I’m telling you, the zeitgeist positively screams “Morricone!”
Lang Lang gives “The Hateful Eight” the Franz Liszt treatment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8ic-gCiCN4
If Morricone doesn’t get his Oscar next Sunday, I’ll eat a great big bowl of spaghetti (as in western).
Here’s the original, by way of comparison:
PHOTO: No confusing whose piano that is
William Levi Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony.” Joseph White’s Violin Concerto in F-sharp Minor. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.” Olly Wilson’s “Piano Piece for Piano and Electronic Sound.” Joseph Bologne, le Chevalier de Saint-George’s Symphony in G Major, Op. 11, No. 1. Adolphus Hailstork’s exuberant psalm-setting for soloist, chorus and orchestra, “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes.” Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3. Duke Ellington’s “A Tone Parallel to Harlem.”
These are some of the pieces we’ll be listening to this morning, as we explore the diversity of music of the black experience, from 6 to 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM or at wprb.com. We’ll be serving your coffee black, on Classic Ross Amico.
Yet to come this morning: William Levi Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony,” Olly Wilson’s “Piano Piece for Piano and Electronic Sound,” Joseph Bologne, le Chevalier de Saint-George’s Symphony in G Major, Op. 11, No. 1, Adolphus Hailstork’s cantata “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes,” Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3, Duke Ellington’s “A Tone Parallel to Harlem,” and more.
Also, Dashon Burton, Bass-Baritone will perform spirituals, arranged by Harry T. Burleigh and others, from a new album, titled “Songs of Struggle and Redemption: We Shall Overcome.”
We’re celebrating Black History Month until 11:00, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.
This weekend will be bookended by two concerts of music by Johann Sebastian Bach. Princeton Theological Seminary’s Miller Chapel will resound with the complete Leipzig Chorales, presented by students of Westminster Choir College of Rider University on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Then the Dryden Ensemble will perform a selection of sublime cantatas at the same venue on Sunday at 3 p.m.
The Dryden program is one of many that had to be rescheduled thanks to Winter Storm Jonas, which threw the region into chaos and had the effect of silencing area music-making.
For its annual Bach Cantata Fest, the group will present an assortment of recitatives and arias, including selections from Cantata 36, “Schwingt freudig euch empor” (“Soar joyfully upwards”); Cantata 78, “Jesu, der du meine Seele” (“Jesus, You, who my soul”); and Cantata 159, “Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem” (“Behold, let us go up to Jerusalem”). Also featured will be the complete Cantata 82, “Ich habe genug” (“It is enough), sung by guest baritone William Sharp.
The Dryden ensemble performs on period instruments. The Westminster organ concert will include student singers.
Find out more about both events in my article in today’s Trenton Times:
http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2016/02/classical_music_westminster_ch.html
This year’s Academy Awards ceremony will take place on February 28. We’ll do our best to get you in the mood this week on “Picture Perfect,” by sampling from the nominations for Best Original Score.
In the Cold War drama, “Bridge of Spies,” Tom Hanks plays an American lawyer who is recruited to defend a Soviet operative, then enlisted to facilitate an exchange with the Soviets for a captured American pilot. Director Steven Spielberg’s regular collaborator, John Williams, had been engaged to write the score, but when Williams fell ill, Thomas Newman stepped in to provide the music.
Over the years, Newman has been nominated for 13 Academy Awards. He is the most nominated living composer to have never won an Oscar. He is surpassed in that regard only by Alex North, who was nominated 14 times. North finally received an honorary Oscar in 1986.
Though active as a film composer for over 30 years, Carter Burwell – composer of choice for the Coen Brothers – has never even been nominated – until now. “Carol,” starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel, “The Price of Salt.” A departure for Highsmith, who is known for her thrillers, which became the basis for such films as “Strangers on a Train” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “The Price of Salt” defies expectations to explore the relationship between an aspiring young female photographer and an older woman going through a difficult divorce.
Burwell captured the Academy’s attention with his tender score that nonetheless owes a bit to Philip Glass.
Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson has received his second Academy Award nomination. Last year, he was nominated for his music to “The Theory of Everything,” which won the Golden Globe. This year, he has been nominated for his work on “Sicario.”
Emily Blunt plays an idealistic FBI agent enlisted by a mysterious government official (played by Josh Brolin) to join a task force in the escalating war on drugs. Benicio del Toro also stars in this thriller set along the U.S.-Mexico border. Here is a sample of Johann Johannsson’s music for “Sicario.” It’s not exactly feel-good music, and it’s probably very effective in the film. Your enjoyment may depend on your tolerance for processed sounds.
Five-time Academy Award winner John Williams is the 800-pound gorilla of film composers. His music for the latest installment of “Star Wars,” “The Force Awakens,” features a preponderance of action cues and rare moments of poetry and lyricism. The score has earned Williams’ his 50th Academy Award nomination. He is not only the most-nominated person alive, he is the second most-nominated ever, behind only Walt Disney.
The great Ennio Morricone, despite having scored over 500 film and television projects in a career which has spanned 60 years, has never won a competitive Oscar. He received an honorary award from the Academy in 2007. His music for “The Hateful Eight” has earned him his sixth nomination. Having already collected this year’s Golden Globe and BAFTA awards, he is a favorite to win. Above and beyond the usual fine craftsmanship in evidence, there seems to be a wave of sentiment in favor of the beloved 87 year-old composer, who will be making a rare trip to the United States to attend the ceremony and the dedication of a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
“The Hateful Eight,” of course, is Quentin Tarantino’s synthesis of slow-burn Agatha Christie mystery and ultra-violent western. The music is one of its stronger elements.
Tune in tonight to find out what’s been deemed award-worthy in 2016. “Picture Perfect” airs at 6:00 ET, with a repeat tomorrow morning at 6; or you can listen to it later as a webcast at wwfm.org.
PHOTOS: John Williams, at the center of the film score universe, surrounded by (clockwise from bottom left) Johann Johannsson, Carter Burwell, Oscar fave Ennio Morricone, and always-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride Thomas Newman
Aaron Copland (93) Beethoven (95) Composer (114) Film Music (139) Film Score (143) Film Scores (255) Halloween (94) John Williams (195) KWAX (229) Leonard Bernstein (103) Marlboro Music Festival (125) Movie Music (154) Mozart (89) Opera (210) Philadelphia Orchestra (89) Picture Perfect (174) Princeton Symphony Orchestra (108) Radio (88) Ross Amico (244) Roy's Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner (290) The Classical Network (101) The Lost Chord (268) Vaughan Williams (103) WPRB (396) WWFM (881)