Welcome to the Ether Game Weekly Podcast! We're heading to the lab and testing out a hypothesis this week, as Ether Game looks at the intersection between science and music in a show called "Science Fair." To get you started (or for those of you who just cannot wait for Tuesday nights), you can sharpen your skills with our podcast selection. Remember to keep your ears out for a portion of Tuesday night's Teaser selection. And don't forget to tune into the full show on Tuesday, November 22nd at 8:00pm for a chance to win a prize!
Aaron Copland (1900–1990): FROM SORCERY TO SCIENCE: The Modern Pharmacy
Eos Orchestra; Jonathan Sheffer, conductor. Celluloid Copland (Telarc)
Composers can get hired to write music for the most unusual of situations. Now writing music for a world's fair isn't that uncommon, but one of Copland's commissions for the 1939 New York World's Fair had an interesting twist. He was hired by members of the Pharmaceutical industry to write music that would celebrate their organization and scientific progress of medicine in the twentieth century. The resulting piece From Sorcery to Science was one of Copland's two pieces for the 1939 World's Fair. A recording of this music accompanied a marionette show, which depicted scenes from history concerning the human search for relief from illness and pain, progressing from ancient Chinese medicine men and witches, to the modern science behind pharmacies.
