I’m listening to the Other Minds disc Lexical Music, containing some of Charles Amirkhanian’s classic text-sound compositions of the seventies. Church Car is not included, but the video above is a delightful extension of the tradition.
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At times Bonaroo’s debut record seems to be a bit ambitious and uneven but overall it is certainly a vinyl find.
The post Over 40 years later, Bonaroo holds up remarkably well appeared first on Goldmine Magazine.
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Selection Section: Chicano Batman’s Top 10 Records Heard Via Art Laboe We’re reaching out to some of our favorite bands and DJs and asking them to share with our readers some of their most loved releases for our new series, Selection Section. This time we called on LA band, Chicano Batman. With their catchy blend of Brazilian TropicalÃa, early 70s psychedelic soul and romantic pop, Chicano Batman have been […] falsepriest posted 21 minutes ago
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The BBC has revealed the list of repertoire to be included in its latest Ten Pieces project.
The third phase of the scheme will explore music by traditional names in the classical music canon such as Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and Copland, but also includes a work by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George – also known as ‘Le Mozart Noir’ (the black Mozart) – and a commission from contemporary choral composer Kerry Andrew.
Andrew’s No Place Like sets words from children about their home and is set for children’s choir, giving participants in the Ten Pieces scheme the opportunity to perform a work on the repertoire list for the first time. ‘The work includes moments where schools can customise it, depending on where they live,’ says Andrew. ‘The lyrics were adapted from a huge amount of words sent to me by primary school children around the UK. They told me where they were from – everything from 'my mummy's tummy' to 'the Big Bang'. Their contributions were heart-warming and inspiring – a portrait of the nation through the eyes of kids. I’m really excited to imagine that children all around the country will be taking my piece and making it their own. ”
The Ten Pieces scheme – which began with a set of works for primary school aged children in 2014 – has so far reached over four million school children across the UK, sold out four BBC Proms concerts and won a BAFTA for the Ten Pieces II film.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/131185971?color=9b004f&byline=0
Ten Pieces from FLOCKlondon on Vimeo.
The resources for the third wave of the scheme will be made available to the public at the start of the 17/18 academic year. They will include online support for teachers and parents, UK-wide events, the popular coaching scheme led by the BBC’s Orchestras and Choirs and close collaboration with music and arts organisations.
The full list of repertoire included in Ten Pieces III is…
1. Kerry Andrew No Place Like – Commission for a cappella voices
2. Mason Bates Anthology of Fantastic Zoology – Sprite; A Bao A Qu
3. Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Symphony No. 1 in G major – Allegro (1st mvt)
4. Aaron Copland Rodeo – Hoe-Down
5. AntonÃn Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E minor, 'From the New World’ – Largo (2nd mvt)
6. Edward Elgar ‘Enigma’ Variations – Theme (‘Enigma’), variations 11, 6 & 7
7. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker – Waltz of the Flowers; Russian Dance
8. Carl Orff Carmina burana – ‘O fortuna’
9. Henry Purcell Abdelazer – Rondeau
10. Jean Sibelius Finlandia
For more information, visit the Ten Pieces website.
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The weather is turning milder, days are longer, and the first buds of spring blossoms are starting to show. To celebrate, we take a look at some of the best music inspired by the season…
Schumann – Symphony No. 1
The month of March, they say, comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. Appropriately, Schumann’s ‘Spring’ Symphony No. 1 introduces itself with something of an icy blast – the composer himself originally subtitled the first movement ‘The beginning of Spring’. Things then warm up over the next three movements of this wonderfully life-affirming work, first performed under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn in March 1841. After a gentle Larghetto second movement and energetic Scherzo, the buoyant finale celebrates a world in which all is now truly green.
Vivaldi – The Four Seasons: Spring
In Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, ‘Spring’ is joyful, energetic and optimistic. The famous opening movement – full of imitations of birdsong, murmuring brooks, and soft breezes – gives way to a sleepier Largo, in which a goat-herd sleeps next to his faithful dog, represented by a barking viola line, before the final rustic dance of nymphs and shepherds leads the concerto to a harrumphing conclusion.
Delius – On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
Take a springtime woodland walk and you may be lucky enough to hear the distinctive call of a cuckoo. Delius incorporates the bird’s distinctive sound in his delightful tone poem. Premiered in Leipzig in 1913, it’s the first of his Two Pieces for Small Orchestra. He introduces the bird’s call on the oboe, before it is taken up by strings and then clarinet.
Amy Beach – The Year’s at the Spring
Of Amy Beach’s 150 or so songs, this is possibly the best known. Written in 1899, this soaring and optimistic work is one of three texts Beach set by the English poet Robert Browning.
Amy Beach is our March issue Composer of the Month – pick up a copy to find out more about this underappreciated composer.
Britten – The Succession of the Four Sweet Months
In Britten’s setting of this poem by Robert Herrick each of the ‘four sweet months’ is represented by a different voice. First, April, sung by the sopranos ‘opens the way for early flowers’. May is represented ‘in more rich and sweet array’ by the altos, June and the tenors ‘bring us more gems than the two that went before’ and, finally, July arrives in the bass line.
Copland – Appalachian Spring
With its fresh colours, clean lines and dancing rhythms, Copland’s Appalachian Spring has become one of his most popular pieces – primarily in the orchestral suite version of the original ballet. It tells the tale of a young American pioneer couple who celebrate their springtime wedding and contemplate the joys and challenges of their new life together. The piece culminates in the uplifting variations on the Shaker hymn ‘Simple Gifts’ and ends in serenity.
Read more…
• The best classical music for autumn
• Classical music for fireworks night
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By the early 1960s, the popularity of ’50s-style jazz-pop vocal groups like the Hi-Lo’s, the Axidentals, the Four Freshmen and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross fell out of favor as music tastes shifted. There was Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, of course, and a few other groups, but most vocal harmonizing on the pop charts was done by ensembles such as the Fifth Dimension and the Mamas and the Papas.
When jazz-pop vocal groups hit the skids, singers who could handle the rigors of the recording studio slipped into the lucrative world of TV and radio advertising, especially if they could write jingles and artfully arrange the vocal parts.
One of the most successful jingle groups of the ’60s was the J’s With Jamie. Their vocals can be heard on dozens of the decade’s ads for products such as Mr. Clean, Green Giant, Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum and Alka-Seltzer to name a few. The quartet from Chicago featured three male singers and one female. At the heart of the group was Joe Silvia and his wife Jamie. The other two slots were filled by a rotating group of male singers, including Len Dressler and Don Shelton. Shelton had been in the Hi-Lo’s, and both would help found the Singers Unlimited in the late 1960s with Bonnie Herman and Gene Puerling.
The J’s With Jamie also recorded albums for Columbia and ABC-Paramount (with arrangements by Don Costa). The also nearly won two Grammys in 1964 but lost out in the “Best Performance By a Vocal Group” category to Peter, Paul & Mary (Blowin’ in the Wind) and in the “Best New Artist” category to Ward Swingle of the Swingle Signers.
Jamie’s voice was special. There was an upbeat warmth and polished perfection to her intonation that came with an Eydie Gormé feel. The more you listen to her voice and the group’s vocal arrangements, the more remarkable they become. Jamie belonged to a corner of the jazz-pop field rarely explored or celebrated in books or articles.
Frankly, I knew nothing about the J’s With Jamie until Mattias Nilsson sent along a link last week to an interview with Gene Puerling of the Hi-Lo’s. Deep in the interview, he mentioned that when the Hi-Lo’s broke up in ’64, Shelton went to Chicago to join the J’s With Jamie. When Jamie and Joe Silvia decided to relocate to New York in the late ’60s, Shelton remained in Chicago and called Puerling. Bonnie Herman joined along with Dressler. Modeled after the J’s With Jamie, the Singers Unlimited recorded ads for a few years until they began making albums as a group in 1971. Here’s the Puerlng interview…
Here’s a demo reel by the J’s With Jamie…
JazzWax tracks: While the albums by the J’s With Jamie as well as Jamie and the J. Silvia Singers with Don Costa are super rare, you can listen to all of them and the group’s singles at WFMU.org. The best way to access is to go to Google and type in “WFMU.org + the J’s and Jamie” (or go here). You’ll have to dip in and out of the posts and click on links to listen. There’s even a holiday album by the group from 1962 along with their singles. These are the voices that made a generation of parents buy stuff. Quite remarkable.
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David Bowie released the single ‘The Prettiest Star’ in the UK as a follow-up single to ‘Space Oddity’. The track featured
Marc Bolan on guitar, with whom Bowie would spend the next few years as a rival for the crown of the king of glam rock. Despite receiving good reviews, the single reportedly sold fewer than 800 copies, a major disappointment on the back of the success of ‘Space Oddity’.
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