Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah Concert Celebrating Women Composers

For those of you who celebrate, I extend my best wishes for a good and sweet new year. The two-day observance of Rosh Hashana began last night at sunset.

To mark the occasion, and with the shofar still fresh in our ears, this afternoon on The Classical Network, I’ll present Meira Warshauer’s “Tekeeya: Concerto for Shofar, Trombone and Orchestra.”

Warshauer’s unusual concerto nicely dovetails with my month-long celebration of women composers, to coincide with the bicentennial of the birth of Clara Schumann.

On this last day of September, I’ll have one more work by Schumann herself; also the “Psalm” for cello and orchestra by Irish composer Ina Boyle (a pupil of Ralph Vaughan Williams).

As if all that weren’t enough, I’ll send out musical birthday greetings to Johan Svendsen, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, David Oistrakh, and Valentin Silvestrov.

The playlist will be as sweet as a mouth full of apples and honey, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

September 30, 2019
Rosh Hashanah ’80s Vibe on The Lost Chord

Shana Tova! Are you ready for the ‘80s?

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” to coincide with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, we welcome 5780, and greet the High Holidays with two complementary works.

Jacob Weinberg’s String Quartet, Op. 55, of 1950, falls into three movements: “Rosh Hashana,” “Yom Kippur” and “Sukkot.” “Yom Kippur” is based on the cantorial chant “Kol Nidre.” (You know, the same one famously employed by Max Bruch.)

Ernest Bloch’s “Israel Symphony,” composed between 1912 and 1917, is more like an orchestral rhapsody, with its three sections – “Prayer in the Desert,” “Yom Kippur” and “Succoth” – played continuously and capped by 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.

The High Holidays are a period of reflection, ten days of awe and repentance, culminating in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

I hope you’ll join me in welcoming 5780, on “Totally Awesome,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

September 29, 2019
Shofar Sounds for Rosh Hashanah on The Lost Chord

Shana tova!

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” to coincide with the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, we celebrate the High Holidays with several works highlighting the shofar, a ram’s horn blown as a symbolic call to worship during the holiday season.

We’ll hear “Call of the Shofar,” for trombone quartet, by Matthew H. Fields (including a pre-performance demonstration by the composer); “Shofar Service,” for baritone, trumpets, shofar, and chorus, by Herman Berlinski (from the Milken Archive of Jewish Music Series, on the Naxos label); and “Tekeeyah,” for shofar, trombone, and orchestra, by Meira Warshauer Composer (on a Navona Records/PARMA Recordings release).

Get ready to party like it’s 5779. Horn in on the High Holidays with music for the shofar – “Have a Blast,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

September 9, 2018
Rosh Hashanah Creation Stories on WPRB

In the beginning… we’ll hear “In the Beginning.”

On the recommendation of Benjamin Britten, Aaron Copland set a passage from Genesis for a cappella chorus. A beautiful recording of the work, featuring the Choir of New College Oxford, will kick off five hours of musical creation stories for Rosh Hashanah on WPRB.

We’ll also hear the Adam and Eve duet from Franz Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation,” Jerome Moross’ Adam and Eve ballet “The Last Judgment,” and the “Creation Symphony” by Scottish composer William Wallace.

Not all of the selections will derive from the Judeo-Christian tradition. We’ll also hear Alberto Ginastera’s “Popol Vuh,” after the Mayan creation story; Darius Milhaud’s “La Création du monde,” inspired by African creation myths; “The Creation of the World” from the “Edda Oratorio” by Icelandic composer Jon Leifs; and Jean Sibelius’ “Luonnotar,” after a passage from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala.

We’ll round out the morning with a collaborative curio organized by composer and conductor Nathaniel Shilkret. Shilkret managed to cajole a number of the day’s greatest talents, then living in California, into collaborating on the “Genesis Suite,” a seven movement work for narrator, chorus and orchestra. The individual movements were composed by Arnold Schoenberg, Alexandre Tansman, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ernst Toch, Igor Stravinsky, Milhaud and Shilkret himself.

That’s a full morning of creation stories for the Jewish New Year, from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. When tempted with the Forbidden Fruit, we always ask, “Where’s the honey?,” on Classic Ross Amico.

September 21, 2017
Rosh Hashanah Playlist: Music of Creation

L’shana tova! Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown. The Jewish New Year marks the traditional anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve.

This Thursday morning, though the observant will likely be in synagogue as I present my weekly show on WPRB, I thought I would try to tie in loosely with the celebrations by assembling a playlist of music about the creation of the world. We’ll hear Aaron Copland’s “In the Beginning,” the Adam and Eve duet from Franz Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation,” Jerome Moross’ Adam and Eve ballet “The Last Judgment,” and the “Creation Symphony” by Scottish composer William Wallace.

Not all of the selections will derive from the Judeo-Christian tradition. We’ll also hear Alberto Ginastera’s “Popol Vuh,” after the Mayan creation story; Darius Milhaud’s “La Création du monde,” inspired by African creation myths; “The Creation of the World” from the “Edda Oratorio” by Icelandic composer Jon Leifs; and Jean Sibelius’ “Luonnotar,” after a passage from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala.

Some of the music will tie in very loosely indeed. Sir Arthur Bliss’ ballet “Adam Zero” begins with the birth of Adam, then sets him on an allegorical journey through the cycle of life. Romeo Cascarino’s “Pygmalion” is a beautiful metaphor for the artist who falls in love with his own creation.

One of the morning’s true curiosities will be a collaborative effort organized by composer and conductor Nathaniel Shilkret, who managed to cajole a number of the day’s greatest talents, then living in California, into contributing to a seven movement piece for narrator, chorus and orchestra. The individual movements of the “Genesis Suite” were composed by Arnold Schoenberg, Alexandre Tansman, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ernst Toch, Igor Stravinsky, Milhaud and Shilkret himself.

The creation of the heavens and the earth may have taken six days, but we’ve got only five hours this Thursday morning, from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. I’ll be sending you best wishes for a sweet new year, from Classic Ross Amico.

IMAGE: Adam and Eve (1526) by Lucas Cranach the Elder

“Is there any honey on that apple?”

September 20, 2017

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