Classic Ross Amico

Tag: KWAX

Yom Kippur Music The Lost Chord on KWAX

Yom Kippur begins tomorrow night at sundown. The Day of Atonement marks the culmination of ten days of awe and repentance. Observed with fasting and prayer, it is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

This week on “The Lost Chord,” we offer best wishes for a happy, healthy, and sweet new year with two complementary works inspired by the High Holidays.

Jacob Weinberg’s String Quartet, Op. 55, of 1950, falls into three movements: “Rosh Hashana” (the Jewish New Year), “Yom Kippur,” and “Sukkot.” “Yom Kippur” is based on the cantorial chant “Kol Nidre.” You know, the same melody employed by Max Bruch in his famous cello piece.

Ernest Bloch’s “Israel Symphony,” composed between 1912 and 1917, is more like an orchestral rhapsody in three sections – “Prayer in the Desert,” “Yom Kippur,” and “Succoth” [sic] – played continuously and culminating in parts for four vocal soloists.

Sukkot, which follows Yom Kippur by only five days, is the harvest festival, during which temporary dwellings (or sukkot) are erected to commemorate the Jews’ 40 years wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. In modern times, these are decorated with fruits and vines. In contrast to the austerity and fasting of Yom Kippur, Sukkot is a celebration of life and abundance. But in ancient Israel, it was a solemn affair, with sacrifices offered at the temple.

Welcome the year 5784, with musical reflections of the High Holidays, and then some, on “Totally Awesome,” 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 the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)

Stream them here:

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

September 23, 2023
Hemingway on the Big Screen Movie Music’s Picture Perfect

Nick sat down against the charred stump and smoked a cigarette. He lit a match and watched it burn and as it burned he thought of boxers and marlins and the Spanish Civil War. The stories were brave and strong and good. He ordered a mojito and prepared to face the music.

This week on “Picture Perfect,” the focus is on Ernest Hemingway.

Seemingly at odds with Hemingway’s minimalist, “iceberg” style, big screen adaptations of the writer’s work show what the stories don’t tell. In the case of 1946’s “The Killers,” the screenwriters unapologetically just made stuff up, an entire back story explaining the motivations for the hit of boxer “Swede” Anderson. Fortunately, those screenwriters happened to include an uncredited John Huston, who virtually codified noir with “The Maltese Falcon.”

“The Killers” provided Burt Lancaster with his break-out role. It also features a knock-out score by Miklós Rózsa, in which he uses the dum-dee-dum-dum motto later made famous by the television series “Dragnet.”

In 1977, George C. Scott reunited with his “Patton” director, Franklin J. Schaffner, for an adaptation of Hemingway’s posthumously published novel, “Islands in the Stream.” Scott gives one of his best performances as a Hemingway-like figure living on a Caribbean island. “Patton” composer Jerry Goldsmith wrote the music. Goldsmith spoke of it often as his favorite score.

Hemingway himself handpicked the leads for the 1943 adaptation of “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” with Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman falling in love against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. The music was by the prolific and versatile Victor Young.

And finally, Spencer Tracy is the whole show, as he faces off against a large marlin, in the 1958 version of “The Old Man and the Sea.” Dimitri Tiomkin’s music earned him his fourth Academy Award.

Join me for an hour of laconic grace and stoic manliness on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, 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 the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)

Stream them here!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

September 15, 2023
Circus Movie Music Picture Perfect on KWAX

Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Children of all ages! May I have your attention, please?

This week on “Picture Perfect,” it’s music from movies about the circus!

In 1964, George Pal produced and directed an adaptation of Charles G. Finney’s dark fantasy novel, “The Circus of Dr. Lao.” “7 Faces of Dr. Lao” was envisaged as a real showcase for its star, Tony Randall, who plays not only the mysterious proprietor of an itinerant Old West circus, but also Merlin the Magician, the great god Pan, a Serpent, the fabled monster Medusa, the blind fortune-teller Appolonius of Tyana, and the Abominable Snowman!

The unusual score is by Leigh Harline, who freshens up tropes of the American Western by applying some Eastern spice. We’ll hear selections from the film’s original elements, remastered for the Film Score Monthly label.

We’ll also have music from two Academy Award winners: Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Greatest Show on Earth,” voted Best Picture of 1952, with a score by Victor Young, and Federico Fellini’s “La Strada,” Best Foreign Language Film of 1956, with music by Nino Rota.

Malcom Arnold wrote the music for “Trapeze,” Carol Reed’s 1956 love triangle on high (with Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, and Gina Lollobrigada), and Danny Elfman understands that every day’s a circus for Paul Reubens in “Big Top Pee-Wee,” from 1988. I know you are, but what am I?

Further emphasizing the dark underbelly of the big top, we’ll hear a suite from Hammer Film Productions’ “Vampire Circus,” from 1972, in which all of the attractions, even the panther, are vampires! And you thought clowns were scary. The composer is David Whitaker, of “The Sword and the Sorcerer” cult status.

Step right up! It’s a clown car full of calliopes, as music for the circus takes center ring on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, 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 the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)

Stream them here!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

September 8, 2023
Labor Day Lost Chord Medtner Rosenthal Carpenter

This week on “The Lost Chord,” it’s a working weekend, as we salute the laborer for Labor Day.

Nikolai Medtner, classmate and friend of Sergei Rachmaninoff, wrote an awful lot of music for the piano. Alas, comparatively little of it is heard with any frequency. Pianists are said to adore his music, but for those in charge of concert venues the composer remains a tough sell. Medtner’s curiously titled triptych, “Three Hymns in Praise of Toil,” from 1926-27, consists of three movements: “Hymn Before Work,” “At the Anvil,” and “Hymn After Work.”

Manuel Rosenthal’s original compositions have been eclipsed by his arrangements for the runaway success, “Gaité Parisienne.” Rosenthal wrote music for the stage, orchestral pieces, pieces for voice and chorus, and instrumental works, but none of them have attained anywhere near the recognition of his Offenbach ballet, on which his name, if it appears at all, does so in rather small print. He did enjoy a successful career as one of France’s most prominent conductors. Interestingly, he was also the third and last pupil of Maurice Ravel.

We’ll hear Rosenthal’s “Les petits métiers” (“The Little Trades”), from 1933, ten deft orchestral sketches, including “The Farrier,” “The Herbalist,” “The Puppeteer,” “The Night-Watchman,” “The Postman Déodat,” “The Barber,” “The Cornet-seller,” “The Grinder,” “The Nanny,” and “The Little Telegraph-Boy.” If you don’t know what a farrier is, it’s a specialist in equine foot care!

According to the composer, “In this score, I have put my memories of the urchin I once was in the streets of Paris. They were full of songs of the trades-people, glazier, knife-grinder and so on. But I did not forget the wet-nurses who fed the new-born children of richer families, the soldiers or the little telegraph-boys, urchins of 12 or 13 years-old, who carried telegrams by bicycle. In short, all those little trades that favored exchange between people and contributed to a very French and very cheerful atmosphere.”

Speaking of horse feet, we’ll also enjoy a brief part-song by Gustav Holst, called “The Song of the Blacksmith,” a folk song arrangement from 1917. Holst later included the melody in his Second Suite in F for military band, with a lively part for anvil!

Finally, American composer John Alden Carpenter’s ballet “Skyscrapers,” from 1924, is set against the backdrop of a big city, with workmen in overalls exerting themselves amidst the haste and confusion of urban life. A whistle blows. There’s a side trip to an amusement park, with suggestions of carousels and raucous dance bands. These are interrupted, briefly, by a flashback to the idea of work, the workmen swinging their hammers and preparing to rivet. Then a reversion to play, with sailors, flappers and midway types performing a succession of colorful dances. The whistle blows again, and the laborers are summoned back to the job at hand.

Pull up a girder and get out your Stanley thermoses. I’ll be doing the heavy lifting as we punch the clock for Labor Day with “Labor Intensive” 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 the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)

Stream them here!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

September 2, 2023
Dead Poets Society Phony Movie Music From School

I ran this show a few years ago, and I must have been feeling particularly ill-tempered, as I totally went off on “Dead Poets Society” for being so phony. I was surprised to learn that many of you felt the same way. The comments were quite lively! I was amused when revisiting the old post here:

At any rate, it’s back to school time, so get out your Golden Rod tablets and No. 2 pencils. You don’t want to be held back (again) for flunking your exam about music from movies with academic settings.

I’ll be getting all pendantic, with selections from “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” (Richard Addinsell), “Dead Poets Society” (Maurice Jarre), “Back to School” (Danny Elfman), “Mr. Holland’s Opus” (Michael Kamen), and “Tom Brown’s School Days” (again, Richard Addinsell).

Minds will be sharpened and buttons will be pushed, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, 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 the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)

Stream them here!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

September 1, 2023

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