International Trombone Week continues!
Somebody took this classic trombone “motorcycle” prank…
… and made it into a concerto. Here’s Jan Sandstrom’s “A Motorbike Odyssey” (with a Tommy Dorsey encore).
Category: Daily Dispatch
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Shakespeare’s Birthday Playlist: Music Inspired by the Bard
Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare (observed)!
We don’t really know when Shakespeare was born. (He was baptized on April 26, 1564.) Traditionally, his birthday is celebrated on April 23, since that also happens to be the anniversary of his death, in 1616. Man, by nature, is a compulsive creature, seeking order in all things.
For obvious reasons, I can’t be with you on the air waves today. But if you pardon, we will mend! Here’s a lovingly curated playlist of music inspired by the Bard.
I left off a lot of the better-known works, so feel free to supplement!
Richard Wagner, “Das Liebesverbot” (after “Measure for Measure”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a_-M8FKJDcJosef Bohuslav Foerster, “From Shakespeare”
Introduction, Perdita, Viola, Lady Macbeth, and Katerina, Petruchio and ErosGeoffrey Bush, “Overture, Yorick”
A comedy overture inspired by “Hamlet!”Gerald Finzi, “Let Us Garlands Bring”
Mily Balakirev, “King Lear Overture”
Sir Arthur Sullivan, “The Merchant of Venice”
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, “Othello Suite” (four movements)
Florent Schmitt, “Antoine et Cléopâtre”
Amy Beach, “Three Shakespeare Songs,” Op. 37
I. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_xNoT5MRCs
II. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAJ735zUdwI
III. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3evsktsyZIJohan Wagenaar, “The Taming of the Shrew Overture”
Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky (completed by Sergei Taneyev), “Romeo and Juliet”: Duet (from a projected opera)
Ralph Vaughan Williams, “In Windsor Forest” (adapted from the Falstaff opera, “Sir John in Love”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DePtOOdBKEBedřich Smetana, “Richard III”
Erich Wolfgang Korngold, “Much Ado About Nothing”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NEcvcXHaFMPaul Moravec, “Tempest Fantasy” (in five movements)
Recipient of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for MusicLars-Erik Larsson, “The Winter’s Tale”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geanBynQCmgThe Musicians of the Globe present “Shakespeare’s Musick” (28 tracks)
The Broadside Band performs 39 “Songs & Dances from Shakespeare”
William Walton, “Henry V” (narrated by Christopher Plummer)
On St. George’s Day, “Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and St. Geeeeeeorge!’” -
Marlboro Music Festival YouTube Gems Await
Did you know that Marlboro Music had a YouTube channel? There are some real gems on there, including documentaries about Pablo Casals and Marlboro co-founder Marcel Moyse (“He was the only musician I knew who could play the flute and smoke a pipe at the same time,” according to Claude Frank).
In addition, you’ll find an interview with Pina Carmirelli, Library of Congress performances of music by Haydn, Webern, Brahms, and the late Krzysztof Penderecki, and a beautiful promotional video showing off the idyllic splendor of the Marlboro grounds.
For a hit of the Marlboro Music Festival, look here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3QvDJxEjaVxObDMU96_k1w
Then sample from the audio archive here:
“Music from Marlboro” is on hiatus from WWFM – The Classical Network until we get the all-clear from COVID-19, but Marlboro Music is still very much in our thoughts!
Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page
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Earth Day Music Meira Warshauer’s Symphony
Earth Day 2020.
Meira Warshauer’s Symphony No. 1, “Living, Breathing Earth,” reflects the composer’s love and concern for the environment, from the perspectives of both her home in Columbia, South Carolina, and her travels in Peru.
The work falls into four movements:
In the first, “Call of the Cicadas,” the composer emulates the insects’ natural rhythms and sounds, as heard in her back yard. The textures reflect the summer air and the thickness of the summer heat.
The second movement, “Tahuayo River at Night,” was inspired by a Peruvian canoe ride, with fireflies along the riverbank connecting stars to earth, the starfield reflected on the surface of the water.
The third, “Wings in Flight,” is evocative of the daytime activity of Peruvian butterflies as they twirl around in the sunlight.
The fourth movement lends the symphony its title, “Living, Breathing Earth.”
This music was first performed in 2007 and released on the Navona Records label (PARMA Recordings) in 2011.
Movt I, Call of the Cidas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQK7s-2zcm0
Movt II. Tahuayo River at Night https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gZOySIIhnc
Movt III. Wings in Flight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ljVEuk21C8
Movt IV. Living Breathing Earth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaByPZQ-2Bw
Meira Warshauer talks about her symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwGa1WzO_CY
More about Meira Warshauer Composer at meirawarshauer.com
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Ewazen Trombone Triple Concerto International Trombone Week
For International Trombone Week, a great way to start the day – here’s Eric Ewazen’s Triple Concerto for Three Trombones, written for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Movt. I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9udNGnOuV8
Movt. II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAPDVf4bTx4
Movt. III https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKXW3zYzBqc
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