We turn our clocks ahead tonight, thereby “losing” an hour, as we spring forward into Daylight Saving Time. What great things do you plan to achieve?
Category: Daily Dispatch
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Classic Movie Scores & Film Composers on KWAX
Time was when a good film score was expected to be both melodic and memorable. This morning on “Sweetness and Light,” with the Academy Awards coming up, we’ll take a nostalgic look back to some indelible themes from classic movies of years past.
I don’t want to lay it all out in my Facebook teaser – in fact, during the course of the show, I won’t even identify the pieces until after each one is played, so that you can guess along at home – but trust that you’ll likely recognize most of them, all Best Original Score winners or nominees from highly-decorated films.
Be there at the start for a 90-second montage of introductory fanfares from the great studios of Hollywood’s Golden Age. The fun begins this morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST!
Then later today, on “The Lost Chord,” it’s another in a periodic series of shows built around concert works by composers better known for their work in film.
This time, we’ll have a concerto for violin, cello and orchestra by James Horner (“Field of Dreams,” “Braveheart,” “Titanic”) and a concerto for flute and strings by Jerome Moross (“The Big Country,” “The Cardinal,” “The Valley of Gwangi”). I hope you’ll join me for “Typcast V” – the fifth in the series – on an all-new “The Lost Chord.”
Both shows are now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the university of Oregon!
Stream them, wherever you are, at the link:
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday on KWAX at 8:00 AM PACIFIC TIME (11:00 AM EASTERN)
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EASTERN)
PHOTO: Oscar-winner John Williams (right), with presenters Henry Mancini and Olivia Newton-John, in 1978
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Academy Awards Weekend: Film Music on KWAX
We’re entering Academy Awards weekend, and the winner is… YOU!
Why? Because I’ve recorded THREE BRAND NEW SHOWS for KWAX for your delectation.
Regardless of how you feel about the current state of the industry or the awards ceremony itself, you have to concede, there’s quite a rich history of impressive music written for film. And the Academy Awards is always the perfect excuse to go excavating.
I’ll be leaning heavily into the nostalgia, beginning today on PICTURE PERFECT. We’ll hear selections from what has been dubbed the greatest film music concert in history. Elmer Bernstein, Johnny Green, Bernard Herrmann, Henry Mancini, Alfred Newman, Alex North, David Raksin, Miklós Rózsa, Dimitri Tiomkin, Franz Waxman, and more turned out for the occasion – all of them to conduct their own music.
They were joined by Mahalia Jackson, Andy Williams, and Jack Benny. What could only be described as a Hollywood Bowl superconcert was broadcast live over the CBS television network on September 25, 1963.
Highlights were issued on what became a highly collectible LP. The content was expanded for a CD reissue on the Columbia Legacy label in 1995. However, based on my reading and the fact that I’m finding other selections in my personal library that were recorded at the venue on the same date, there’s still much that remains to be compiled. Put out whatever you’re holding back on a double-disc, please, Sony!
On today’s show, we’ll hear ten musical selections. I hasten to add, not everyone mentioned will be represented; nor were they even included on the commercial recordings. Tune in to KWAX at 8:00 pm EST/5:00 pm PST. (See the streaming information below).
Then be sure to join me tomorrow morning when I’ll present a potpourri of classic film themes on SWEETNESS AND LIGHT. Tune in sharp at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST to enjoy 90 seconds of introductory fanfares from the great studios of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Finally, also tomorrow, on THE LOST CHORD, it’s another in an occasional series of programs devoted to concert works by composers better known for their work in film. Among the featured works will be “Pas de Deux,” a concerto for violin, cello and orchestra, by James Horner (“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” “Braveheart,” “Titanic”), and the Concerto for Flute and String Orchestra by Jerome Moross (“The Big Countrty,” “The Cardinal,” “The Valley of Gwangi”). That show will stream Saturday at 7:00 pm EST/4:00 pm PST.
That should give you plenty of time to load up on the popcorn and buffalo wings for Sunday night’s ceremony. Listen to all three of these NEWLY-RECORDED RADIO SHOWS, wherever you are, at the link!
PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EST)
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday on KWAX at 8:00 AM PACIFIC TIME (11:00 AM EST)
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EST)
More about “the greatest film music concert in history”
http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/news_events/features/2013/092313.html
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John Wilbye 450th & Sweet Honey-Sucking Bees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZlK1bnOqqc&t
English madrigalist John Wilbye was baptized on this date 450 years ago. Anticipate spring with “Sweet Honey-Sucking Bees.”
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Ravel Gershwin and Jazz Influences
On days when I’ve got a lot of work to do, I’ll often post something short or simply cut and paste, with a few tweaks, from the Classic Ross Amico archive. If it happens to be the birthday of a major composer – in this case, Maurice Ravel, born on this date in 1875 – I try to take a fresh perspective, if I can, since I tend to write about the subject every year. I thought this year, I might write about Ravel’s experiences in the United States with George Gershwin and, by extension, jazz. But of course the subject is an involved one. And really, I don’t know how I could handle it any better than it has been by the writer at the link. Enjoy the musical examples below, and happy birthday, Maurice Ravel!
https://cso.org/experience/article/7984/fascinatin-rhythm-when-ravel-met-gershwin
Ravel, Piano Concerto in G, 1929-31 (Leonard Bernstein in concert)
Gershwin, Concerto in F, 1925
Ravel, “Blues” from Violin Sonata No. 2, 1923-27 (completed before his trip to the States)
Gershwin, “An American Paris,” 1928 (Bernstein in concert)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HI62_udgEI
PHOTO: Ravel (seated), in New York the day after his 53rd birthday, in 1928, with (left to right) conductor Oskar Fried, mezzo-soprano Éva Gauthier, composer-conductor Manoah Leide-Tedesco, and George Gershwin
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