Giving during the holiday season is inherent. Yet as we hear, some gifts are not always found in brown paper packages tied up with string. This week's All Ears explores this very idea of gift-giving in the not-so-usual holiday song format: melodies composed for others; gifts of life.
Starting out the show are composer-singer Bobby McFerrin and pianist Chick Corea. In Song for Amadeus, McFerrin showcases his mastery at vocalization in an ode influenced heavily by Mozart. The dedication allows us to hear piano in the style of a Mozart concerto. Listen for McFerrin’s signature vocalization reminiscent of Brazilian jazz improv as well as the fleeting arpeggios one would find in an aria.
Argentinean-American composer Osvaldo Golijov shares his chamber music work, Yiddishbbuk. Written in 1992, the piece was composed for string quartet, and brings forth the sorrows of the Jewish community. With piercing harmonics, abstraction and dissonance, Golijov shares his gift of composition by connecting the listener to every heartfelt turn.
Also re-gifted on the program are works by Derek Bermel, the Gavin Bryars Ensemble and Raymond Scott.
Playlist:
Bobby McFerrin: Song for Amadeus
Bobby McFerrin, voice, etc
Chick Corea, piano
CBS/Sony
Frederic Chopin: Polonaise brillante, Op. 3
Mstislav Rostropovich, cello
Alexander Dedyukhin, piano
Angel/EMI
Gavin Bryars: Sub rosa
Gavin Bryars Ensemble
ECM
Derek Bermel: Wanderings: Gift of Life
Tara Helen O’Conor, flute
Bob Ingliss, oboe
Derek Bermel, clarinet
Theo Primis, horn
Frank Morelli, bassoon
CRI
Traditional: Simple Gifts
Christopher Parkening, guitar
Angel/EMI
Richard Wagner: Siegried Idyll
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Deutsche Grammophon
Raymond Scott: Celebration on the Planet Mars
Quartet San Francisco
ViolinJazz Recordings
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: “Serenade melancholique” in B-flat minor, Op. 26
London Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Midori, violin
Philips
Osvaldo Golijov: Yiddishbbuk
St. Lawrence String Quartet
Angel/EMI
Paul Moravec: Tempest Fantasy
Trio Solisti
David Krakauer, clarinet
Naxos
Toivo Tulev: This life that I live
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Paul Hillier, conductor
Robin Blaze, countertenor
Harmonia Mundi
Frederic Rzewski: A Life
Frederic Rzewski, piano
Nonesuch
Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life
Johnny Hartman, vocalist
John Coltrane, tenor sax
Impulse
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About All Ears with Terrance McKnight
All Ears with Terrance McKnight is a weekly show about musical discovery. Covering a wide range of styles, genres and periods, the show celebrates the diverse musical passions of its host, Terrance McKnight, as well as occasional guests -- including performers, composers, choreographers, critics and others. As music and ideas are experienced side by side, the power of music to transform is revealed and celebrated.
Hosted by Terrance McKnight
Comments [3]
Thanks, as always, Terrence, for lots of interesting music and companiable and informative chat. I don't know if you realize it, but you didn't say the name of the Wagner piece, "Siegried Idyll", you just said Wagner wrote it for his wife Cosima's birthday. You may not have noticed... But I hope it wasn't a choice. I think it's only civil, polite and fair to credit all artists and say the name of pieces. I LOVED the Paul Morovic piece! Wow! And so beautifully played! Along the lines of my first comment, at the end of your show there was a solo piano piece playing that I liked and it was rudely "interrupted", well, followed in only a nanosecond by a bunch of recorded announcements. We never heard you again, and if you mentioned the piece beforehand, I missed it. That's why I believe announcers should always give all the info before and after the piece. People want to know! Well, I can only speak for myself. I want to know. And I do not find a complete playlist. Thanks for all the great music and talk and keep up the good work. Mary, WNYC/WQXR sustaining member.
It's 11:15 pm, Saturday, 11-24-12, and this cacophony I'm hearing is driving me nuts! I came back to WQXR to escape the rap garbage I was hearing mixed into the playlist on a local pop-rock FM station, but this is even worse! This is not music!
Can you post the info on the Wagner piece? Sounded like part of the Ring but would love the specifics. Thank you.
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