Classic Ross Amico

Tag: WWFM

Thanksgiving Music Movie Americana

There’s more to Thanksgiving than just turkey and football. This week on “Picture Perfect,” we count our blessings and aspire to do better, with music from movies reflective of what’s best in human nature and most admirable in the American character.

Aaron Copland’s work on “The Cummington Story” (1945), a semi-documentary produced by the Office of War Information, underscores the gradual acceptance of European war refugees into a cautious but fundamentally decent New England community. The music is pure Americana, with some of the material later finding its way into Copland’s Clarinet Concerto and “Down a Country Lane.”

“Field of Dreams” (1989) is one of those rare films that has the ability to reduce manly men – even those without father issues – to a pool of tears. Phil Alden Robinson’s superior adaptation of W.P. Kinsella’s novel, “Shoeless Joe,” is a male wish-fulfillment fantasy, in which a man finds redemption, and a new understanding of his father, in the enchanted cornfields of America’s heartland. And it’s all brought about courtesy of America’s pastime, baseball. The evocative score, much indebted to Copland, is by James Horner.

“The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946) is one of the great American classics. This touching film tells the tale of the three WWII veterans struggling to readjust to civilian life. It isn’t easy, but with the support of family and friends, there’s plenty of hope for the future. Hugo Friedhofer wrote the Academy Award-winning score, earning the film one of its seven Oscars. The orchestrations were by Copland protégé (and composer of “The Big Country”) Jerome Moross.

Finally, Daniel Day-Lewis elevates Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” (2012) to greatness with one of the uncanniest performances ever captured on film. Day-Lewis’ gentle but shrewd Man of Destiny would go to any lengths to hold the country together. John Williams taps into America’s proud musical heritage, clearly influenced by Copland and Ives to create a score of stirring nobility.

I hope you’ll join me as we give thanks for family, community and country on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

November 19, 2022
Doreen Carwithen Unsung Film Composer

This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll shine a light on the shamefully underutilized talent of Doreen Carwithen.

In 1941, Carwithen studied harmony and composition with William Alwyn at London’s Royal College of Music. For both, it was love at first sight. Their fateful pairing led to a decades-long romance that culminated in their marriage, finally, in 1975.

The reason for the delay was, unfortunately, at the time of their meeting, Alwyn happened already to be married. The double-life caused tremendous stress. Alwyn, in particular, descended into alcoholism and suffered a nervous breakdown. Finally, his doctor urged him that, if he was going to live at all, he should get on with it already and live honestly.

In the concert hall, Alwyn – a contemporary of William Walton and Michael Tippett – enjoyed comparative success as a symphonist. Carwithen, too, got off to a promising start. Her overture “ODTAA (One Damn Thing After Another)” was conducted by Adrian Boult at Covent Garden in 1947. She also wrote two award-winning string quartets. But the cinema promised more lucrative employment. Carwithen was the first selected by J. Arthur Rank to enter the college’s new film music program.

Combined, during their heyday, in the 1940s and ‘50s, Alwyn and Carwithen wrote the music for over 100 films. Alwyn, in particular, scored such high-profile projects as “The Crimson Pirate,” “A Night to Remember,” and “The Swiss Family Robinson.” Carwithen, although groomed for the very purpose, was not given the same opportunities. In all, she scored only six dramatic features. The rest were documentaries and shorts.

Neither were her concert works, though well-received, met with the same enthusiasm or eagerness by either programmers or publishers. In 1961, she became Alwyn’s secretary and amanuensis, and following his death in 1985, devoted herself to the preservation of his legacy.

After her own death, in 2003, discovered among her papers were sketches for an unfinished string quartet (her third), a symphony, and a cello concerto. One can only imagine that, as an artist, her potential remained unfulfilled.

In anticipation of the centenary of Carwithen’s birth (on November 15, 1921), we’ll do our best to level the playing field, dividing the hour between Alwyn and Carwithen, 50/50, this week, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Watch this space: I’ll be writing more about Carwithen and her efforts for the concert hall this Tuesday!

If you enjoy either of my weekly shows (or both!), or any of the other music you hear on The Classical Network, please consider making a contribution today. We’re celebrating our 40th anniversary on the air and online. If you’re in a position to do so, why not make a donation right now at wwfm.org. Thank you in advance for your generosity and for your continued support of WWFM The Classical Network!

https://wwwfm.secureallegiance.com/wwfm/WebModule/Donate.aspx?P=DEFAULT&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=vOU2bz5JCWmgCDbf53nm9ezWDeZ%2beA1M

November 12, 2022
WWFM Celebrates 40 Years with Kapilow Event

We all catch a break today. We got an extra hour’s sleep (in theory, anyway) – if you remembered to change your clocks – and we get a week off from “The Lost Chord,” as tonight’s show will be preempted, because of a special broadcast.

Rob Kapilow will bring his popular radio program “What Makes It Great” to Mercer County Community College’s Black Box Theatre (adjacent to the WWFM studios) for an invitation-only presentation. I believe the plan is for Rob himself this time to illustrate his lively deconstructions with musical examples and performances on piano and guitar. The event will be broadcast live, beginning at 7:00 EST.

Due to this special event, “The Dress Circle” with Ted Otten and Michael Kownacky will be heard this evening at 9:00, “The Lyric Stage” with Mike Harrah will be heard at 10:00, and probably “The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center” will be heard at 11:00. All I know is that Carl Hemmingsen and I get the boot. So no “The Lost Chord” or “Half Past” this week, which is fine, because you’ll all want to hit the hay early anyway in order to start your work week on the right foot.

Kapilow’s appearance is part of WWFM’s “40 and Forward” membership campaign, celebrating the station’s 40th year. If you haven’t had a chance to show your support, consider tossing us a few acorns. We’ve been enjoying a reprieve from the cold weather, but most assuredly winter is on the way and the larders need to be fortified.

We’ll continue to fiddle for our supper, but we can only do so thanks to the generosity of listeners like you. Help ensure a future of WWFM – The Classical Network sharing great music in our community and around the world with your donation today at wwfm.org.

Enjoy the programming, and thank you, as always for your support!

https://wwwfm.secureallegiance.com/wwfm/WebModule/Donate.aspx?P=DEFAULT&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=vOU2bz5JCWmgCDbf53nm9ezWDeZ%2BeA1M&fbclid=IwAR0E7gEFKbQ0rEbCcDjw4PoG3UcuvU-4aEplMIfT7i_w5NS0wqpTKPBKHDE

November 6, 2022
Miss Marple Before Angela Lansbury

Before Angela Lansbury, there was Margaret Rutherford.

Rutherford played Miss Marple in a series of Agatha Christie adaptations scored by Ron Goodwin. Goodwin’s music for “Murder, She Said” (1961) will be among the selections on this week’s “Picture Perfect,” an hour of wry mysteries and thrillers featuring the sound of the harpsichord.

In the first of the Marple films, Rutherford’s amateur sleuth goes undercover as a domestic servant. Goodwin’s Miss Marple theme became a popular hit, which you may still recognize.

Bette Davis enjoyed something of a comeback following her turn in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?,” opposite Joan Crawford. The film singlehandedly defined a subgenre which has been variously described as “psycho-biddy,” “hag horror,” “hagsploitation,” and “grande dame guignol.” Camp and black comedy are essential elements. “Dead Ringer” (1964) was yet another “bad twin” film, with Davis’ delicious performance underscored by André Previn.

Sir Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine play a deadly game of cat and mouse, as a mystery writer plans to exact revenge on his wife’s lover, in a big screen adaptation of Anthony Shaffer’s play, “Sleuth” (1972). John Addison, who had previously harpsichorded his way to an Academy Award with his score for “Tom Jones,” wrote the impish music.

Finally, Barbara Harris plays a fake psychic and Bruce Dern her cab-driving, private investigator boyfriend, who become embroiled with serial kidnappers, in Alfred Hitchcock’s final film, “Family Plot” (1976). The composer was none other than John Williams, poised between his breakout success, “Jaws,” and “Star Wars,” which was to make him a household name. (Both “Jaws” and “Star Wars” were Academy Award winners for Best Original Score.)

Hitchcock was full of suggestions as to the music and how it should be conducted. The composer recollects that on one occasion, when trying to convey the tone he was looking for, Hitch remarked, “Mr. Williams, murder can be fun.”

We’ll keep our tongues firmly in cheek as the corpses pile up. It’s an hour of arch harpsichords this week, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

October 15, 2022
Yom Kippur Music Reflection on “Lost Chord”

The Jewish High Holy Days are a period of reflection, ten days of awe and repentance. This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” the mood is largely meditative for Yom Kippur.

In 1950, Jacob Weinberg composed a string quartet, published as his Opus 55. The work falls into three movements, bearing the respective subtitles “Rosh Hashanah” (the Jewish New Year), “Yom Kippur” (the Day of Atonement) and “Sukkot” (the harvest festival).

Weinberg’s “Yom Kippur” is based on the famous sung prayer “Kol Nidre” that opens the Yom Kippur Eve service, best known to gentiles, probably, through a setting for cello by Max Bruch. Bruch, though not Jewish, always had a good ear for characteristic melodies of different cultures (further exemplified by his “Scottish Fantasy,” “Swedish Dances,” “Suite on Russian Themes,” etc.).

Likewise, Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek – he of “Donna Diana Overture” fame – was moved by the Yom Kippur melody, on which he wrote a large-scale set of orchestral variations. In contrast to the reverential setting by Bruch, Reznicek puts the theme through a befuddling array of permutations, pivoting back and forth from light to serious. It’s not synagogue music, but it is fascinating.

The hour will conclude with a reverential setting by Patrick Sinozich of ”Avinu Malkeynu” (“Our Father, Our King”) by Max Janowski, performed by Chicago a cappella.

Make room for rumination. I hope you’ll join me for “Tones of Atonement,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

October 2, 2022

Tag Cloud

RECENT POSTS