In honor of Independence Day, Jay does an all American program: ending with “Plenty Good Room,” the spiritual. He begins with some ballet, cowboy style: “Hoe Down” (Copland). Along the way, we have songs, piano pieces, an aria, some bluegrass—Happy Fourth, to all.

Copland, “Hoe-Down,” from “Rodeo”
MacDowell, “By a Meadow Brook,” from “Woodland Sketches”
Beach, “Ah, Love, but a Day”
Wheeler, Scott, “Isolation Rag”
Hoiby, “Lady of the Harbor”
Meyer, Edgar, et al. (?), “Death by Triple Fiddle”
Floyd, “Ain’t It a Pretty Night?” from “Susannah”
Gershwin-Heifetz, Prelude in C-sharp Minor
Trad., “Plenty Good Room”

Music for a While #29: America: plenty good room

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The Friends of The New Criterion recently gathered for an evening in celebration of Peter Vertacnik, whose “The Nature of Things Fragile” won the magazine’s twenty-third poetry prize. Listen to hear Peter read a number of poems from this new collection.

Peter Vertacnik reads from “The Nature of Things Fragile”

Jay has assembled a little celebration of spring: songs, arias, a symphony, a sonata. Who doesn’t want to sing spring?

Argento, “Spring,” from “Six Elizabethan Songs”
Sinding, “Rustle of Spring”
Wagner, “Du bist der Lenz,” from “Die Walküre”
Beethoven, “Spring” Sonata, Rondo
Strauss, “Herr Lenz”
Saint-Saëns, “Printemps qui commence,” from “Samson et Dalila”
Schumann, “Er ist’s”
Hoiby, “Always It’s Spring”
Wolf, “Er ist’s”
Schumann, “Spring” Symphony, first movement
Warlock, “Pretty Ring Time”

Music for a While #87: Spring forward

On March 14, the Friends and Young Friends of The New Criterion gathered at the magazine’s headquarters to hear remarks from Dr. Alexander Chula on his new book, “Goodbye, Dr. Banda: Lessons for the West From a Small African Country.”

Goodbye, Dr. Banda

Recently, Carnegie Hall hosted a John Williams gala. The program was all-Williams and the composer himself conducted most of the concert. In this episode, Jay hosts his own little Williams gala.

All by John Williams:
“The Mission”
Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”
Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Main Title from “Catch Me If You Can”
Raiders March from “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”
Flying Theme from “E.T.”
The Imperial March, a.k.a. Darth Vader’s Theme, from “Star Wars”

Music for a While #86: A Williams gala

On February 29, the Galliard Society joined the Friends and Young Friends of The New Criterion at The Players in New York for remarks delivered by Dominic Green.

Music for a While #29: America: plenty good room

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