http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame Just another WFIU weblog Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:00:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 2006-2007 aschweig@indiana.edu (Ether Game) aschweig@indiana.edu (Ether Game) posts Just another WFIU weblog Ether Game Ether Game aschweig@indiana.edu No no http://wfiu.org/ethergame/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame 144 144 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-6/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-6/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:00:12 +0000 apranger http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/?p=2051 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-6/feed/ 0 00:01:01 In ldquo;Girl Crazy,rdquo; a philandering New York playboy is sent to mend his ways in a small western town. The misunderstandings, confusions, and love affairs ... In ldquo;Girl Crazy,rdquo; a philandering New York playboy is sent to mend his ways in a small western town. The misunderstandings, confusions, and love affairs that follow are set to some of George and Ira Gershwin very best songs, including standards such as ldquo;I Got Rhythm,rdquo; ldquo;Embraceable You,rdquo; and ldquo;But Not For Me.rdquo; In 1930, when the musical opened, the Great Depression was being felt in the streets, but not yet on the stage. The lavish production also introduced some legendary talent, including the Broadway debuts of Ethel Merman and Ginger Rodgers as the romantic lead. Within a few years, the talented, vivacious Rodgers would go on to film stardom as Fred Astairersquo;s on-screen partner. Podcasts aschweig@indiana.edu no No http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-5/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-5/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:00:15 +0000 apranger http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/?p=2049 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-5/feed/ 0 00:01:01 The cantata ldquo;Rejoice in the Lambrdquo; was written ldquo;to orderrdquo; for the fiftieth anniversary of St. Matthewrsquo;s Church in Northampton, one of Brittenrsquo;s many community-oriented ... The cantata ldquo;Rejoice in the Lambrdquo; was written ldquo;to orderrdquo; for the fiftieth anniversary of St. Matthewrsquo;s Church in Northampton, one of Brittenrsquo;s many community-oriented commissions, which he always took very seriously. The text, by late-eighteenth-century poet Christopher Smart, is unusual in several ways. Smartrsquo;s ecstatic celebration of his cat Geoffrey as a vessel of the Lord is rather eccentric, to say the least. Things get even stranger as Smart offers a homily on the spiritual values of Geoffreyrsquo;s hereditary enemy, the mouse. Eventually, Smart starts blessing everything in sight, including letters of the alphabet. Later in his life, Smart was plagued with mental illness and institutionalized. Britten, however, takes Smartrsquo;s bizarre, pantheistic ramblings at face-value, perhaps finding a bit of beauty in the madness. Podcasts aschweig@indiana.edu no No http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-4/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-4/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:00:56 +0000 apranger http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/?p=2046 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-4/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Ludovico Ariostorsquo;s sixteenth-century epic ldquo;Orlando Furiosordquo; is one of the longest poetic works ever written. One of its most unusual passages is when the Carolingian ... Ludovico Ariostorsquo;s sixteenth-century epic ldquo;Orlando Furiosordquo; is one of the longest poetic works ever written. One of its most unusual passages is when the Carolingian knight Orlando, seriously bent out of shape by unhappy love, loses his wits and goes on a violent rampage spanning several continents. Eventually, a close friend is able to restore Orlandorsquo;s sanity by travelling to the moon, where he finds Orlandorsquo;s lost wits in a jar! Ariostorsquo;s epic became a rich source for opera plots, but composers almost always treated the story very liberally, taking what they needed and often ignoring the theme of madness entirely! While Handel includes a stunning ldquo;mad scenerdquo; in his version, he (perhaps wisely) leaves out the bit about the moon. Orlando is saved instead by a timely intervention by the magician Zoroastre. Podcasts aschweig@indiana.edu no No http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/remember/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/remember/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:13 +0000 apranger http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/?p=2031 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/remember/feed/ 0 00:01:01 In this piece, the composer goes far beyond simply transcribing music from his favorite opera. He expands it, elaborates upon it, and gives to it ... In this piece, the composer goes far beyond simply transcribing music from his favorite opera. He expands it, elaborates upon it, and gives to it his unmistakable virtuosic voice. This special type of transcription, called ldquo;reminiscencesrdquo; or ldquo;memories,rdquo; was popular with Romantic composers, who relished the act of filtering and transforming older works through their own sensibilities. The story of this opera, about an unrepentant seducer, also appealed to the composer, although he probably came away from the opera with a different lesson than was intendedhellip; shows aschweig@indiana.edu no No http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-3/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-3/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:00:19 +0000 apranger http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/?p=2044 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-3/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Until the final two years of his life, things were going quite well for the Schumanns. In 1850, they had moved to Duuml;sseldorf, where Robert ... Until the final two years of his life, things were going quite well for the Schumanns. In 1850, they had moved to Duuml;sseldorf, where Robert became municipal music director. This incredibly productive produced the cello concerto of 1850. A progressive work for its genre, the concerto limited flashy showiness in favor of complex dialogue between solo and orchestra. Schumann went so far as to write his own cadenza, lest it be mauled by unimaginative improvisers! It was in this period that the Schumanns met young Johannes Brahms. Schumann was deeply impressed by the young man, and actively promoted Brahmsrsquo;s career. Unfortunately, this happiness was not to lastmdash;in early 1854, plagued by auditory hallucinations, Schumann checked into the asylum where he would die in 1846. Podcasts aschweig@indiana.edu no No http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-2/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-2/#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:00:07 +0000 apranger http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/?p=2042 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/musical-madness-2/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Strauss wrote program music across his entire life. It was in the 1880s and 90s, however, that he composed a steady stream of his best-known ... Strauss wrote program music across his entire life. It was in the 1880s and 90s, however, that he composed a steady stream of his best-known tone poems. ldquo;Don Quixoterdquo; was one of the last of these. Based on the early seventeenth-century novel by Cervantes, Straussrsquo;s tone poem tells the tale of the elderly gentleman of La Mancha whose immersion in chivalric romances causes him to lose his mind and believe himself a knight. Strauss frequently gives the ldquo;voicerdquo; of Don Quixote to the solo cello, and that of his squire Sancho Panza to the solo viola. Some of Straussrsquo;s most flamboyant use of color shows up in this work, with the orchestra depicting, among other things, bleating sheep! Podcasts aschweig@indiana.edu no No http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/stage-stage-6/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/stage-stage-6/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:00:15 +0000 apranger http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/?p=2029 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/stage-stage-6/feed/ 0 00:01:01 International tensions were high in 1938 when Sergei Prokofiev composed a musical score for Sergei Eisensteinrsquo;s landmark film Alexander Nevsky. The film tells the story ... International tensions were high in 1938 when Sergei Prokofiev composed a musical score for Sergei Eisensteinrsquo;s landmark film Alexander Nevsky. The film tells the story of St. Alexander Nevsky, the Medieval Russian general who led Russian troops against an invasion of German crusaders in 1242. In a classic example of ldquo;socialist realismrdquo;, Josef Stalin commissioned Eisenstein to create a film that would warn the Russian people of aggression from their then-contemporary enemy ndash; Nazi Germany. What resulted was one of the most celebrated Russian films of all time accompanied by a score that has lasted as one of Prokofievrsquo;s greatest works. Prokofiev would later re-work his movie score into a cantata for chorus, mezzo-soprano soloist and orchestra, and this selection is from that arrangement. In the scene we just heard, the invading Germans force their way into the city of Pskov and strike fear in the hearts of the Russian peasants who live there. Podcasts aschweig@indiana.edu no No http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/stage-stage-5/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/stage-stage-5/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:54 +0000 apranger http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/?p=2027 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/stage-stage-5/feed/ 0 00:01:01 If you want music that sparkles like a bottle of French champagne, you can always count on the music of Jacques Offenbach! Offenbachrsquo;s tunes have ... If you want music that sparkles like a bottle of French champagne, you can always count on the music of Jacques Offenbach! Offenbachrsquo;s tunes have been hummed and sung ever since they first appeared in the dance halls and cabarets of the 19th century. Offenbachrsquo;s music is so popular that it eventually became the focus of a famous ballet in the early 20th century, titled La gaiteacute; parisienne. It was the brain child of the Russian choreographer Leonid Massine, an original member of Diaghilevrsquo;s Ballet Russe and founding member of the Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo. La gaiteacute; parisienne was arranged by the French composer Manuel Rosenthal and gave its world premiere performance at the Theatre de Monte Carlo in 1938. The ballet doesnrsquo;t follow a traditional narrative, so to speak. Instead, a variety of quirky characters are characterized by several Offenbach themes. Shenanigans and hilarity ensue until the cast gets together and dances to Offenbachrsquo;s most well-known tune: the can-can from Orpheus in the Underworld. Podcasts aschweig@indiana.edu no No http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/stage-stage-4/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/stage-stage-4/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:15 +0000 apranger http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/?p=2025 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/stage-stage-4/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Beethoven loved to look back at the music of past masters, especially at works by Bach, Handel and Mozart. In fact, he loved to quote ... Beethoven loved to look back at the music of past masters, especially at works by Bach, Handel and Mozart. In fact, he loved to quote themes or create pieces based on snippets of their music. Over the course of his life, he wrote several sets of themes and variations for various ensembles based on themes from such works as Mozartrsquo;s The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, Salierirsquo;s version of Falstaff, and even a set of variations on ldquo;God Save the Kingrdquo; and ldquo;Rule, Britannia.rdquo; This piece, a set of variations on ldquo;See the Conquering Hero Comes,rdquo; is based on a chorus from Handelrsquo;s oratorio Judas Maccabeus . This isnrsquo;t the only time that Beethoven looked to Handel for inspiration, though. In a very famous passage in his monumental Missa Solemnis, Beethoven quotes the phrase ldquo;And he shall reign for ever and everrdquo; from the Messiah ! You can say that Beethoven had a particular love for the music of Handel, even going so far as to call him, at that time, ldquo;the greatest composer that ever lived.rdquo; Podcasts aschweig@indiana.edu no No http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/deutsch/ http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/deutsch/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:52 +0000 apranger http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/?p=2033 http://indianapublicmedia.org/ethergame/deutsch/feed/ 0 00:01:01 This composer had many over-the-top ideas about how opera should be performed. In fact, he was so passionate about his operatic philosophy that he built ... This composer had many over-the-top ideas about how opera should be performed. In fact, he was so passionate about his operatic philosophy that he built his own theater that would serve as the main performance space for his operas. The theater opened in 1876 with the world premiere production of this composerrsquo;s monumental cycle of four operas based on subjects from Norse and ancient German mythology. In this excerpt, a hero bids his beloved farewell as he ventures off into the wilderness in search of adventure. shows aschweig@indiana.edu no No