Have a super Christmas, everybody!
Category: Daily Dispatch
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WWFM Christmas Schedule Ben-Hur Music
“Picture Perfect” will be preempted this evening as WWFM – The Classical Network continues with its roster of special Christmas-oriented programs. To my knowledge, PP will return next Saturday with more film music at its regular slot of 6 p.m. EST.
“The Lost Chord” will be heard tomorrow night, as always. However, it will be broadcast ONE HOUR LATER THAN USUAL, Christmas Day at 11 p.m. EST.
For a complete schedule of this weekend’s programs, visit http://www.wwfm.org.
In the meantime, here’s a film music tidbit to tide you over, in the form of a piano transcription of the Christmas segment that serves as a prologue to “Ben-Hur” (1959), still one of my favorite movies, with a knockout score by Miklós Rózsa.
Hats off to Brett Mitchell, and Merry Christmas!
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Christmas Rush Last Minute Cheer
Ready… set… GO!
It’s Christmas Eve! Let the last-minute insanity begin!
From the sound of it, Matthew Curtis’ “Christmas Rush” must be a pun – “rush” as in “hurry,” but also “rush” as in “euphoria.”
What strikes me about this piece is that even though Curtis was born in 1959, the music clearly pays homage to the golden age of British Light Music, with composers like Eric Coates and Roger Quilter being clear influences.
Don’t be like me – as you navigate the close aisles, frenetic parking lots, and long check-out lines, hang on to your good cheer!
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Happy Festivus Airing Grievances with Karolju
December 23rd. Happy Festivus! Let the airing of grievances begin.
Then enjoy this postmodern, pandenominational, mid-winter concoction by Christopher Rouse, called “Karolju.” The title, fabricated by the composer, puts an Old World spin on the word “carol.” The “ju” is merely because, as Rouse states, he happens to like words that end in “u.” The text is totally pidgin, and the musical allusions to Orff, Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams, Prokofiev, and others only add to the fun.
Limber up for the feats of strength, then gather ‘round the Festivus pole. Truly, it’s a Festivus for the rest of us.
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Scrooge 1970 Uplifting Christmas Spirit
So, it ain’t “Oliver!” What it is is a surprisingly potent bowl of warming Christmas punch. Just as Albert Finney’s Scrooge imbibes from the Cup of Human Kindness, so the viewer is uplifted, welcome or welcome not, by the high Spirits of “Scrooge” (1970). Leslie Bricusse’s hit-and-miss musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic ends in an explosion of joy unrivaled in its boisterous onscreen ecstasy. Thank you very much, indeed!
I can’t say that last night’s discussion scaled quite those same delirious heights, but we did our best to wring the Dickens out of it.
Next week, it’s our hope to conclude 2022 with something very special indeed. Unless it falls through, which it probably will, in which case we’ll have to push it back to January and do something else instead. Watch this space for further developments!
At the very least, I won’t make the same mistake as last night and will be sure to have a cup of cheer on hand to toast you, when you join us in the comments section. We’ll be slow-dancing to Guy Lombardo on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., next Friday evening at 7:30 EST!
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