Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Sweetness and Light

Thanksgiving Music Feast American Composers KWAX

While it seems to be the fashion these days to slap up the Christmas lights with Halloween barely in rear-view mirror, I’m old school. There’s no Christmas in this house until Advent or, this year, until the Thanksgiving leftovers run out.

Therefore, don’t be surprise if, this week on “Sweetness and Light,” my head is decidedly NOT full of sugar plums tucked in their beds (or however it goes). I am not there yet. Rather, I’ll be piling the turkey sandwiches high with cranberry sauce for breakfast as we savor musical delights suggestive of Thanksgiving weekend.

Some of the works will be evocative of foods associated with the holiday. All will be American in origin. Some will be specifically connected to New England.

The playlist, etched in mashed potatoes, will include music by John Williams, Edward MacDowell, Craig Russell, Leonard Bernstein, Morton Gould, and pianist/rodeo champion David Guion.

I’ll be wringing out the last of the cornucopia with an hour of Thanksgiving leftovers, on “Sweetness and Light.” Join me in shoveling in the pumpkin pie and whipped cream, this Saturday morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Stream it wherever you are at the link:

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

November 30, 2024
Thanksgiving Music on KWAX Radio

This week on “Sweetness and Light,” I’ll do my level best to fill our heads with visions of pumpkin pie and cranberry bread and, yes, even Thanksgiving turkey.

We’ll hear works by Rick Sowash, Thomas Canning, Edvard Grieg, Howard Hanson, and Aaron Copland, and a concerto by Antonio Vivaldi that bears the nickname “The Turkey” – not because it’s a dud, mind you, but rather because of the cascading broken third passages in the solo lines of the work’s third movement, which apparently reminded someone of the ungainly bird. Gobble gobble!

Join me for an hour of hymn tunes and harvest dances and most of all music of gratitude. It’s a program of hope and thanksgiving. We’ll be reaching deep into the cornucopia on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Stream it where you are at the link:

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

November 23, 2024
Hindemith Birthday KWAX Radio & Bliss Michelson

I already post too much on Saturdays, since I’m committed to promote my radio shows “Sweetness and Light” and “The Lost Chord,” both of which air today on KWAX (and can be streamed here: kwax.uoregon.edu); but today also marks the birthday of one of the most significant composers of the 20th century. Sometimes I’ll do a search to see what I’ve written about a given anniversary over the past years, and I am frequently awed by my younger self. Who is that guy? I guess once the monomania takes hold, there’s no stopping me. At any rate, I find my observations from 2019 to be interesting and entertaining. I hope you do too. Once you read the post, be sure to scroll down to the comments section to read an amusing anecdote shared by my radio mentor, the late and dearly-missed Bliss Michelson.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1379019078932045&set=a.279006378933326

If Bliss’ comment sparks your curiosity to hear Hindy’s Double Bass Sonata, here’s a link to the piece:

Also, I wonder if this is the Chicago Symphony concert he was referring to?

Happy birthday, Paul Hindemith.

November 16, 2024
Sweetness Light Musical Consolation on KWAX

Who knew it would turn out to be such a stressful season for so many? To be honest, no matter how things played out, I guess we all knew. We’ll try to dial it down a bit this week on “Sweetness and Light,” and clear our heads for an hour of musical consolations.

No, really. Franz Liszt’s “Consolations” will be among our featured works. So will Scott Joplin’s “Solace.” Composer Rick Sowash reached out to me in the spring to bring to my attention the fact that he had written a piece called “Sweetness and Light.” I thought it would be a good time to include that, too. We’ll find further affirmation in nature, friendship, and a good walk.

At our peaceful core is “Sweetness and Light.” Regain your footing and find your center. It’s a celebration of fragile beauty in a turbulent world, this Saturday morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station on the University of Oregon.

Stream it wherever you are at the link:

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

November 9, 2024
Fall Back into Music Sweetness and Light on KWAX

If we have to change the clocks, this is the time-change we all look forward to, as at least we “fall back” to standard time. It’s the spring that really gets you (and I don’t mean a clock spring).

As a gentle reminder to make the necessary adjustments before going to bed tonight, the focus of this week’s “Sweetness and Light” will be music about hours and minutes.

We’ll have “timely” works by Amilcare Ponchielli, Sir Granville Bantock, Albert Ketelbey, Frederic Chopin, Franz Joseph Haydn, and of course Leroy Anderson.

I hope you’ll join me, as it’s “About Time” on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 PDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio of station of the University of Oregon!

Stream it wherever you are at the link:

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

November 2, 2024

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