Under a Rest

This week, we celebrate the first known performance of Mozart’s opera Bastien und Bastienne, which he composed when he was just 12 years old.

This week, we talk about the British national anthem and its possible origins.

This week, we wish a very happy birthday to Charles Tomlinson Griffes, born September 17th, 1884.

This week, we wish a very happy 178th wedding anniversary to Clara and Robert Schumann.

This week, we bring you a short and sweet episode to celebrate Classical Music Month.

Included in this episode:

Part way through, you will hear a static noise. Don’t be alarmed, it’s just the ghost of Leonard Bernstein paying Jon and Tina a visit as they chat about his storied life, which involves conducting with eyebrows, an 800 page FBI profile, hosting a party for the Black Panthers, and many more anecdotes both musical and non.

Also included in this episode:

Jon and Tina are really good at spontaneously singing pieces in the same key and tempo simultaneously.

This week, we kick off a two part episode celebrating Leonard Bernstein’s 100th Birthday. Tina talks about Bernstein from birth through age 36.

Ep. 13 - Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, the man who patented the metronome

You thought metronomes were just a piano teacher’s favorite torture device. It turns out, they are still used to torture piano students worldwide, but with only the best of intentions...we wish the man who patented them had better intentions.

Included in this episode:
We know how to pronounce this guy’s name! Maelzel was not a great person, but he was a cunning businessman so we’ll give credit where it’s due, we plug an episode of another podcast, and we talk for longer than we thought we could about the virtues of the metronome.

Also included in this episode: 
A chess-playing automaton once called Napoleon out for cheating. True story.

Not included in this episode:
Our intro/outro music (again. Sorry!) Also, Jon forgot to share his awesome metronome joke, so be sure to listen for that in next week’s follow-up.

Exploration

• This is how to pronounce Maelzel’s name

• Radiolab - Speedy Beet

• In case you are curious about tempo markings

• This week’s playlist

• The Chess-Playing Mechanical Turk

If you google the phrase “famous Cuban composers,” Ernesto Lecuona is the first name that comes up. He played a crucial role in bringing Cuban music to the world and single-handedly started a Cuban music craze in Paris in the 1920s and 30s. So why don’t we know more about such an important figure in the world of music?

In October of 1964, world-renowned contralto Marian Anderson began her farewell recital tour. The tour ended on April 18th 1965 at Carnegie Hall, and officially marked her retirement from public performance.