Some pre-presidential derring-do on the part of General George Washington: “McKonkey’s Ferry (Washington at Trenton)” by Trenton native George Antheil:
A quick primer on Antheil here – worth 5 ½ minutes of your time – including a little background on this stirring concert overture.
https://www.pbs.org/video/state-arts-njso-plays-mcconkeys-ferry-george-antheil/
Happy Presidents Day.
Paul Turok composed his “Variations on an American Song: Lincoln and Liberty” in 1963. The melody is based on a traditional Irish fiddle tune, “Rosin the Bow,” which was outfitted with new lyrics for use in Lincoln’s 1859 presidential campaign.
“Then up with our banner so glorious,
The star-spangled red-white-and-blue,
We’ll fight till our Cause is victorious,
For Lincoln and Liberty, too!”
IMAGE: With Marvel malice toward all! If only…
With everything else going on last week, I didn’t have a chance to acknowledge the passing of keyboard legend Chick Corea. Of course, improvisation is what he did best, but he also left his imprint on the classics. Here’s a little Sunday afternoon playlist.
Corea performs Mozart with Friedrich Gulda
The same piece played, live in concert, with Keith Jarrett
Chick putting his own spin on Chopin
The “Corea Concerto”
Corea plays a selection from his “Children’s Songs”
His career spanned over half a century. He was 79 years-old. R.I.P.
This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” for Valentine’s Day, Cupid, draw back your bow, for two contrasting treatments of the allegorical myth of Psyche and Eros.
Frequently interpreted as a metaphor for the elevation of the soul through love, the tale of Psyche and Eros has much in common with that of Beauty and the Beast: the prohibition against a maid glancing at her “captor,” catty stepsisters who conspire to trip her up, and the revelation of the “beast” as a kind of prince – in this case, the God of Love himself.
In the end, the protagonists pass through travails to triumph, as true love conquers all – a nice change of pace, I think you’ll agree, from the usual classical story arc of being transformed into a stag and devoured by hounds, flying too close to the sun and being struck down by Zeus’ thunderbolt, or accidentally eating one’s own children in a meat pie.
We’ll hear music from César Franck’s “Psyché,” full of romance and ardor, and a somewhat cheekier version, “Cupid and Psyche” by Lord Berners, which sounds more suited to a ballroom or even an amusement park.
Get Psyched for Valentine’s Day. Love is blind, then kind, on “Slings and Eros,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
It’s my annual posting of the skull of St. Valentine! Enjoy these “Valentine Waltzes” by Trenton’s own George Antheil, and have a happy day.
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