Positively Puzzled

The latest Musica della sera show is now up on the Internet to enjoy on demand; see below for locating the link. This program will be available until Thursday, June 18, 2009 (Get it while it lasts!) It was an (almost) all-Bach program, as sometimes happens. I start with Bach, and then just can't pull myself away. Must be those sunglasses. J.S. Bach in shades, artist unknown . Bach did not specify the instrumentation for the Art of the Fugue. The show begins with an arrangement for harpsichord, four hands, Ton Koopman and Tini Mathot sharing the bench. The last of the four selections is the famous unfinished fugue, played as it often is,in its uncompleted form, the voices dropping out one by one, until the last one stops in the middle...eerie. Evidently Bach became too ill to finish it and died some months later. It was the only piece where he used the musical letters of his name as a theme. (In German notation, B-flat A C B-natural is rendered as B A C H) This tidbit fro...

The latest Musica della sera show is now up on the Internet to enjoy on demand; see below for locating the link. This program will be available until Thursday, June 4, 2009 (Get it while it lasts!) Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) The program focused on the music of Johann Pachelbel, beginning with a delicate clavichord performance by E. Power Biggs of the chorale partita: “Werde Munter, Mein Gemüte” (00:00 on the KUSP Music Player counter). Next, a vibrant recording of J.S. Bach's first orchestral suite, arranged for four guitars and performed by Quarteto Brasileiro de Violões (09:00), a name I did not try to pronounce on the air, going instead with Brazilian Guitar Quartet, as it was billed on the CD. I'll feature the other three suites on future shows. Quarteto Brasileiro de Violões (Brazilian Guitar Quartet) Their arrangement of Bach's Orchestral Suites is fantastic. Find it on Delos. I returned to Pachelbel with several organ compositions (32:55), played on various or...

The latest Musica della sera show is now up on the Internet to enjoy on demand; see below for locating the link. This program will be available until Thursday, May 21, 2009 (Get it while it lasts!) In my mother's day they called the kind of music I play on the show "funeral music". Well, in this case, it's literally true. A good chunk of the program was devoted to, quoting the liner notes: The complete music for Queen Mary's funeral, newly assembled and edited, and performed in Westminster Abbey by the Abbey Choir for the first time since 1695. Comprised of compositions by Henry Purcell, Thomas Tollet, John Paisible, Thomas Morley, Purcell's contribution is best known; his funeral march provided the theme, in a synthesized treatment by Wendy Carlos, for Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange . I'm also very fond of the trumpet canzona he wrote for the occasion. Alas, Purcell himself was to die the year following the queen's funeral. Though h...

The latest Musica della sera show is now up on the Internet to enjoy on demand; see below for locating the link. This program will be available until Thursday, May 7, 2009 (Get it while it lasts!) After creating a baroque diversion with two keyboard works by Bach (played on 20th Century pianos), the show took a distinctly modern turn, beginning with the tuneful Starry Night for flute, harp, and xylophone, by Alan Hovhaness. Next, a performance by Tashi and friends of Toru Takemitsu's Water-Ways, a captivating atonal combination of timbral textures scored for clarinet, two harps, piano, violin and two vibraphones. Next, the Sibelius String Quartet in D Minor, Op.56, completed in 1909 and subtitled by him "Voces Intimae", a wonderful new discovery for me...my thought was, hey, why didn't anyone tell me Sibelius wrote a wonderful string quartet? He wrote much chamber music in youth, but most of it was never published. This is the only string quartet he deemed worthy...

(These are program notes for an old show...I'm updating my playlist page to include links, but this one, posted on Facebook, never made it to my blog site.) My wife, Meera Collier-Mitchell , and I take turns hosting the classical radio program Musica della sera on Thursday evenings, 7-9:30 (PT). This week Meera hosted. KUSP Radio is now offering On Demand downloads of its music programs. Check out the calendar listing, with audio links, of The Shows Available . Click the one for Musica della sera Thursday night to hear our show. Each broadcast is available for download until it is replaced by the subsequent week's program. This being the last show for Meera before Christmas, she presents a wide range of holiday music, medieval to modern. Local artists Barry Phillips and Lars Johannesson are featured, from their album Colonial Christmas . Check out the playlist (originally broadcast 12/18/2008). You can also stream the station live of course. Next week's sho...

(These are program notes for an old show...I'm updating my playlist page to include links, but this one, posted on Facebook, never made it to my blog site.) The show is now up on the Internet to listen to on demand; see below for locating the link. This was my chance to play some of my favorite Christmas music. I'm very pleased with the show, but there are some spectacular technical snafus* in the first ten minutes of the program...listen for them, it's fun! (suspenseful dead air, colliding medieval choirs, oh my! not to mention the host's tryptophanically torpid tongue...I had just come from Christmas dinner at my folks' house.) ATTN: friends of Giselle Wyers, you can hear two of her compositions, "Ave Maria" and "Come, Come, Whoever You Are", about 1 hour and 36 minutes into the stream. Listen to the show while there's still some residual Christmas in the air! You can see what was played by referring to the playlist (originally broadcast...

(These are program notes for an old show...I'm updating my playlist page to include links, but this one, posted on Facebook, never made it to my blog site.) On New Year's Night it was Meera's turn to do the show, and it's now on-line and ready for your ears! (See below for how to link to it.) She played the Double Violin Concerto of Mark O'Connor, a lively piece, as the movement markings indicate: Swing, Midnight on the Dance Room Floor, and Dixieland. My favorite offering was Vladimir Godár's piece "Ecce Puer" (1997), a setting of James Joyce's poem, starting about an hour and 19 minutes into the audio stream, and we'd like to dedicate this to Christopher Vandendriessche, Sarah, and the birth of their son Leo, a name James Joyce would certainly have approved of. Congratulations! Ecce Puer Of the dark past A child is born; With joy and grief My heart is torn. Calm in his cradle The living lies. May love and mercy Unclose his eyes! Young ...

(These are program notes for an old show...I'm updating my playlist page to include links, but this one, posted on Facebook, never made it to my blog site.) The latest show is now up on the Internet to listen to on demand; see below for locating the link. This show featured sundry compositions by two of Bach's sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Christian. I particularly enjoyed soprano Emma Kirkby's performance of J.C.'s "Salve Regina". Also featured, three Schubert songs, two Mozart violin sonatas, and a Fasch quadro sonata for 2 oboes, bassoon, and basso continuo. Most of the music was unfamiliar to me, gems I happily discovered hiding in the KUSP library. As if Schubert's songs couldn't be sweeter, he wrote lovely obbligato French horn and clarinet parts, respectively, for "Auf dem Strom" (Streamside) and "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen" (Shepherd Abiding on the Rock) . You can see exactly what was played and who performed i...

The latest Musica della sera show is now up on the Internet to enjoy on demand; see below for locating the link. This program will be available until Thursday, April 23, 2009 This show features Gregorian chant sung by the Monks of Solesmes. They wrote the book on Gregorian Chant, literally! The Liber Usualis , a compendium of standard Gregorian Chant was prepared at the Abbey of St. Peter, Solesmes . The chant set concludes with the ringing of the Angelus bell, and the chirping of the monastery birds. On the show, a favorite old LP of the music of Dufay performed by the Early Music Consort, conducted by the late David Munrow (He sadly died much too young.) Various settings, including a full mass, based on the lovely tune "Se la Pale Face" (If my face is pale, the cause is love.) Listen for a shout-out to my friend Randy who was listening to the show live from his digs in Oregon. There's also a Gregorian tie-in with a virtuoso 20th Century French horn piece by Eugen...

The latest Musica della sera show is now up on the Internet to enjoy on demand; see below for locating the link. This program will be available until Thursday, April 9, 2009 I can't remember the last time this happened, but I managed to do a whole show without going baroque. And yet, Bach figures into it anyhow. Listen to find out how. Liszt, Chopin, Dvorak figure prominently. (Ask me about the terrible pun I decided not to make at this time.) I was delighted to find, hidden on the shelves of the radio station's music library, a CD of Liszt's music for violin and piano; it had only been played once before, years ago. A beautiful performance by violinist Rachel Barton. Also featured, a brief horn recital, John Cerminaro playing works of Franz Strauss (Richard's dad!), Beethoven, and Fauré. You can see exactly what was played and who performed it by referring to the playlist (originally broadcast 4/2/2009). My wife, Meera Collier-Mitchell , and I take turns hostin...

The latest Musica della sera show is now up on the Internet to listen to on demand; see below for locating the link. This program will be available on demand until Thursday, March 12, 2009 Flute pieces, solo and accompanied, by Händel, Telemann, and C.P.E. Bach. Also much in evidence, works for guitar, piano, French horns, and sackbuts (but not all at once). You can see exactly what was played and who performed it by referring to the playlist (originally broadcast 3/5/2009). The Flute Player, oil painting by Hendrik Terbrugghen, 1621 Hangin in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kassel, Germany My wife, Meera Collier-Mitchell , and I take turns hosting the classical radio program Musica della sera on Thursday evenings, 7-9:30 (PT). This week Nicholas hosted. KUSP Radio is now offering On Demand downloads of its music programs. Peruse the calendar listing, with audio links, of The Shows Available . Click the one for Musica della sera Thursday night to hear our show. Each broadc...

The latest Musica della sera show is now up on the Internet to listen to on demand; see below for locating the link. This program will be available on demand until Thursday, February 26, 2009 Devoted to the music of George Frideric Händel (1685-1759), it includes violin sonatas, a harpsichord suite, concerti grossi, an organ concerto, and the Dixit Dominus (1707), a youthful choral work that shows off Handel's dazzling genius and mastery of musical forms. You can see exactly what was played and who performed it by referring to the playlist (originally broadcast 2/19/2009). George Frideric Handel, by Mercier, ca. 1720 My wife, Meera Collier-Mitchell , and I take turns hosting the classical radio program Musica della sera on Thursday evenings, 7-9:30 (PT). This week Nicholas hosted. KUSP Radio is now offering On Demand downloads of its music programs. Peruse the calendar listing, with audio links, of The Shows Available . Click the one for Musica della sera Thursday night ...