Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Bach 500

Discovering Archived Baroque Music on YouTube

You never know what you’re going to stumble across when you’re bopping around YouTube. This week, I discovered one of my old Noontime Concerts. These aired on WWFM The Classical Network on Tuesdays at noon. Essentially, I was provided with audio files and a copy of a printed program. More often than not, the programs contain information on the performers but little or nothing about the music. These shows were done on the fly, live, with no script. In the moment, I would be a bundle of adrenaline and self-criticism. Going back to it now, I have to say… not bad!

If you’re a fan of Baroque music, keep in mind that this Sunday is Bach’s birthday, and WWFM is in the midst of its annual “Bach 500” challenge. If we receive 500 donations IN ANY AMOUNT, we will cancel fundraising on March 21st and enjoy just Bach’s music. Furthermore, every dollar will be matched by money from the “Bach Pot,” put up in advance by some especially generous listeners.

Consulting the donations thermometer on the station’s home page, I note that there are only 187 contributions to go until we meet our goal. Get your weekend underway by Bach-ing up your commitment to the classics on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Have a great weekend, and thank you for your support!

https://wwwfm.secureallegiance.com/wwfm/WebModule/Donate.aspx?P=DEFAULT&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=vOU2bz5JCWmgCDbf53nm9ezWDeZ%2beA1M

Archived Noontime Concert musicians, the duo Black Marble: Jörg-Michael Schwarz & Karen Marie Marmer, baroque violins

March 19, 2021
Celebrate Bach’s Birthday with Music & More

March 21st is the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach. I’ve already got my order in for a cake, and it had to be a big one, in order to accommodate 336 candles.

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra has just posted the last of its four-part series on Bach’s “The Musical Offering.” PSO musicians perform Bach’s contrapuntal, often chromatic – and for at least one canon, crabby – masterwork, with Assistant Conductor Nell Flanders offering absorbing insights into its history and structure. The series is free. Watch all four installments at princetonsymphony.org.

On Sunday, The Dryden Ensemble will stream a lecture by Bach scholar Michael Marissen on the musical aims of the “St. John Passion.” Then the following Sunday, March 21st – Bach’s birthday – experience a performance of the oratorio from last year, an especially notable concert, in that it was documented just as the world was shutting down for the pandemic. Both of the Bach events will be made available, on their respective Sundays, at 3 p.m. The lecture is free. More information and tickets for the performance are available at drydenensemble.org.

Finally, WWFM The Classical Network is in the midst of its annual “Bach 500” challenge. 500 listener donations in any amount will be matched by funds from the station’s “Bach Pot” (fortified by some very generous leprechauns). If the goal is reached, fundraising will be cancelled for Bach’s birthday. The reward will be a euphoric playlist of uninterrupted Bach, free from pecuniary concerns – lutes in place of lucre, concertos supplanting chatter, pipe organs in preference to pitching.

Won’t you be one of the Bach 500? Make a contribution now, and watch the mercury rise on the Bach thermometer at wwfm.org. Thank you for your support of classical music on WWFM – The Classical Network. It’s because of listeners just like you that we are able to continue to Bach-around-the-clock!

https://wwwfm.secureallegiance.com/wwfm/WebModule/Donate.aspx?P=DEFAULT&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=vOU2bz5JCWmgCDbf53nm9ezWDeZ%2BeA1M&fbclid=IwAR0gC4oY7VhnwYX0TMEi72BAeDrj68XjjtdSx7OFSJZggVsskJqa4ZI-Vd4

IMAGE: Bach makes a musical offering in the form of a riddle canon, in the famous Elias Gottlob Haussmann portrait. The painting, which was housed in Princeton for over 60 years, in the private collection of William H. Scheide, was bequeathed by Scheide to the Bach Archive in Leipzig – the city in which Bach spent most of his creative life – where it now resides.

March 10, 2021
Celebrate Bach’s Birthday Support Classical Music

Well, the day is finally upon us – Johann Sebastian Bach’s 335th birthday. And I can’t even get out to buy him a card.

Anyone can share the love, however, by making a donation to WWFM The Classical Network at wwfm.org.

Each year, it has been our custom to honor Bach by amassing 500 listener donations by March 21. We set no minimum. 500 donations IN ANY AMOUNT is what we ask for. When we reach 500, we cut the cake, and we celebrate with something of a Bach blowout.

This year, of course, that has become a bit problematic, but we are still committed to doing what we can to keep Bach in our hearts and on the air waves.

Your contribution supports not only our broadcast of Bach’s music, but also anything else we can lay our hands on that we think is worthwhile that falls under the umbrella of classical music. That’s a thousand years of the best of the best. It’s all made possible thanks to engaged listeners and active listener-support from people just like you.

We realize that money is tight for many during these uncertain times. But if you’re in a position in which you think you can afford it, please consider contributing whatever you can to help us in our ongoing mission. We’ve been here, sharing classical music with our community, since 1982. Thanks to advances in technology, that community now spans the globe.

Is classical music an essential part of your life? Please support it.

It’s convenient, and it’s safe. Simply head over to wwfm.org, and click on “Support” or follow the “Celebrate Bach” link. While you’re there, you can also monitor our progress by consulting the Bach 500 Membership Thermometer. As of Saturday morning, we stand at less than 200 contributions to go.

Make that donation, if you’re able, then join us in hoisting a bock to Bach. Thank you for your continued support of WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org!

March 21, 2020
WWFM: Coronavirus, Remote Ops & Classical Music

Any weekend that begins with Friday the 13th and ends with the Ides of March is bound to bring bad news.

Last night, I received notification that, because of Coronavirus concerns, Mercer County Community College will shift to remote operations beginning on Monday. The move will coincide with spring break and will span an initial period of two weeks, with extensions, obviously, as necessary.

WWFM, which makes its home on the MCCC campus, will continue its operations, but with a skeletal staff, so you may notice a temporary increase in syndicated and remote programming. Also during the period, it is possible that only the most urgent phone calls, messages, and email will receive immediate responses. Communication with our listeners is important to us, and we always try to get back to you as soon as we can, but under the circumstances we appreciate your patience and understanding.

Over the past two weeks, it became increasingly evident that our community was at risk for a health emergency. I was asked to pull together five weeks’ worth of recorded shows for “Picture Perfect” and “The Lost Chord,” to be aired in the event of an extended shut-down and to be sent out into syndication. The first of these shows will air on Friday, March 20 (Picture Perfect), and Sunday, March 22 (The Lost Chord). Should the state of emergency continue, there is enough fresh material to last through April 20. It is unclear whether these shows will be posted as webcasts, or if that will have to wait until my return. “Music from Marlboro” will be suspended for the duration of my absence.

These actions should come as little surprise, as schools and places of gathering have been shut down all across the United States in an attempt to stem the spread of Coronavirus.

It would be vain of me to expect that my absence from the air waves will cause panic in the streets. You’ll still get your classical music, albeit in other forms. I just wanted to let you know that, for now, I remain healthy, and I am an inveterate handwasher.

Though I will certainly miss our time together, I will use the break to work on another long-term project, for which I’ve been accumulating information over the past several months, and which I will announce here eventually.

In terms of the newspaper, I’ve already had one article go to print with a disclaimer that the subject, a concert, had been cancelled, and a second article consigned to the Phantom Zone, to be resurrected when another event is rescheduled, hopefully, for a future season.

It’s probably not the best time to ask for money, but I do want to point out that WWFM’s Bach 500 campaign is still ongoing. I’m not sure at this point what we can promise in terms of wall-to-wall Bach on Bach’s birthday (March 21), but your contribution will still help us to achieve financial success. Best now to make that donation online at wwfm.org. As of Saturday morning, we are halfway to our goal of 500 contributions. Remember, you can make that donation in any amount. It doesn’t matter how much you give. We make our goal when 500 of you step up.

For now, stay healthy, everyone. Enjoy what you can. Hopefully we’ll meet up again in a few weeks, and I’ll be back to sharing my usual blend of music and unintentional comedy.

Thank you for your understanding, thank you in advance for your concern, and thank you for your support of WWFM – The Classical Network.

March 14, 2020
Baroque Music Today on The Classical Network

This afternoon on The Classical Network, we’ll go for Baroque.

First, on today’s Noontime Concert, The Dryden Ensemble will present “A Baroque Tapestry,” with works by Johann Rosenmüller, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Tomaso Albinoni, Georg Muffat, and of course Johann Sebastian Bach. The program was performed at Princeton Theological Seminary’s Miller Chapel.

This weekend, Dryden will present three performances of Bach’s “St. John Passion,” at All Saints’ Church in Princeton (Friday & Saturday at 7:30 p.m.) and Trinity Episcopal Church in Solebury, PA (Sunday at 3). To find out more, look online at http://www.drydenensemble.org.

We’re also, of course, in the midst of our annual “Bach 500,” at The Classical Network.

In celebration of the anniversary of Bach’s birthday (March 21st, 1685), we’re looking for 500 listeners to step up and make a donation IN ANY AMOUNT. You set the level. When we reach 500 donations, we’ll tally in the funds from our Bach Pot – contributions solicited in advance from some especially ardent supporters – and, best of all, we’ll be able to cancel fundraising on Bach’s birthday and enjoy just his music.

You can do your part to make that happen by calling us during business hours at 1-888-232-1212, or by donating online anytime at wwfm.org. While you’re over there, at the website, you can monitor our progress by consulting our Bach 500 membership thermometer.

To keep us mindful, following today’s concert broadcast, I’ll continue along the lines of last Tuesday, by offering hourly reminders, harnessed to a short work of Bach; then another work in some way related – for example, the “Choral and Choral-Prelude ‘Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ,’” from Bach’s Cantata, BWV 6, reimagined by Ralph Vaughan Williams – followed by something related to the related material, which ideally will have nothing at all to do with Bach – such as an original work by Vaughan Williams or one of his colleagues – thereby keeping it varied, while still getting the message out there.

If it’s not Baroque, we’ll still fix it, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT. Thank you for your support of WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTO: William Fawke’s statue commemorating Ralph Vaughan Williams, who annually conducted the combined choirs of the Leith Hill Music Festival in Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion”

March 10, 2020

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