Beware the Ides of March!

March 15th lives in infamy as the anniversary of the murder of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. Shortly after declaring himself Dictator Perpetuus (Dictator for Life), Caesar was set upon by members of the Roman Senate and stabbed 23 times. His alleged last words, as the final blow was struck by his friend and confidant Marcus Brutus, were “Et tu, Brute?” (“You too, Brutus?”). The phrase “Beware the Ides of March” was coined by William Shakespeare for his historical play.

Join me today on The Classical Network for music inspired by Caesar and Ancient Rome, including works by Sir Arthur Bliss, George Frideric Handel, Robert Schumann, Rudolf Tobias, and/or Miklós Rózsa. If time allows, we’ll also do our best to touch on the birthdays of Nicholas Flagello, Johan Halvorsen, Ben Johnston, Colin McPhee, and Eduard Strauss.

By the way, the Ides don’t necessarily fall on the 15th of every month, so you can’t just drop an “Ides of January” or an “Ides of June” on any old whim. It had to do with the date of the full moon, which in Ancient Rome was believed to fall on the fifteenth day of March, May, July, and October, the months with 31 days. In the other months, the Ides fell on the 13th – which sounds even more unlucky!

We’re lucky to be able enjoy such a variety of music, today from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT – or anytime for that matter – on WWFM – The Classical Network. Please support us at wwfm.org.

NOTE: As an added bonus, and in no way related to our “Ides” observation (in spite of his fortuitous surname), I will be joined at 4:00 by cellist Joshua Roman and conductor Teddy Abrams, music director of The Louisville Orchestra. Both will appear this Sunday afternoon with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra for a program of music by Joan Tower, Beethoven, and Roman himself. To learn more, tune in today at 4:00 or look online at princetonsymphony.org.