This week on “Picture Perfect,” with the arrival of spring, we travel to “England’s green and pleasant land” for an hour of documentary music. The playlist will include scores by some of the country’s most respected composers.
We’ll hear selections by Ralph Vaughan Williams, from “The People’s Land” (1941), Benjamin Britten, from “The King’s Stamp” (1935), William Alwyn, from “The Green Girdle” (1941), and Master of the Queen’s Music, Sir Arthur Bliss, from “The Royal Palaces of Britain” (1966). All four films are patriotic utterances on distinctly English themes.
Historically, in the United States, writing music for the movies has often been regarded as “hack work,” but overseas it has been accepted as just another aspect of what it means to be a working artist. There is no disgrace in a composer earning a living, and some of the nation’s greatest musicians – including those in the employ of the Royal Family – have contributed finely-crafted scores to its body of cinema.
You may not have seen any of these shorts, but the music sure is beautiful. I hope you’ll join me for music from English documentaries, on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX Classical Oregon!
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Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:
PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT
Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!
https://kwax.uoregon.edu
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In the meantime, if you’re having a slow day, why not get a taste of the films themselves?
“The People’s Land,” score by Vaughan Williams:
https://film.britishcouncil.org/resources/film-archive/the-peoples-land
“The King’s Stamp,” score by Benjamin Britten:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21r04k
“The Green Girdle,” score by William Alwyn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOlnnshTsvQ
Tag: England
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Spring Into Documentary Music from England’s Green and Pleasant Land
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Shakespeare Saint George and England’s April 23
April 23 – The feast day of Saint George, dragon-slayer and patron saint of England (and elsewhere). He’s famously invoked in Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” during the siege of Harfleur. It’s only appropriate that England’s most-celebrated playwright was born on this date in 1564. Or was he? We’re not sure, but we know he was baptized on April 26, and he died on April 23, 52 years later, so we’re inclined to make it fit! Methinks the Bard would appreciate the touch of poetic license.
Happy birthday, Shakespeare, and cry Harry, England and Saint Geooooooooorge!
Olivier, “Once more unto the breach, dear friends!”
Branagh, same
Bonus! Brian Blessed, who played Exeter in the Branagh version, at 84
Edward Elgar, “The Banner of Saint George,” conducted by the late Sir Andrew Davis
Some of the most impressive artistic renderings of St. George aren’t even English. And I kind of feel sorry for the dragon, to be honest.
Branagh as “Henry V” (left) and “Saint George Killing the Dragon” by Bernat Martorell
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Armchair Travel: Music from Movies About England Abroad
It would appear we’re not going anywhere anytime soon, but thankfully there are plenty of movies and music to engage the imagination.
This week on “Picture Perfect,” pack your valise for selections from movies about the English abroad, including “Enchanted April” (Richard Rodney Bennett), “A Passage to India” (Maurice Jarre), “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (Thomas Newman), and “Around the World in 80 Days” (Victor Young).
Bennett, quite the accomplished concert composer (and occasional torch song singer), supplies a sensitive score for the 1991 Merchant/Ivory adaptation of Elizabeth von Arnim’s novel about four English ladies who spend an idyllic month at an Italian villa.
Jarre received his third Academy Award for his music to David Lean’s final film, a 1984 adaptation of E.M. Forster’s novel of repression and racial tension in colonial India.
Newman incorporates traditional Indian elements into his score for “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” the 2012 surprise hit about English pensioners reinventing themselves in their retirement abroad.
And Young won his only Oscar (alas, posthumously bestowed) for “Around the World in 80 Days,” the star-studded, light-as-a-feather, though admittedly charming megawinner at the 1956 Academy Awards. It takes longer to watch the movie than it does to read Jules Verne’s novel – though it does provide a rare opportunity to see Ronald Colman in color.
Get ready to do some armchair traveling this week, on Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
PHOTO: There’s no balloon in Verne’s original, but as long as there’s champagne, who cares?
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