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This week on the program, we had the bright idea to look at music that glitters. It's a show all about shiny things in music, a show we're calling "Shimmer and Shine"!Â
Here's your sparkling playlist below:
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), Variations on "Ah, vous dirai-je, maman" K. 265 – Today, this familiar melody has associations of a twinkling little star, shining bright like a diamond in the sky (or a sheep with a lot of wool, or the alphabet...). Mozart likely encountered the melody during his travels in France as a child. At that time, the lyrics of "Ah, vous dirai-je, maman" concerned a child's desire for candy, and his attempt to convince his mother to let him have some. Mozart used the tune for a set of piano variations whose technical demands would vex even an accomplished student! 25 years later, a pair of sisters named Ann and Jane Taylor published a book titled Rhymes For The Nursery, which contained a poem entitled "The Star." This later became known to English speakers as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Two centuries later, learning variations on this sparkling theme became the foundational pillar of a music education method known as Suzuki.
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- Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943), Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 – All four of Sergei Rachmaninoff's piano concertos are notoriously difficult, but his third concerto (nicknamed Rach 3) is the most technically challenging of all. Rach 3 was at the center of the 1996 film Shine, which portrays a highly romanticized version of the life of Australian concert pianist David Helfgott. The film opens with an extended flashback of Helfgott's childhood as a child prodigy under the draconian supervision of his abusive father. David attempts Rachmaninoff's third piano concerto to impress his father, and after winning an international concerto competition with the piece, he suffers a mental breakdown. Geoffrey Rush received on Oscar for his performance as Helfgott in the film. And though Australian pianist Simon Tedeschi provided the performance of the Rachmaninoff  concerto for the film, Rush himself played the piano on camera for the famous Flight of the Bumblebee scene.
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- Samuel Barber (1910–1981), "Sure On This Shining Night," Op. 13, No. 3 – Written in 1938, "Sure On This Shining Night" has become one of Samuel Barber's most enduring songs. The lovely text is by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Agee, who also wrote the text to Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. There's an old anecdote that Barber used to retell about this famous song of his. In 1979, Barber had just moved into a new apartment in New York City with his partner, composer Gian Carlo Menotti. He wanted to call home, but he'd forgotten the phone number to his new place. So, he called the operator, saying "This is Samuel Barber, I need my phone number." The operator didn't believe him, and would not give out the number unless he could confirm his identity. So while standing in a telephone booth, Barber sang a bit of "Sure On This Shining Night" to her, and she gave him the phone number.
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- George Frideric Handel (1685–1759), Samson: Aria: "Let the Bright Seraphim" – Handel's Samson was not an opera, but rather an oratorio, on account of its religious subject matter. The story of Samson comes from the Book Of Judges in the Bible. However, Handel's version was based on a dramatic retelling of the tale from John Milton. Samson was a man of superhuman strength, gained by worshipping God and never cutting his hair. As an Israelite, Samson was at war with the Philistines. His downfall comes at the hands of a woman named Delilah, who conspired with the Philistines to get Samson to reveal the source of his strength. Once the Philistines learn the truth, they shave his head, blind him, and ultimately kill him. But not before Samson destroys the temple and all the Philistines within. This aria comes at the end of the oratorio, and is sung by an unnamed Israelite woman who calls upon the angels to glorify him with an endless blazing light.
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- Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990), Candide: "Glitter And Be Gay" – In the eighteenth century, Voltaire's novel Candide savagely parodied the mentality of the Enlightenment, in particular the philosophical optimism of Gottfried Leibniz. The modern operetta still manages to retain its satirical edge-perhaps it's because the objects being satirized (such as greed, corruption, war-mongering, and shallow utopianism) never really went out of style. In the scene we just heard, Cunegonde, the lover of the operetta's titular character, reappears as the mistress of a grand estate after having been presumed dead. She bemoans her situation as a glorified prostitute, singing this aria while adorning herself with shiny jewelry. The lavish jewels do little to improve her mood, she sings "Pearls and ruby rings, how can worldly things, take the place of honor lost?" Soon after her song, Candide appears and rescues her. The two flee from the estate where she's been kept and set sail for the New World.
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- Béla Bartók (1881–1945), Bluebeard's Castle: Treasury – Bluebeard, as the original French fairy tale goes, becomes feared for his habit of killing his wives and leaving their bodies in a secret room in his castle. Béla Bartók reworked the original folktale significantly for his 1911 opera Bluebeard's Castle. In the opera, Bluebeard and his new wife Judith arrive at a the dark castle, and Judith requests that all the doors in the castle be opened to let the light in. Bluebeard begs not to, but eventually each door is opened to reveal the curious spectacles inside: a torture chamber, a storehouse, a beautiful garden, and eventually Bluebeard's former wives, alive but imprisoned. We just listened to the music for door number three, which opens to reveal a vast treasure. Bartok uses bells and chimes to evoke light glinting off the precious metal. As the hoard is completely illuminated however, Judith realizes that it is also covered in blood.
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- Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764), Castor Et Pollux – A split in public taste led to the formation of two rival factions in 18th century France, the ramists and the lullistes. The ramists were interested in the complexities of music while the lullistes prefered tradition, especially the works of their idol, Lully. The debate was nasty, but it spurred Rameau to write several successful operas that remain performed even today. Castor and Pollux are twins from Greek mythology, and in Rameau's opera both are in love with the same woman. However, Pollux has the gift of immortality, whereas Castor does not. After Castor is killed in battle, Pollux, now able to marry without complication, gives up his chance at happiness and descends into the underworld to bring his brother back to life. Jupiter rewards his sacrifice by making both brothers immortal.  The opera ends triumphantly with all the stars in the universe rejoicing as both brothers are accepted into the Zodiac as the constellation Gemini.
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- Carlos Salzedo (1885–1961), Scintillation, Op. 31 – Composer, educator, and master harpist Carlos Salzedo completed an unheard of feat in 1901 at the age of sixteen. That year, he graduated from the Paris Conservatoire, winning first prize for both piano and harp. Despite success in both, the harp became instrument of choice. He travelled to America to become the first harpist for Arturo Toscanini's Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, eventually becoming an American citizen. He was an educator, teaching at Juilliard, Curtis, and founding his own education retreat, the Salzedo Harp Colony; as well as an advocate for contemporary composers and new music. There are few instruments more capable of musically depicting shimmering light than the harp, and Salzedo took advantage of this ability with his 1936 solo piece Scintillation. The piece features quick glissandos and plucked harmonics (techniques the harp is particularly well suited to) to evoke bright flashes and sparkles of light.
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- Earth, Wind & Fire, "Shining Star" – The R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire had been around for half a decade before their breakout hit single "Shining Star" climbed to number one on the pop charts. But the song had an inauspicious beginning. The song was part of a soundtrack to the 1975 film called That's The Way Of The World, starring Harvey Keitel as a record executive and Earth, Wind & Fire as one of his clients. If you've never heard of this movie, it's because it was a huge flop. The band sensed this after they saw an early cut of the film, so they released their soundtrack (also called That's The Way Of The World) before the film's release to get ahead of the bad press. The soundtrack became a top seller that year, and made Earth, Wind & Fire one of the most successful funk bands of the 1970s.
