Classic Ross Amico

Tag: WWFM

Classical Music for All Seasons on WWFM

As the weather has careened over the past several days from 20 degrees and snow to a projected 60 degrees tomorrow, so shall our musical selections this afternoon be varied and perhaps even a mite exhilarating.

We’ll observe the anniversary of the birth of composer Reinhold Glière with his flamboyant symphonic poem “The Zaporozhy Cossacks,” inspired by the raucous painting of Ilya Repin. Sir Alexander Gibson’s artistry will be recalled through one of his great Sibelius recordings. The Norwegian composer, Christian Sinding (he of “Rustles of Spring” fame) will be represented by his über-Romantic piano concerto. And Maurice Duruflé will set a more contemplative mood with his “Four Motets on Gregorian Themes.”

Is it winter? Spring? We have music suitable for all seasons this afternoon, from 4 to 7:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 11, 2017
Concerts on the Slope Chamber Music Broadcast

I think you’ll agree, there’s nothing slippery about this Slope.

Today’s edition of “The Classical Network in Concert” will feature performances guaranteed to stick to your ribs, as we travel to Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Park Slope, Brooklyn, for Concerts on the Slope. Concerts on the Slope was founded in 2012 to present top-notch chamber music concerts, featuring rising young artists from New York and around the world.

This afternoon’s broadcast will include a complete concert given on Oct. 23, 2016 – a program of clarinet trios by Jonathan Tunick, Ke-Chia Chen, and Beethoven – with clarinetist Eric Umble, cellist Benjamin Larsen, and pianist Jeong Hwa Park; and then, after a break, we’ll hear highlights from a concert given on Oct. 2, by Frank Morelli and his All-Star Bassoon Quartet. The program will include music by Gounod, Bach, Handel and Leonard Bernstein. You can find out more about the series at concertsontheslope.org.

Stick around after 2:00 EST for major works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Bohuslav Martinu. I’ll be serving up the Slope for lunch at noon, and then spinning the platters until 4, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 10, 2017
Ulysses Kay Rediscovered on The Lost Chord

Regrettably, the music of Ulysses Kay is under-represented in the current catalogue. His delightful “Six Dances for String Orchestra,” probably the lightest music he ever wrote, has been available sporadically on the Vox label, though always badly in need of a new recording. This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll hear two of those dances as part of an hour devoted to Kay’s music, as we celebrate the composer’s centenary. (He was born on January 7, 1917.)

We’ll hear his work for trumpet and piano, “Tromba,” from 1985; a long out-of-print LP of his “Concerto for Orchestra,” recorded in 1953; and a suite from his film score to “The Quiet One,” from 1947. A quasi-documentary about an abused African American child and his subsequent coming of age, “The Quiet One” received an Oscar nomination for Best Story and Screenplay, and was listed by the New York Times and the National Board of Review as one of the ten best movies of 1948.

I hope you’ll join me for “Giving Kay His Say,” Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 8, 2017
Ulysses Kay American Composer Centennial Celebration

Ulysses Kay was born in Tuscon, AZ, on this date in 1917. A nephew of jazz musician King Oliver, his uncle encouraged him to study music formally. Likewise, he received encouragement from William Grant Still, then recognized as the “Dean of African-American Composers.” Kay attended the University of Arizona, before heading on to the Eastman-School, where he studied with Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers. Also influential were studies with Paul Hindemith at the Berkshire Music Center, and then Yale.

Kay served in the United States Navy during World War II. He then continued his studies at Columbia with Otto Luening. A recipient of multiple scholarships, grants and awards, he was able to live and study abroad, in Rome, where he attended the American Academy, for several years.

From 1953 to 1968, he worked for BMI. He was then appointed professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, where he remained until his retirement, two decades later. A longtime resident of Teaneck, NJ, he composed orchestral, chamber, choral and instrumental works, and five operas. He died in 1995 at the age of 88.

We’ll celebrate the 100th anniversary of Kay’s birth with an hour of his music, “Giving Kay His Say,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST on “The Lost Chord,” on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

An interview with Kay conducted by Bruce Duffie:

http://www.bruceduffie.com/kay.html

January 7, 2017
Classical Birthday & Movie Music on WWFM Friday

There will be plenty of candles on the cake today. Join me at 4:00 EST in celebrating the birthday anniversaries of Max Bruch, Alexander Scriabin, and Maurice Abravanel. I’ll also have a musical remembrance of conductor Georges Prêtre, who died on Wednesday at the age of 92.

“Picture Perfect” comes your way at 6:00. Now that we’ve had a taste a snow, it’s time to take in some wintry scenes from world cinema. We’ll hear music from “The Snowstorm” (1964), by Georgy Sviridov, “The Demon of the Himalayas” (1935), by Arthur Honegger, “Scott of the Antarctic” (1948), by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and “Alexander Nevsky” (1938), by Sergei Prokofiev.

It’s Friday afternoon. Chill out with WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 6, 2017

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