How many times have you heard Felix Mendelssohn’s “Spring Song” parodied, in cartoons or otherwise?
Yesterday, Punxsutawney Phil prognosticated an early spring, and today is Mendelssohn’s birthday (born on this date in 1809), so conditions are ripe to give it another listen. You’ll have your chance this morning on “Sweetness and Light.”
A selection of Mendelssohn’s “Songs without Words” (of which “Spring Song” is the most famous) will be offered, played by pianist Daniel Barenboim, as will one of the composer’s delightful string symphonies, written at the tender age of 12.
I will always associate “War March of the Priests” with the organ arrangement played by Vincent Price under the opening credits of “The Abominable Dr. Phibes.” We’ll hear it performed by Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops. Also featured will be music from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” freely adapted for a 1935 film (starring James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, and Mickey Rooney) by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Finally, we’ll enjoy two takes on the “Wedding March,” one in a paraphrase by Franz Liszt, given the Vladimir Horowitz treatment, and the other in a zany performance by Lara St. John’s polka band, Polkastra, that would have made Spike Jones proud.
I hope you’ll join me for an hour of felicitous Mendelssohn on “Sweetness and Light.” It will put a spring in your step and a song in your heart, when you tune in this morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST. Hear it exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Stream it, wherever you are, at the link:
While you’re waiting, here’s “Spring Song” (1931) by future Disney animator Cy Young. Back when cartoons were cartoons!
Happy birthday, Felix Mendelssohn!
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