1 00:00:00,180 --> 00:00:04,720 Good afternoon, you're tuned into WOUB, a broadcast service of Ohio University. 2 00:00:05,580 --> 00:00:10,680 This is Peter Shickley, and I'd like to introduce you to some of the great endings I have known. 3 00:00:24,020 --> 00:00:25,120 Yeah, man. 4 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:55,080 Yeah, man. 5 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:56,880 www.woub.org 6 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:22,380 Hello there, I'm Peter Shickley, and this is Shickley Mix, a program dedicated to the proposition that all musics are created equal. 7 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:29,980 Or as Duke Ellington put it, if it sounds good, it is good. But not all the good things in life are free, 8 00:01:30,100 --> 00:01:42,220 so I'm glad to report that our program, unlike a romance novel, is underwritten. By, to be specific, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, by the National Endowment for the Arts, 9 00:01:42,380 --> 00:01:51,680 and by this courageous radio station, which dares to provide me with the studio facilities to go where no single pair of ears has gone before, 10 00:01:52,480 --> 00:02:05,360 producing discoveries that are distributed to the farthest galaxies by PRI. Public Radio International. I once heard a performance of Schubert's Trout Quintet many, many years ago. 11 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:17,020 The players were either serious amateurs or part-time professionals, I can't remember. Anyway, there seemed to be a certain amount of friction between the pianist and the string players. 12 00:02:17,660 --> 00:02:28,560 I don't expect it was conscious, but when the piano part had a lot of fast notes, and the string parts were easy, the string players would push the tempo a bit, so the pianist really had to scramble. 13 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:41,440 And then, when the situation was reversed, the pianist would speed up so that the string players were hanging on for dear life. I don't know if it was personal animosity or simply a lack of ensemble experience, 14 00:02:41,700 --> 00:02:54,240 but whatever it was, it must have gotten to the violinist, because at the very end of the whole piece, he made one of the most unfortunate boo-boos I've ever heard. Here's how the Schubert ends. 15 00:03:08,460 --> 00:03:21,380 Now, with the help of my trusty, authentic instrument here, which comes with the studio, I'll try to recreate the performance I heard back there in the 50s. The violinist didn't just play the last note out of tune. 16 00:03:21,700 --> 00:03:34,140 He played it a full half-step sharp. That is, he played the next note up. And, of course, since he... didn't know until it was too late that he was going to play a wrong note, he played it with great conviction. 17 00:03:49,080 --> 00:04:01,660 Even fine players occasionally play a wrong note, but if you're going to do it, you'd better hope it happens somewhere in the middle of the piece. Because if it happens on the last note, it sits there, it hangs in the air, 18 00:04:01,820 --> 00:04:13,260 it slides down the walls, like when the top comes off the blender. Now, it stands to reason that the last thing you experience in a piece remains a strong part of your memory of it. 19 00:04:13,660 --> 00:04:26,520 As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to memorable gestures, endings are as important as beginnings. I'm talking mostly about Western music here, by the way, and music intended for formal performance, 20 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:36,240 whether it's in a concert hall or a dance. In some cultures, and in some kinds of music, you just sort of gradually get going, and eventually you sort of turn it off. 21 00:04:37,580 --> 00:04:48,380 Today's show is called Great Endings I Have Known, and we're going to start off with a pair of surprise endings. Both of these pieces close with a real, heh heh, gotcha! 22 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:51,020 I'll be back in about eight and a half minutes. 23 00:05:50,540 --> 00:05:52,620 And in the meantime let you take a guess at what kind of a surprise ending but she doesn't have those, but she does have some, 24 00:05:52,620 --> 00:06:33,600 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 25 00:06:50,550 --> 00:07:21,970 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 26 00:07:53,580 --> 00:08:34,049 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 27 00:08:34,070 --> 00:09:38,040 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 28 00:10:07,220 --> 00:10:07,960 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 29 00:10:37,260 --> 00:10:37,720 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 30 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:07,980 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 31 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:37,920 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 32 00:11:38,060 --> 00:12:10,440 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 33 00:12:12,790 --> 00:12:42,770 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 34 00:12:42,790 --> 00:13:12,770 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 35 00:13:20,930 --> 00:13:24,470 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 36 00:13:42,790 --> 00:13:46,090 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 37 00:14:12,790 --> 00:14:42,730 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 38 00:14:42,790 --> 00:14:51,470 The powers of love, they are so good to me They help me out of my mind 39 00:14:51,470 --> 00:14:57,210 And you will see just what I mean to know 40 00:14:57,210 --> 00:15:09,910 Hey, hey, I, oh you Well I know a story that's not very old 41 00:15:09,910 --> 00:15:19,480 And this is the story of three heads and both of those 42 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:26,520 Hey, hey, I, oh you 43 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,300 Hey, hey, I, oh you 44 00:15:30,300 --> 00:15:45,440 I know my hero does too but you are my love 45 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:55,180 Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow 46 00:15:55,180 --> 00:15:59,630 Well now, oh wow 47 00:15:59,630 --> 00:16:04,010 Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow 48 00:16:04,010 --> 00:16:04,610 Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow 49 00:16:04,610 --> 00:16:05,790 Well now, oh wow 50 00:16:05,790 --> 00:16:06,170 Well now, oh wow 51 00:16:06,170 --> 00:16:07,650 Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow 52 00:16:07,650 --> 00:16:09,170 Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow 53 00:16:09,170 --> 00:16:15,070 Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow 54 00:16:15,070 --> 00:16:16,890 Well now, oh wow 55 00:16:16,890 --> 00:16:24,000 Well now, oh wow 56 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:47,620 Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow 57 00:16:47,620 --> 00:16:58,010 Well now, oh wow Well now, oh wow 58 00:16:58,010 --> 00:17:03,440 Well now, oh wow El土当然 59 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:39,620 Two Cute Endings Vowels of Love by the Poets from an LP called Dangerous Doo-Wop 60 00:18:39,620 --> 00:18:50,860 and the last of Samuel Barber's Excursions for Piano played by Jeffrey Jacob. By the way, I spell the two in Two Cute Endings, T-W-O, 61 00:18:51,020 --> 00:19:01,000 but there may be those who would spell it T-double-O. Hey, lighten up. Speaking of vowels, you can go a long way on just two vowels. 62 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:14,180 Peter Shickley, Shickley Mix, P-R-I. Or you can use them all. Public Radio International. We're talking about wrapping here, wrapping it up, that is, 63 00:19:14,620 --> 00:19:24,360 as I have the pleasure of introducing you to or getting you back together with some of the great endings I have known. And now tidbit time is upon us, 64 00:19:24,940 --> 00:19:36,440 that special time when I pull something off the shelf that's just a little bit unusual or maybe downright jaw-dropping. Today's tidbit is so unusual 65 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:46,600 that it's a fine illustration of the adage, the exception proves the rule. The rule, by which I mean, as always, a description rather than a prescription, 66 00:19:47,420 --> 00:19:59,860 is that early symphonies end with a tutti, that is, with everybody playing and usually loudly. Well, we've already heard a Mozart symphony that doesn't end loudly, but I would be willing to bet that today's tidbit 67 00:19:59,860 --> 00:20:11,860 is the only symphony written during the first, say, hundred years of symphony writing that ends softly and with only two instruments playing, two muted. Two muted violins. It's a great story. 68 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:24,580 Haydn's employer, Prince Nicholas, spent more and more of his time at his country estate called Esterháza, built over a swamp between 1720 and 1766. 69 00:20:25,580 --> 00:20:35,000 It was a beautiful palace, but way out in the boondocks. For five years, it had been the prince's habit to spend the spring and summer in Esterháza 70 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:46,160 and the winter in Eisenstadt, only 30 miles from Vienna, which is a very beautiful place. This is where the musicians came from. But in 1772, not only were the musicians' wives and children 71 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:58,080 forbidden, for reasons of space, to live at the country palace, but Prince Nicholas stayed later and later into the fall without giving any sign that he planned to go back to Eisenstadt or Vienna at all. 72 00:20:58,780 --> 00:21:08,640 The musicians asked Haydn for help, and he wrote what is now called the Farewell Symphony. Okay, now, just picture this. Here we are. 73 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:20,000 It's a dark afternoon towards the end of November, 1772. The prince and his court sit down for the usual concert. Musicians stood to perform in those days, 74 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:26,560 and each music stand had a candle holder. Haydn composed the music in such a way 75 00:20:37,380 --> 00:20:49,720 only 30 miles from Vienna which is where the musicians came from But in 1772 not only were the musicians' wives and children forbidden for reasons of space to live at the country palace 76 00:20:49,720 --> 00:21:01,220 but Prince Nicholas stayed later and later into the fall and never went back to Eisenstadt or Vienna at all The musicians asked Haydn for help 77 00:21:01,220 --> 00:21:12,900 and he wrote what is now called the Farewell Symphony Okay, now just picture this Here we are It's a dark afternoon towards the end of November 1772 78 00:21:12,900 --> 00:21:22,600 The prince and his court sit down for the usual concert Musicians stood to perform in those days and each music stand had a candle holder 79 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:38,960 It was a way that during the last section of the symphony the players, one at a time snuffed their candles out and left the room until only two violins were left Let me just read this here 80 00:21:39,740 --> 00:21:51,160 The stately music room was almost dark with just Haydn and Tomasini playing their shadows casting strange shapes on the stuccoed walls Then the piece ended 81 00:21:51,160 --> 00:22:03,740 and the leader and princely kapelmeister blew out their candles and left The prince now rose and said If they all leave, we must leave too The musicians had meanwhile collected in the antechamber 82 00:22:03,740 --> 00:22:16,520 where the prince found them and smiling said I understand, Haydn Tomorrow the men may all leave Whereupon he gave the necessary order to have the princely horses and carriages made ready for the trip 83 00:22:17,340 --> 00:22:28,700 That's from H. C. Robbins Landon and A. C. Dease Haydn biographers quoted in this good little Nimbus CD program booklet telling you what would I do without liner notes 84 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:36,520 Here's the last part of Haydn's Farewell Symphony Surely one of the most brilliant uses of music in the history of diplomacy 85 00:22:56,520 --> 00:24:33,090 is to use the 86 00:24:33,750 --> 00:25:46,900 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 87 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:51,160 Dancing in the street Baltimore, NBC Dancing in the street Can't forget the Motor City Dancing in the street All we need is music 88 00:29:51,160 --> 00:30:03,120 Sweet music There'll be music everywhere There'll be swinging, swaying And records playing Dancing in the street 89 00:30:03,140 --> 00:30:12,820 Dancing in the street Oh, it doesn't matter what you wear Just as long as you are there Just as long as you are there 90 00:30:12,820 --> 00:30:25,160 So come on, every guy, grab a girl Everywhere around the world There'll be dancing Dancing in the street 91 00:30:25,670 --> 00:30:37,300 Dancing in the street Way down in L.A. Every day they're dancing in the street Dancing in the street Let's form a big strong line Dancing in the street 92 00:30:37,300 --> 00:30:47,160 Get on time with Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Across the ocean and blue Me and you Dancing in the street 93 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:54,180 Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street 94 00:35:54,180 --> 00:35:54,520 Dancing in the street 95 00:35:54,520 --> 00:36:03,700 Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street 96 00:36:12,620 --> 00:36:21,900 Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street 97 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:38,920 Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street 98 00:36:42,700 --> 00:36:43,660 Dancing in the street 99 00:36:53,280 --> 00:37:04,360 Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street Dancing in the street 100 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:15,060 oldest religious types of music in Andalusia, it is usually sung without accompaniment during the Holy Week religious procession in Seville. It tells of the passion of Christ and is usually 101 00:37:15,060 --> 00:37:26,800 addressed to the image of the crucified Christ that is carried in the march or to the Virgin Mary. As described by Gilbert Chase, the singer, usually a woman, stands on a balcony overlooking the 102 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:39,340 procession, grasping the iron railing firmly in both hands. The grip tightens as the emotion grows. The procession stops so that the image which is being addressed remains stationary while the 103 00:37:39,340 --> 00:37:45,060 seita is being sung. A fanfare of trumpets gives the signal for the procession to move on. 104 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:52,520 Great album, in the humble opinion of your host, whose name is Peter Shickley. The program is 105 00:37:52,520 --> 00:38:01,300 Shickley Mix from PRI, Public Radio International. As I said earlier, the fade-out is dependent on the recording studio. 106 00:38:03,100 --> 00:38:14,440 The tremendo agnente is a common instruction in music, but in point of fact, it's impossible on most acoustic instruments to diminish literally to nothing. On a wind instrument, for instance, 107 00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:24,820 you can blow less and less, but at a certain point, and it comes before inaudibility, the note will simply stop. There just isn't enough air pressure to produce a definite pitch. 108 00:38:25,220 --> 00:38:33,080 The same is true, incidentally, with singing. Try it yourself. With a string instrument, it would require an almost superhuman amount of air pressure to produce a definite pitch. 109 00:38:33,100 --> 00:38:45,560 It requires a human control of the bow to diminish a sustained note to the point of inaudibility, at least to the player's ears. But of course, most audience members, it is to be sincerely hoped, 110 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:51,700 are farther away from the instruments than are the players. And sometimes composers have asked 111 00:38:51,700 --> 00:39:02,460 for a true fade-out in concert conditions. Berg's Lyric Suite for String Quartet is an example. The composer directs that the violist, 112 00:39:03,100 --> 00:39:06,620 the conductor, the conductor, and the conductor repeat the last two-note figure until it's no longer audible. 113 00:39:06,980 --> 00:39:22,270 The composer directs that the conductor repeat the last two-note figure until it's no longer audible. 114 00:40:23,820 --> 00:40:33,980 The LaSalle Quartet, playing the end of the Lyric Suite by Alban Berg. If you want to do a live fade-out, it's easier to pull off with one instrument than with a group. 115 00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:45,200 Even the Beatles, great fans of the fade-out, put regular endings on their songs when they performed live, as those of us who were not at Shea Stadium know from seeing the video. 116 00:40:45,860 --> 00:40:58,840 What Gustav Holst did for the end of the planets was to have a women's chorus off-stage, whose singing disappears into nothingness at the end. Now, I don't know how it's done on this recording. 117 00:40:59,060 --> 00:41:07,360 I suspect that the choir got some electronic help in disappearing, which is fine. But what has often been done in live performances in the past, if possible, 118 00:41:07,500 --> 00:41:17,660 is to have an open door between the stage area and off-stage where the chorus is. And the door is gradually closed during the last measures. 119 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:35,860 The end of the planets, as we have known them. Sir Colin Davis conducting the Berlin Philharmonic and the women of the Berlin Radio Choir. Okay, that's all very well and good. 120 00:42:36,020 --> 00:42:47,500 But with a recording studio, you can have complete control. You don't have to have a recording studio. Here's the end of an arrangement I did of the Beatles song, Rain. Does that make it an arraignment? Now, let's not get legal here. 121 00:42:47,620 --> 00:42:56,460 By recording the brasses completely separately, that is, on separate tracks on the tape, after we had already recorded the rest of the orchestra, 122 00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:08,340 we could fade them to absolute nothing without having to put them out in the hall and gradually close the door. Not only that, though. There's an evocative quality to fading out instruments 123 00:43:08,340 --> 00:43:15,820 while they're playing with nothing. It's a normal force. It creates quite a different feeling from having them play softer and softer. 124 00:44:34,460 --> 00:44:45,920 Lennon and McCartney's Rain, from the LP Good Time Ticket, arranged by the father of my wife's daughter's brother. Now, let's get back to a couple of complete pieces. 125 00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:58,140 The first one is... Oops. Here goes the very old recording alert. This is... Are you ready for this? A 10-inch LP. Here, let me turn that off. 126 00:44:59,820 --> 00:45:10,040 Now, it may be an old recording, but it's a nice, simple-minded little tune. And at the very last moment, the piece ends in a totally different key from what it's been in all along. 127 00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:21,520 The second number ends on the expected chord, but with an altered note that we've only heard a couple of times before in the piece. The ending of the first piece is deliciously unusual. 128 00:45:22,260 --> 00:45:33,480 The ending of the second piece is quite usual, but no less delicious. Two delicious endings, the second of which will occur about five and a half minutes from now. 129 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:52,280 Here we go. 130 00:46:03,940 --> 00:46:15,320 All right, here we'll go. Look at that note. One minute and a half. I just want to see you. One minute and a half. Now we can't wait. One minute and a half. 131 00:46:15,460 --> 00:46:17,700 One minute and a half. Now, listen to this. 132 00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:44,660 ¶¶ 133 00:48:14,680 --> 00:48:44,300 ¶¶ 134 00:49:01,420 --> 00:49:30,700 ¶¶ 135 00:49:45,080 --> 00:49:58,450 ¶¶ 136 00:50:17,160 --> 00:50:29,420 ¶¶ 137 00:50:44,430 --> 00:50:45,190 ¶¶ 138 00:50:48,470 --> 00:51:10,480 Two delicious endings. 139 00:51:11,520 --> 00:51:20,300 Jerry Mulligan was first with Bark for Barksdale, off an old fantasy 10-inch LP, Chet Baker, Carson Smith, and Chico Hamilton. 140 00:51:20,720 --> 00:51:32,560 Then that other gorgeous piece was by Adrian Villert, a 16th century composer. It's called O Dolce Vita Mia, translated here as O Sweet Light of My Life. 141 00:51:32,760 --> 00:51:45,220 Performed by a group called Tragicomedia on a CD called O Dolce Vita that features the King's Singers, although not, as you may have noticed, on that cut. You know, one of the things I love 142 00:51:45,220 --> 00:51:56,120 about a lot of modern renditions of Renaissance and medieval music is that they really show the Moorish influence, the Arab influence, the Middle Eastern influence 143 00:51:56,120 --> 00:52:07,600 with the freedom and the kind of embellishment. I'm not a scholar. I don't know that that comes... that comes from the Middle East, but it sure feels like it does from the Middle Eastern music that one has heard. 144 00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:21,240 Boy, that is beautiful. Well, since we've been dealing with endings, we're going to go out with a piece which is an ending. The piece itself is an ending. Now, I have to admit that I haven't been to jazz clubs much recently, 145 00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:33,140 but in the old days, groups used to signal the end of the set by having a little short thing they'd play that meant they were going to take a break. And this is Jerry Mulligan's sign-off riff. 146 00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:35,260 He called it utter chaos. 147 00:53:10,340 --> 00:53:23,220 And that's Shickly Mix for this week. Our program is made possible with funds provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, by the National Endowment for the Arts, and by this radio station and its members. 148 00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:35,680 We thank you, members. And not only that, our program, in spite of everything, is distributed by PRI, Public Radio International. We'll tell you in a moment, how you can get an official playlist 149 00:53:35,680 --> 00:53:46,480 of all the music on today's program with album numbers and everything. Just refer to the program number. This is program 79. And this is Peter Shickly saying goodbye 150 00:53:46,480 --> 00:53:53,620 and reminding you that it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that certain je ne sais quoi. You're looking good. See you next week. 151 00:54:04,920 --> 00:54:17,240 ¦ ¦ ¦ 152 00:54:17,240 --> 00:54:20,960 ¦ ¦ 153 00:54:30,740 --> 00:54:36,500 ¦ Thank you. 154 00:55:08,360 --> 00:55:08,420 Thank you. 155 00:55:33,980 --> 00:55:43,320 Thank you. 156 00:56:13,420 --> 00:56:16,240 Thank you. 157 00:56:41,540 --> 00:56:47,780 Thank you. 158 00:58:09,550 --> 00:58:13,930 Thank you. 159 00:58:46,300 --> 00:58:47,820 Thank you.