Get ready for the old switcheroo!

Tomorrow is Yom Kippur, so Marvin Rosen and I will be switching up on WPRB. For this week only, Classic Ross Amico will be heard on Wednesday, beginning at 6 a.m., and Marvin’s Classical Discoveries will be heard on Thursday, beginning at 5:30.

I hope you’ll join me tomorrow, as October 12 is the birthday of one of my favorite composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams. The widely held perception of RVW as a large, rumpled, bushy-eyebrowed bear-of-a-man roaming the English countryside in search of folk material will be offset somewhat as we hear some of his lesser-played symphonies, in fabulous, under-the-radar performances.

Don’t expect the same old, same old. Sure, there will be plenty of the pastoral stuff we all know and love, but I will be more inclined to play the underexposed “Charterhouse Suite” or “Household Music” on Welsh hymn tunes than, say, the “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” or “The Lark Ascending” – lest it be in a moment of weakness, by way of an historic recording, or in honor of the late Sir Neville Marriner, who conducted on one of my favorite Vaughan Williams albums.

We’ll have a chance to hear Vaughan Williams himself conduct, some archival radio broadcasts, and a rare LP from 1977 that, to my knowledge, has never been reissued in any form. I hope also to touch on some of the composer’s operas and piano music and anything else I can think of that never gets done – whatever I can cram to into five hours, I suppose.

I’ve been letting my eyebrows grow wild for the occasion. Join me tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 EDT on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wrpb.com. I’ll be wearing my most rumpled jacket, with cowpats on my shoes, on Classic Ross Amico.

PLEASE NOTE: The WPRB Pledge Drive will commence this Thursday night at 7:00. Please start searching under your seat cushions for change and keep your eyes open for those quarters when you vacuum your car. You’ll want to have $45 in hand, I’m sure, on the morning of October 20, when I’ll be offering dozens of CDs for you to choose from as “thank you” gifts for your pledges of support. Of course, a pledge in any amount will be gratefully accepted – every little bit counts – but wouldn’t you like a nice disc for yourself to commemorate the occasion? I’ll have more on this as the week unfolds. By all means, support your favorite shows in the meantime, but spare a thought for me, won’t you, waiting, all lonely at the finish line, next Thursday. The last thing I want to do is walk home with all these duplicate CDs. Call 609-258-1033 on the morning of October 20, and thank you in advance for your generosity!