This week on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll honor English composer and bandleader Laurie Johnson, who died on Tuesday at the age of 96.
Among other things, Johnson was the composer of super-cool TV music for shows such as “Jason King,” “The Professionals,” and of course “The Avengers,” the elegant and often surreal spy-fi series, at its peak starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg.
He also wrote for film, providing scores for Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove,” “The First Men in the Moon” (with special effects by Ray Harryhausen), and the Hammer cult-classic “Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter.”
Johnson’s “Symphony (Synthesis)” will be the main attraction on a triple feature of concert works by composers better known for their work in film.
Gramophone Magazine described the symphony, composed in 1971, as a masterpiece. “The work becomes increasingly fascinating with each listening,” writes the critic. “This is perhaps the first truly successful combination of the Jazz and European music traditions.”
The recording, made under the composer’s direction, features a number of prominent jazz artists, including Tubby Hayes, Don Lusher, Joe Harriott, Kenny Wheeler and Stan Tracey.
Also on the program will be music by Jerome Moross, who has been ensured a kind of immortality in the hearts of moviegoers by his Academy Award nominated score for “The Big Country.” He composed music for 16 films in all – comparatively few, actually, on account of a bicoastal career. (He was based in New York City.)
Off-screen, he wrote music for five ballets, a symphony, a flute concerto, various works for orchestra and chamber ensemble, and a one-act opera, “Sorry, Wrong Number.” His best-known musical theatre piece is “The Golden Apple,” which spawned the ever-green “Lazy Afternoon.”
We’ll hear Moross’ delightful “Sonatina for Clarinet Choir” of 1966.
Very little need be said of John Williams. The most successful film composer of all time, Williams has been a household name since the 1970s, thanks to the one-two punch of “Jaws” and “Star Wars.” But by then, he was already two decades into a career that’s now spanned some 70 years. With 54 Academy Award nominations and five wins, he is the second most nominated figure in the history of the Academy, behind only Walt Disney.
For the concert hall, Williams has written music for just about every instrument, including an impressive body of concertos. We’ll hear his “Essay for Strings,” composed in 1965, when he was 33 years-old.
It’s not always about images. Film composers cast themselves against type, on “Typecast IV: The Curse of Typecast” – including a salute to Laurie Johnson – on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Remember, KWAX is on the West Coast, so there’s a three-hour difference for those of you listening in the East. Here are the respective air-times for all three of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):
PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EST)
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – ALL NEW! – Saturday on KWAX at 8:00 AM PACIFIC TIME (11:00 AM EST)
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EST)
Stream all three, at the times indicated, by following the link!
https://kwax.uoregon.edu/
