Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

Adolphus Hailstork’s Music Inspired by MLK

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”

So said Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On this, the anniversary of King’s birth, we’ll turn our attention to American composer of African descent Adolphus Hailstork. Hailstork, a late pupil of Nadia Boulanger, is currently professor of music and composer-in-residence at Old Dominion University at Norfolk, Virginia.

We’ll present an hour of his music tonight on “The Lost Chord,” including his oratorio, “Done Made My Vow.” The work, for speaker, vocal soloists, mixed chorus and orchestra, was composed in 1985, inspired in part by King’s speeches.

I’ve been an admirer of Hailstork’s music since the 1980s – I very much enjoy his Symphony No. 1, composed in 1988, with its gorgeous slow movement – but he has been a force in American music since at least the 1970s.

His overture “Celebration” was included in Columbia Records’ landmark “Black Composers Series.” The conductor of that performance, Paul Freeman, would later champion Hailstork’s music in recordings on the Albany label.

Tune in tonight to also enjoy his “Variations for Trumpet” with Rodney Mack.

I hope you’ll join me for “All Hail Hailstork,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

The recording of “Done Made My Vow” is available only through the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra gift shop, at http://www.bsomusic.org/online-store/bso-recordings/adolphus-hailstork-i-will-lift-up-mine-eyes.aspx

January 15, 2017
Piano’s Golden Secret Treasure Hidden Inside

Whoever coined the phrase “silence is golden” clearly didn’t know how to make full use of a piano.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/mystery-of-golden-treasure-found-concealed-in-shropshire-piano_uk_5878af74e4b0f3b82a373b87

January 14, 2017
Hitchcock Williams & Murderous Movie Music

When trying to convey the tone he was looking for with his latest motion picture, director Alfred Hitchcock stated drolly to the film’s composer, “Mr. Williams, murder can be fun.”

John Williams was hired to score Hitchcock’s final film, “Family Plot,” in 1976. At the time, he was poised between his breakout success with “Jaws” and “Star Wars,” which would make him a household name. He would be honored for both with Academy Awards for Best Original Score.

To satisfy Hitch’s hunger for ham on wry, Williams turned to the harpsichord, an instrument that had taken on a certain mischievous quality when applied to mysteries and thrillers.

This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll hear selections from this neglected score from the dawn of Williams’ widespread popularity, alongside Ron Goodwin’s music for “Murder She Said” (the first of Margaret Rutherford’s Miss Marple films), John Addison’s for “Sleuth” (Sir Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine engage in a battle of wits with potentially deadly consequences), and André Previn’s for “Dead Ringer” (a post-“Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” Bette Davis plays contentious twins whose relationship, naturally, leads to murder).

Join me for an hour of wicked fun with arch harpsichords this week, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Friday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 13, 2017
Friday Fun Classical Music Broadcast

After a long week at the office, what better way to get a jump on the weekend than with a little karaoke? Join me this afternoon at 4:00 EST to hear Leopold Stokowski conduct his own symphonic synthesis from Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov.” No one cares if you don’t exactly sound like Chaliapin when you’re stuck in Friday traffic.

I’ll get you in the mood with the overture “Tsar Boris” by the regrettably short-lived Russian composer Vasily Kalinnikov, whose birthday anniversary it is today – but you’ll want to be there at 4 sharp!

At 6:00, it’s “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies. It will be a program devoted to “arch harpsichords” in mysteries and thrillers. On this Friday the 13th, why not? I’ll have more about it on my Facebook page later this afternoon.

Toss some salt over your shoulder, caress a rabbit’s foot (preferably while it’s still on the rabbit), and join me today between 4 and 7:00 EST for plenty of musical good luck, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 13, 2017
Zukerman’s NJSO Winter Festival Focuses on Education

Widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of the past half century, Pinchas Zukerman comes across as remarkably free of ego. He’s more interested in cultivating the next generation of musicians. In fact, if you try to ask him anything about his upcoming concerts with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, education is all he wants to talk about.

He’s especially excited about several initiatives being undertaken by the orchestra in the coming weeks, which include a plan to host young string players from the Manhattan School of Music. The students will participate in the NJSO’s performances of Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony, on January 26, 28 & 29, following a period of intensive mentorship.

Zukerman is artistic director of this year’s NJSO Winter Festival, appearing as both soloist and conductor on three programs in as many weeks. Each concert will be performed in three separate venues across the state – six in all – starting tonight at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. Other locations will include bergenPAC (Bergen Performing Arts Center) in Englewood, Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, Mayo Performing Arts Center – MPAC in Morristown, and the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick.

On January 20, Zukerman will be appear at Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, as soloist in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Also on the program will be Samuel Barber’s “School for Scandal Overture” and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 “Organ.” Christian Vásquez will take the podium for the 8 p.m. concert.

You can learn more about the NJSO Winter Festival, Zukerman and Vásquez in my article in today’s Trenton Times.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2017/01/classical_music_njsos_winter_f.html

January 13, 2017

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