This morning on “Sweetness and Light,” we’ll take some time to smell the flowers – May flowers, that is! No, you wiseacres, nothing to do with the Pilgrims. Rather a celebration of gardens and all things floral. I’ve assembled some bouquets of music by Albert Ketèlbey, Johann Strauss II, Ethelbert Nevin, Edward MacDowell, Scott Joplin, Gilbert & Sullivan, Billy Mayerl, Percy Grainger, Léo Delibes, and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

The centerpiece will be “L’horoge de flore” (“The Flower Clock”) by Jean Françaix, written for John de Lancie, principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Each of the seven movements corresponds to a flower whose blooms open at a certain time of day. The first floral clock was formulated by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, back in 1748.

Surely, there are more accurate ways to keep time. Use one to mark the minutes until “Sweetness and Light,” a program of music calculated to charm and to cheer, this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 PDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Stream it, wherever you are, at the link:

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/