Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Independence Day

Classical Music Honors America and Birthdays

As you complete your training for tomorrow’s hot dog eating contest and three-legged race, consider joining me on The Classical Network as we get a jump on Independence Day with Elie Siegmeister’s “American Sonata” and Peter Schickele’s String Quartet No. 1, “American Dreams.” We’ll also hear the Symphony No. 3, “American,” by Trenton’s own George Antheil.

In addition, we’ll celebrate the birthdays today of Leoš Janáček, Philippe Gaubert, Carlos Kleiber, Ruth Crawford Seeger and George M. Cohan.

I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy (mostly), from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

July 3, 2017
America Through Foreign Eyes on WPRB

Show me the money!

That’s what Richard Wagner said when he was approached to write something for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. He responded with an execrable march, which he himself admitted he had only done for the $5000, a very great sum at the time. America was, after all, the Land of Opportunity.

But not everyone’s motives were so transparently mercenary. Ernest Bloch composed his epic rhapsody for orchestra, “America,” in sincere appreciation of his adopted homeland. Tune in to WPRB this morning to hear these works and others like them, as we celebrate America from foreign perspectives, in anticipation of Independence Day.

We view the promise of America from distant shores this morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. May the Fourth be with you, on Classic Ross Amico.

June 29, 2017
America Through a Foreign Lens on WPRB

On the suggestion of a loyal listener, who alerted me to the fact that Sir Arnold Bax’s Symphony No. 7 was dedicated to “The People of America,” I thought I would take a different tack this year when putting together my show in honor of Independence Day, which I will observe tomorrow morning on WPRB.

Instead of targeting the strike zone of American patriotism that encompasses composers who came of age during the Great Depression and World War II (much of whose music I admire and even love very much), we’ll view America and the American experience through a foreign sensibility. Some of the composers will be immigrants, excited and even grateful to have made the United States their home, and some will be visitors. Some, such as Richard Wagner, who wrote his dreadful “American Centennial March” for the 1876 celebrations in Philadelphia, will merely have been looking to cash a paycheck.

Not all of the music will sound American (eg. Bax’s Symphony No. 7, given its premiere in conjunction with the 1939 New York World’s Fair); some of it will be self-consciously so (Ernest Bloch’s “America”).

Join me tomorrow, as we welcome the tired, the poor, the huddled masses of the world’s composers, yearning to celebrate the United States, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. I’ll be stirring the musical melting pot, on Classic Ross Amico.

June 28, 2017
American Music for Independence Day on WPRB

I’ve been following Marvin Rosen’s Classical Discoveries playlist with particular interest this morning, since I too plan to play all American music tomorrow, in anticipation of the Independence Day holiday.

Marvin is a much better planner than I, but at this point I can say with relative certainty that we MAY hear music by George Antheil, Paul Bowles, Romeo Cascarino, John Corigliano, Daniel Dorff, Irving Fine, Lou Harrison, Bernard Herrmann, Jennifer Higdon, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Peter Schickele, Caroline Shaw, Michael Torke, George Walker and many others.

Jerry Rife, for 30 years conductor of The Blawenburg Band, will join me around 9:00 to tell us just a little bit about the band’s upcoming concerts at Princeton Shopping Center (tomorrow at 7 p.m.), Yardley Community Centre in Yardley, Pa. (July 4 at 4 p.m.), and Hopewell Train Station (July 6 at 7:30 p.m.).

Tune in, wrap yourself in the flag, and feel the cool grass between your toes, as we celebrate America’s independence this week. Keep it classy with Classic Ross Amico, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 a.m. ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM or online at wprb.com.

July 1, 2015
Independence Day Movie Music

Tomorrow is Independence Day, so it seems appropriate this week on “Picture Perfect” to treat the subject of music from movies related to the birth of our nation.

We’ll hear selections from the 2000 Mel Gibson film, “The Patriot,” in which slow-burning pacifist Mel is pushed too far by ruthless British officer Jason Isaacs and reverts to his bloody French and Indian War ways. By the end of the film, he is literally waving the flag to John Williams’ triumphant score.

Then we’ll hear a suite from the 1942 Jack Benny-Ann Sheridan fixer-up comedy, “George Washington Slept Here,” based on the play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman – not really about the Revolution, beyond the fact that the ramshackle Pennsylvania farm house purchased by a transplanted New York couple is alleged to have been the resting place of the Revolution’s most famous general. The music is by Adolph Deutsch.

The 1985 film, “Revolution,” seemed to have everything going for it. The director was Hugh Hudson, whose “Chariots of Fire” was the big winner at the 1981 Academy Awards; its star was Al Pacino; and its composer was John Corigliano, who went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Symphony No. 2 and an Academy Award for “The Red Violin.” Yet “Revolution” bombed horribly – so horribly that Pacino gave up making movies for the next four years. James Galway plays the flute and pennywhistle on the film’s soundtrack.

Finally, we’ll hear music from the longest continuously-shown film in cinematic history, “Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot,” created exclusively for the tourist attraction of Colonial Williamsburg. The film features future “Hawaii Five-O” star Jack Lord, and the score is by none other than Bernard Herrmann.

Here’s a clip from “Williamsburg,” with some of Herrmann’s music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0VXfVhenXQ

We celebrate Independence Day this week, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies. You can hear it this Friday evening at 6 ET, or enjoy it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.

July 3, 2014

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