know; if you would prefer not to have too much Beatles, I can arrange to remove the Beatles tracks from the database.
Regards,
Archie
“”—
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