Today is the anniversary of the first performance of Beethoven’s First Symphony. The Symphony No. 1 was given its premiere in 1800 as part of a benefit concert for the composer, who was 29 years-old, at the K.K. Hofburgtheater in Vienna. The original structure would be destroyed by bombs in 1945. It is now known, in its restoration, as the Burgtheater.
The first American performance of Beethoven’s First took place in Nazareth, PA, of all places. Nazareth is located about seven miles north of Easton and currently has a population of less than 6000. However, by 1813, its passionately music-loving Moravian community was well-ensconced.
The borough is currently the home of the oldest-surviving violin in America, which is alleged to have been made by John Antes in Bethlehem, PA, in 1759. A priceless 1870s-vintage Martin guitar was housed in Nazareth until last year, when it was lent out to Quentin Tarantino for use in “The Hateful Eight” and was “accidentally” destroyed.
This was supposed to be a double, but I guess somebody forgot to tell Kurt Russell to wait for the switch:
April fools! No, not the holiday (such that it is); I’m talking about the performers.
This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll have musical selections from big screen comedies. For whatever reason, it’s seldom that we get a chance to sample from comedy scores. The emphasis is usually on drama or action. The more I think about it, it seems very few scores for comedies tend to achieve classic status – proportionately speaking, of course.
Henry Mancini never seemed to have a problem with that, thanks in no small part to his long association with director Blake Edwards. We’ll hear music from my three favorite installments in “The Pink Panther” series – the original (1963), “A Shot in the Dark” (1964), and “The Pink Panther Strikes Again” (1976). That’s right, the one where Chief Inspector Dreyfus goes stark raving mad and determines to destroy the world with a doomsday ray, as the franchise hilariously jumps the shark.
Imagine how difficult it must be to write music for comedy, without it coming across as sounding like cartoon music. Which isn’t always necessarily a bad thing. With Pee-Wee Herman back on Netflix, we’ll hear some of Danny Elfman’s music for “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” (1985). The film marked the feature debut of director Tim Burton. It was Burton’s first teaming with composer Danny Elfman, who would become a regular collaborator. Elfman is obviously a big fan of Nino Rota.
If you ever wanted to see Alastair Sim in drag, then I’ve got the film for you. Sim, you’ll recall, played Ebenezer Scrooge in the classic 1951 film version of “A Christmas Carol.” A few years later, he appeared in “The Belles of St. Trinian’s” (1954) in two roles – as the headmistress of a girl’s school and her criminal brother. None other than Malcolm Arnold provided the music hall-style score.
“It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” (1963) is a relic from the “more is more” school of comedy, with Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Phil Silvers, Terry-Thomas, Jonathan Winters, Jimmy Durante, and a tired Spencer Tracy. Ernest Gold’s approach to the music is defined by a manic waltz.
Before John Williams became a household name, with music for blockbusters like “Jaws” and “Star Wars,” he was known as Johnny Williams, when writing for television shows like “Lost and Space” and “Gilligan’s Island,” and for a string of mostly forgettable movie comedies.
“A Guide for the Married Man” (1967) starred Walter Matthau and Robert Morse. Interestingly, the film was directed by Gene Kelly, and a number of cast members from “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” have cameos. (It seems you couldn’t make a film of this kind without Terry-Thomas.) Looking back on the score is fascinating, in that there are already hints of the Williams we know in the thick of very period-specific music.
Elmer Bernstein, who wrote music for such classics as “The Ten Commandments,” “The Magnificent Seven” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” received a second wind in the late ‘70s, when he was offered the chance to score “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” produced by Ivan Reitman and directed by John Landis. This led to opportunities to work on “The Blues Brothers” and “Ghostbusters,” among others. We’ll wrap things up with some of Bernstein’s music for the Reitman service comedy, “Stripes,” which teamed Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. The key to Bernstein’s big success as a comedy composer during the era is that, musically, he mostly played it straight.
I hope you’ll join me tonight at 6 EDT, with a repeat tomorrow morning at 6, as we unscrew the tops on the salt shakers and swap out the hard-boiled eggs, on “Picture Perfect: Music for the Movies.” Or that you’ll listen to it later, from a safe distance, as a webcast, at wwfm.org.
Even in his own lifetime, Franz Joseph Haydn was known as “Papa.” His benevolent handling of his musicians at the court of Esterháza and beyond earned him their undying affection.
His Symphony No. 45, the “Farewell” Symphony, is a famous example of Haydn looking out for his men. When the musicians were kept on longer than expected at the Prince’s summer palace, a full day’s ride from their homes and families, Haydn composed this “protest symphony” as a suggestion to his employer that perhaps it was time to return to Eisenstadt.
In the final movement, the musicians stop playing one by one, snuff out the candles on their music stands, and leave the orchestra, until just two muted violins remain. (One of these was played by Haydn himself in the first performance.) The Prince got the message, and gave the command for the journey back to be undertaken the next day. Hence, Haydn was able to press his point, characteristically, with good humor and without conflict.
The nickname of “Papa” clung to him even after his death, as musicians, audiences and musicologists acknowledged their debt to the man who had trail-blazed the enduring forms of both the symphony and the string quartet.
I hope you’ll join me this morning, as we pay tribute to this seminal figure on his birthday. Despite his charm, craftsmanship and fairly consistent level of inspiration, Haydn remains, in many respects, in the shadows of Mozart and Beethoven.
The playlist may not be all-Haydn – there could be a few tributes by later composers and perhaps a nod or two to the 18th century by some 20th century neoclassicists – but we’ll try to keep the flavor distinctly Haydnesque.
Be prepared to have your socks charmed off (with benevolence, of course), from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. Come to Papa, on Classic Ross Amico.
PHOTO: The composer, enjoying some of that Haydnesque flavor
Taking a look at the weather forecast for the Princeton area reminds us that March can be a crazy time. Spring may be here, according to the calendar, but with mostly sunny skies expected today, with highs in the lower 70s, and breezy conditions on Sunday, with highs in the mid-40s (and more snow on the way next week!), everyone’s thoughts are very much on the seasons.
What better time, then, to enjoy a performance of Franz Joseph Haydn’s oratorio on the subject? Based on texts prepared by Baron Gottfried von Swieten from the poetry of James Thomson, “The Seasons” has always been the poor stepbrother to Haydn’s smash hit, “The Creation.” It’s a critic’s darling, though, and it should be one of yours, too.
You’ll have a chance to enjoy it this morning in a classic performance, one of the best of Sir Thomas Beecham’s later years, beginning in the 8:00 hour.
We’re celebrating the music of Haydn on his birthday until 11:00 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.
Tomorrow is the birthday of Franz Joseph Haydn. It may seem uncharacteristic of me, given my obvious preference for music composed after about 1890, but I’ve always been partial to Papa, and I am inclined to pay him homage.
I can’t promise that I will be playing all-Haydn on my show tomorrow morning on WPRB; but then again, I can’t promise that I won’t. If I feel the need to spice it up a bit, I may stir in a little neoclassicism, courtesy of composers like Bohuslav Martinu and Harold Shapero, and garnish it with a tribute or two by composers like Marcel Grandjany and Norman Dello Joio.
On the other hand, I could diminish my listenership considerably with back-to-back airings of Haydn’s wonderful oratorios, “The Creation” and “The Seasons.” The timings indicate that they would just about fit. Though if there’s anything to be learned from Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” it’s that just because we can doesn’t mean that we should.
This is truly the most classic insight into the making of Classic Ross Amico. Odds are that I’ll show up with a suitcase full of CDs ten minutes before air-time and start making my decisions then.
There’s no Haydn the fact that I’m ill-prepared. Tune in to share in my humiliation, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. We’ll remember Papa, on Classic Ross Amico.
