Your Classical Coffee Break

This coffee break continues the journey on the far reaches of what can be called music. We listen to a piece from composer Miguel Del Aguila then careen into a discussion of Frank Zappa playing bicycle on the old Steve Allen Show. Did Dvorak anticipate ragtime music? We listen to The American Suite and hear the familiar syncopation hidden into a standard classical composition. Wait, what! Airplane engines in an orchestra? What was George Antheil, the bad boy of music, thinking?

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Listen to a complete piece by Miguel Del Aguila

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=tppwijrN18o

Here's Frank Zappa on the Steve Allen Show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MewcnFl_6Y

This coffee break explores music that pushes the limits of sound that can be called music--compositions that don't contain the balance of harmony, rhythm, and melody. We listen to pieces from the 18th Century William Billings, the recently passed composer Peter Sculthorpe, and others. We check out what it sounds like when the piano is played from the inside out, then ask the question, can environmental sounds be called music?

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This coffee break completes our retrospective on New Jersey-based composer and pianist George Walker's brilliant career. In 1996, Walker became the first black composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize In Music for his work, "Lilacs" for voice and orchestra, premiered by the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa conducting. Mr. Somers shares some of his personal experiences with Dr. Walker, then we listen to some wonderful pieces for small ensembles. We say farewell with a last listen to Lyric for Strings.

Listen to Lilacs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ScgQUzMqhg

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This podcast celebrates the life and career of George Walker, a great pianist, composer, and the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. Dr. Walker died on August 23, 2018. We explore his life then listen to one of his signature pieces, Lyric for Strings, a beautiful, elegiac composition that is his most performed. He rarely suggested a mood for the musician to perform in, but selected a specific tempo, perhaps allowing the performer to determine the mood.

Here's a version with full orchestra:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2a1vRO_7aY

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Nicholas Hopkins sticks around for another podcast to discuss his passion for Glenn Gould and examine Gould's two recordings of The Goldberg Variations. Gould recorded the piece first in 1955; world-wide acclaim followed. He rerecorded the piece in 1981, this time at half the tempo of the previous piece. Mr. Hopkins has spent considerable time analyzing the recordings and has arrived at some exciting theories. Here are hyperlinks to Nicholas' book and further info about these intriguing interpretations.

https://www.amazon.com/Goulds-Goldberg-Variations-Nicholas-Hopkins/dp/1491149396/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1536071701&sr=8-2&keywords=Nicholas+Hopkins+glenn+gould

https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2017/10/25/559611543/the-gould-that-didnt-glitter-new-box-set-of-goldberg-variations-outtakes

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Otto von Bismarck said, “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.” Seeing how music is made is not so distasteful, once the composer hands over the work. This coffee break discusses the challenging art of orchestration and how Robert Russell Bennett, who worked on top Broadway musicals, worked his craft. Nicholas Hopkins, music, engraver, comes back to explore how his craft brings music to life.

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This coffee break continues the discussion of the forgotten Robert Russell Bennett compositions uncovered by Jan and Paul Somers and their attempts to bring the music to musicians and music lovers. Nicholas Hopkins, a music engraver, explains how the music is developed from raw form to the finished product on the sheet music. Although computer programs are heavily used in his craft, Mr. Hopkins explains how only the human touch can add beauty to the page.

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If you check out Robert Russell Bennett in Wikipedia you will see that he "was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers." But that's not the whole story. A treasure trove of Bennett's unpublished and uncopyrighted compositions were discovered and published by Maurice River Press. Special guests flutist Jan Somers and engraver Nicholas Hopkins help tell the fascinating story. Contact the show at [email protected]. Purchase the Bennett CDs at http://mauriceriverpress.com/

Leonard Bernstein said, "Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable." This coffee break wraps up our extended discussion of the prolific, inspired, and diverse career of Leonard Bernstein. Born in 1918, Bernstein was a central figure in American arts and culture from the 1940s until his death in 1990. We listen to music written in the later part of his career-- the dances from West Side Story, his controversial Symphony #3 "Kaddish," Chichester Psalms, and the amazing theatrical piece "Mass"--all powerful and challenging pieces. And we end our coffee break on perhaps his most important work as a conductor--his interpretation of Beethoven's Symphony #9. Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IInG5nY_wrU

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This podcast continues the celebration of Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday and briefly discusses his published letters and his personal life. We listen to the ending of his musical Candide, another example of his big, life-affirming ethos. Just for fun we listen to Candide's Overture, a short piece that exemplifies Bernstein's breadth and depth as a composer. The piece he wrote for his wife shows his ability to write small, exquisite pieces. His Serenade shows his eagerness to grapple with weighty topics. Plus giving us one of the most virtuosic violin pieces. Listen to a complete performance of Serenade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp868n6rem8

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