Classic Ross Amico

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Maundy Thursday: Origins & Passion Week Music

Is it Maundy, or is it Thursday? Why, it’s Maundy Thursday!

“Maundy” is most likely derived from the Latin “mandatum,” as in “Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos” (“A new commandment I give you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you”). Or it could come from the Middle English and Old French words “maund” and “mendier,” respectively, after the Latin “mendicare,” meaning to beg.

In any case, we are now entering the holiest days of the Christian calendar. Maundy Thursday commemorates Jesus’ washing of the feet of his disciples, the Last Supper, and the betrayal and arrest of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane.

This morning on WPRB, we’ll have music inspired by the events of Passion Week, when Christians mark the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ. We’ll have a setting of the Stabat Mater, a poignant work for string quartet inspired by Christ’s reflections in the garden on the eve of his crucifixion, and a symphonic poem inspired by the same.

It won’t all be hardcore, however. We’ll also have music of a more generalized reflective or mystical nature. For instance, later on in this hour, we’ll hear William Alwyn’s gorgeous harp concerto, “Lyra Angelica,” which was popularized by figure skater Michelle Kwan when she used it as the basis for one of her performances during the 1998 Winter Olympics.

I hope you’ll join me this morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com, as we get passionate about Holy Week on Classic Ross Amico.

PHOTO: Early 13th century depiction by an unknown artist of Christ washing the feet of his disciples, located in the Basilica di San Marco in Venice

March 24, 2016
Holy Week Music on WPRB

Have you got a passion for Passions? Do you think Stabat Maters matter? Tune in to WPRB tomorrow morning for music for Holy Week. That’s right, it’s wholly music for Passiontide.

Well, not wholly. We’ll have some selections of a broadly mystical nature (William Alwyn’s harp concerto, “Lyra Angelica,” for instance), works of a meditative bent (for example, John Tavener’s “Song of the Angel”), and perhaps a couple of pieces concerning hope and renewal (such as Edmund Rubbra’s “Resurgam Overture”).

Otherwise, it will be music inspired by the Passion story, ranging roughly from Palm Sunday through, possibly, the observation of Russian Easter. Some of it will be purely orchestral (Paul Creston’s Symphony No. 3 “Three Mysteries,” Victor De Sabata’s “Gethsemani”) and some will include vocal soloists and chorus (Karol Szymanowski’s “Stabat Mater”).

Also, a certain listener has been requesting Eugene Ormandy’s recording of Respighi’s “Church Windows” since June, probably. Now seems as good a time as any to blast that out. For my own edification, I may have to play Vaughan Williams’ “Five Mystical Songs,” with the great John Shirley-Quirk.

This is a radio show, not a church service, so nobody freak out if an “Alleluia” or a “Gloria” slip into the mix, okay? We’re here to celebrate the music, not to scrupulously observe the minutiae of tradition. I’ll be lining the CD case with Easter grass, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com, and wishing you peace, hope, and happiness, on Classic Ross Amico.

March 23, 2016
St Patricks Day Classic Ross Amico

Get ready to get your Irish up! Brace yourself for the cosmic convergence of St. Patrick’s Day and Classic Ross Amico.

Join me tomorrow morning, when we’ll have music from Ireland and on Irish themes, with works by native composers Philip Hammond, Sir Hamilton Harty, John Larchet, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, and Joan Trimble; composers of Irish descent Edward Joseph Collins, Henry Cowell, Augusta Holmès and Sir Arthur Sullivan; and Irishmen-for-a-day Sir Arnold Bax, Ludwig van Beethoven, Percy Grainger and Frank Martin, for starters.

We’ll take a short break in the 9:00 hour to speak with pianist Orli Shaham, who will be bringing her interactive program, Baby Got Bach, designed for kids 3 to 6, to Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium this Sunday at 1 p.m. Joining her for this special event will be So Percussion and Rachel Richardson of American Ballet Theatre. For more information, look online at princetonuniversityconcerts.org.

I hope you’ll join me in hoisting a Guinness, weeping over a sentimental air or two, and taking the occasional shillelagh in the teeth, from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. Our Irish eyes are smiling (on our mother’s side), on Classic Ross Amico.

#StPatricksDay

March 16, 2016
Forgotten Female Composers on WPRB

The “fair sex” wasn’t always treated so fairly. Join me this morning on WPRB, as we listen to neglected works by female composers, who labored at a time when the act of composition was still very much a man’s game.

We’ll hear a symphony by the only female professor at the Paris Conservatory during the whole of the 19th century; a sizeable piece for piano and orchestra by a composer generally regarded as a miniaturist; music by a woman who tied with Ernest Bloch in a composition contest but finally gave up her creative aspirations due to general indifference to her work; and an assured “serenade” for orchestra by a suffragette who wouldn’t take no for an answer.

It’s our musical salute to Women’s History Month, this morning from 6 to 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. A woman’s place is in the concert hall, on Classic Ross Amico.

PORTRAIT: Louis Farrenc was a professor of piano at the Paris Conservatory for 30 years, beginning in 1842. Of course she was only allowed to teach women…

March 10, 2016
WPRB’s All-Vinyl Week: Rare Grooves & Local Music

Vinyl, vinyl everywhere!

Music by contemporary composers released on the CRI label. Lesser known works, recorded by major artists on major labels, which have never been reissued. A long out-of-print DG recording of music by a Canadian master. The late Louis Lane conducting American music. Works by Philadelphia composers Paul Nordoff and Richard Yardumian. A cult classic featuring the songs of humpback whales.

These are some of the curiosities that I’ll be sharing with you this morning, as I comb the WPRB record library (leavened with a few choice albums from my own collection). It’s part of WPRB’s All-Vinyl Week. That’s right, WPRB is playing nothing but good old-fashioned vinyl through Sunday.

Ruth Ochs, music director of the Westminster Community Orchestra, will drop by around 9:00 to talk a little bit about the upcoming Westminster Conservatory of Music showcase concert, which will take place on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium. The program will include performances by community ensembles, students and conservatory competition winners. Ochs is also conductor of the Princeton University Sinfonia.

Other than that, it all comes off the turntables this morning, from 6 to 11 ET on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. We put the style in “stylus,” on Classic Ross Amico.

February 25, 2016

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