Today, March 14th, is Pi Day! So in honor of this circular constant, the Ether Game Brain Trust is exploring everything circular in a show we're calling "Round And Round"!
Did you know...
- The opening of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana describes Lady Fortune and her "wheel of fortune" which she spins. Although written in the 20th century, its text comes from the Carmina Burana, a collection of 12th-century profane poetry!
- The round is a type of polyphonic composition where the same melody is sung at different times and overlaps, like in "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or "Three Blind Mice." It was used centuries ago in the English folk song Sumer Is Icumen In and in the 20th century in Gustav Mahler's First Symphony, when he started his third movement with a minor key version of the tune "Frère Jacques."
- Winterreise by Franz Schubert is what's known as a song cycle, a collection of songs that usually relate by a single theme or continuous story. The final song of Winterreise describes a man turning the crank of a "hurdy gurdy," a string instrument where the strings are bowed by a spinning wheel.
See the full playlist below:
And don't forget to check out our "Round and Round"Â podcast!
