Classic Ross Amico

Tag: WPRB

Britannia Rules Waves WPRB English Music

Rule, Britannia! Britannia rules the waves – the air waves, at any rate, as this morning on WPRB we present a full playlist of English music.

The show will be anchored by three English symphonies: George Lloyd’s 6th, Edmund Rubbra’s 3rd, and William Alwyn’s 4th. What’s that you say? You don’t know them? Then the greater should be your enjoyment at their acquaintance.

We’ll also hear ballet music by Richard Arnell, film music by Sir Malcolm Arnold, and a world premiere recording of a violin sonata by Cyril Scott (with Westminster Conservatory faculty member Clipper Erickson at the keyboard). In between, we’ll fill in with some British Light Music and some early English dances.

It’s a varied menu of ham, lamb and strawberry jam, from 6 to 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. Join me for a spot of tea, won’t you, on Classic Ross Amico.

January 28, 2016
English Music Marathon on WPRB Today

I’d heed John Bull if I were you. Yet to come this morning: the Symphony No. 3 by Edmund Rubbra, the Violin Sonata No. 4 by Cyril Scott, the ballet “The Angels” by Richard Arnell, the Symphony No. 4 by William Alwyn, and more. It’s a full morning of English music until 11 ET on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.

January 28, 2016
Classic Ross Amico’s Albion Farewell & Hello

When you don’t know what to do, do what you know. Yet another pearl of wisdom from the lips of Classic Ross Amico.

Using this as my guiding principle, tomorrow morning on WPRB I will share five hours of English music, including works by William Alwyn, Sir Malcolm Arnold, Sir Lennox Berkeley, Rebecca Clarke, Stephen Dodgson, Gerald Finzi, Gustav Holst, Herbert Howells, John Ireland, Nicholas Maw, Cecilia McDowall, Edmund Rubbra, Cyril Scott, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, among others. I’ll also be playing some Richard Arnell for Marvin Rosen, and – to his annoyance, I’m sure – plenty of British Light Music.

I hope you’ll join me for these giants of Albion, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. The sun never sets on Classic Ross Amico.

PLEASE NOTE: Tomorrow will be my last Thursday morning air shift at WPRB. Beginning next week, after an eight-month sabbatical, Teri Noel Towe will resume Towe on Thursday. Classic Ross Amico will move to FRIDAY MORNING, beginning on February 5. If you’re one to say “TGIF,” I’m sure I will find plenty of reasons to give you pause.

January 27, 2016
Winter Music Inspiration on WPRB

If, as Edison said, genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, where does that leave room for stimulation? I’ll let you know when I get to the bottom of my double-bagged, 20-ounce tea. The Bumble – well, The Bumble is as The Bumble does.

The snow begins tomorrow night in the Philadelphia-Trenton-Princeton area, and we’re back up to projected accumulations of at least a foot. Thankfully my new boots are in the mail, and I’ve got plenty of bread and milk.

While the rest of you are standing in line at the grocery store, I’ll be at WPRB this morning, setting the tone for the impending snowpocalypse, with music of a decidedly wintry nature. As time allows, we’ll take trips to the North Pole, with George Lloyd’s epic Symphony No. 4 – the “Arctic” symphony – and to the South – with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 7, the “Sinfonia Antarctica.” (If we run short, we may have to resort to selections from RVW’s film score to “Scott of the Antarctic,” which was the symphony’s source.)

Representatives of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, including composer-in-residence Jing Jing Luo, will drop by at around 9:00 to talk about their upcoming concert at Richardson Auditorium, on January 31 at 4 p.m. Luo’s work, “Tsao Shu” (“Grass Scripts”), was inspired by her fascination with Chinese calligraphy. Also on the PSO program will be music by Mozart and Kodaly.

Then at around 10:00, we’ll enjoy a chat with visitors from the orchestra Grand Harmonie. Grand Harmonie will present the U.S. authentic instrument premiere of Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” in a semi-staged performance, at Richardson this Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

We’ll also feature Dawn Upshaw’s Grammy Award-winning recording of Maria Schneider’s “Winter Morning Walks.” Upshaw will perform three songs by Osvaldo Golijov on the upcoming concert of the Princeton Symphony.

Get ready to scrape your windshields, from 6 to 11 ET on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. We’ll be Bumbling through another shift, on Classic Ross Amico.

January 21, 2016
Arctic Symphony Beethoven on WPRB

On a morning devoted to wintry topics, we’re currently listening to George Lloyd’s epic Symphony No. 4, subtitled the “Arctic.” Lloyd wrote the piece while recovering from injuries sustained in naval combat during World War II, when his ship was torpedoed, killing 17 of his crewmates and nearly drowning him in machine oil. Lloyd couldn’t speak afterward for nearly a year. The symphony reflects none of the horrors of war, but rather, as Lloyd put it, “a world of darkness, storms, strange colors, and a far away peacefulness.”

A little after 9:00, I will be joined by Jing Jing Luo, composer-in-residence with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. Luo’s “Tsao Shu” (“Grass Scripts”), inspired by her fascination with Chinese calligraphy, will be performed by the PSO at Richardson Auditorium on January 31 at 4 p.m., on a program which will also feature works by Mozart, Kodaly and Osvaldo Golijov. (Dawn Upshaw will be the soloist in Golijov’s “Three Songs.”)

Later on, around 10:00, representatives of the orchestra Grand Harmonie will pay a visit, to talk about the U.S. authentic instrument premiere of Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” which the group will present, in a semi-staged performance at Richardson, this Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Before the morning is out, we’ll hear either the Symphony No. 7, the “Sinfonia Antartica,” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, or selections from the film score that inspired it, RVW’s music for “Scott of the Antarctic.”

One way or another, the snow’s a-comin’, this morning until 11 ET, here on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.

January 21, 2016

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