Category: Daily Dispatch

What did Nadia Boulanger and Conan the Barbarian have in common? A lot, apparently, at least from what may be deduced from anecdotes by her pupils. Boulanger’s strong will, cold objectivity and blunt assessments made her perhaps the greatest – and certainly the most influential – musical pedagogue of the 20th century.

Her influence on American music, in particular, is incalculable, having taught composers from Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson through Elliot Carter and Philip Glass. It was Thomson who quipped, “She was a one-woman graduate school, so powerful and so permeating that legend credits every United States town with two things: a five and dime and a Boulanger pupil.”

Join me this afternoon, beginning at 4 p.m., as I celebrate this remarkable figure on her birthday, with two hours of music and music-making by but a handful of her hundreds of remarkable students, including Copland, Igor Markevitch, Dinu Lipatti and Lili Boulanger.

Then stick around at 6 p.m. for “Picture Perfect,” as I introduce music from movies inspired by the writings of pulp master Robert E. Howard. Howard is certainly best-known as the creator of Conan. While an hour of scores for barbarian movies may not seem like everyone’s cup of tea, I can guarantee that most of the music is thrilling and inventive, in ways one would be unlikely to encounter at a theater today.

“Conan the Barbarian” (1982) was released at a time when even the most embarrassing movies could have knockout scores, and composer Basil Poledouris really outdid himself in transcending the violent, silly visuals with a viscerally thrilling soundtrack. I know, I was skeptical myself, until I heard it. “Conan” has long been held by collectors of film music as one of the great scores of the decade, and it’s hard not to be pummeled into submission by its grandeur.

The hour will also feature music by Ennio Morricone, who has made a career out of spinning gold from garbage. Morricone recently received a much-overdue Academy Award for his work on Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight.” We’ll hear some of his score to “Red Sonja” (1985), which also featured Arnold Schwarzenegger, though in a supporting role. In addition, there will be music by Joel Goldsmith, the son of Jerry Goldsmith, for “Kull the Conqueror” (1997).

It’s a brains-and-brawn double feature today, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.