Hello there, I'm Peter Shickely, and this is Shickely Mix, a program dedicated to the
proposition that all musics are created equal.
Or as Duke Ellington put it, if it sounds good, it is good.
And the long and short of it is that our bills are paid by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
by the National Endowment for the Arts, and by this very radio station, where the long-winded
are given short shrift.
And the beauty part is that shortly after each show is made, it gets distributed by
the long-suffering folks at PRI, Public Radio International.
Now when you say the word long, it makes me think of Wagner.
You might say that Wagner went to great lengths to finish a piece.
You know, he criticized Mendelssohn for writing too much fast music.
But I've always had the suspicion, I can't prove this, but I've always had the sneaking
suspicion that Wagner was paid by the minute, musically speaking.
And that's why he wrote so much slow stuff.
You know, Wagner's music sounds long even when it isn't.
What I mean is, like I can remember the first all-Wagner concert I ever heard.
This was before I'd ever seen one of the operas.
I hadn't even heard that much.
My folks were not Wagner fans, and although I spent a lot of time hanging around radio
station WDAY in Fargo, listening to Hank and Thelma and the best little band in the land,
they didn't tend to program Wagner much.
Anyway, during my college years, I went to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra play an all-Wagner
program, and even though I'm sure the concert wasn't really any longer than any other concert,
when I came out onto the street afterwards, I remember having this feeling, I wonder who's
president.
Now, speaking as I was earlier about the long and the short of it, what's that Latin adage,
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis, have I got those endings right?
Art is long.
Life is short.
But you know, I've always been impressed with how long life is.
I mean, barring tragic occurrences, most of us live a long time.
Haven't you ever suddenly remembered something from your past and it feels like it must have
happened a century ago?
Recently, I was reminded of a job I once had for a brief while.
It was cleaning typewriters, standing at a huge sort of table tray with formaldehyde
in it.
That feels so long ago that I'm surprised that typewriters had been invented.
What I think that Latin saying Ars Longa, Vita Brevis really means is that life is short
compared to Wagner's music.
But that music sure can be beautiful.
One of the extraordinarily few drawbacks to the Shickly Mix format is that it's hard to
accommodate long pieces.
I would like to use the prelude to Tristan and Isolde to illustrate something today,
but I can't seem to find a listing of how long it is here.
Usually they have it on the back of the CD, whatchamacallit, the jewel box.
Well, let's put it on and listen through the introduction, you know, until it settles into
the main section.
Let's listen through the introduction, you know, until it settles into the main section.
Let's listen through the introduction, you know.
Let's listen through the introduction.
You know, this doesn't sound as if it's, wait a minute, let me pull the volume down here.
This doesn't sound as if it's ever going to settle down.
I'll tell you what I'm going to do.
I'll just turn the volume all the way down here, but keep the CD running.
I can use the other CD player, the one over here where the wire recorder used to be for
the rest of the show, for the other things.
Then I can check up on the Wagner later.
That's Isolde and the Chicagoans, by the way.
Okay, on another edition of this show, we talk about musical transitions.
Today we're going to talk about pieces that don't use transitions.
We're going to hear some masterpieces of transitionlessness.
Now, I'm disregarding miniature works that are chiseled out of one piece of cloth, as
it were.
Many songs, both classical and popular, and many so-called character pieces for piano
retain one texture throughout.
They may and probably do have sections, but the dimensions are so small that having transitional
sections between the sections is not only unnecessary, but undesirable.
The standard old-fashioned pop song, for instance, has four sections, if you count repetitions.
A, A, B, A. And, in fact, the colloquial term for the B section is the bridge.
But it's not really a transition in the sense we're using, because it doesn't go from one
place to another place.
It's simply a contrasting section that goes from one place back to the same place.
If it's a bridge, it's sort of an M.C.
Esser bridge.
You know, that guy who does the paradoxical pictures.
We'll be dealing today mostly with pieces that have well-defined sections, usually in
different keys, but not separated from each other by smaller sections that accomplish
a smooth transition.
The composers of these pieces run out of the sauna and jump right into the lake.
Here's a pair of perky pieces that don't beat around the bush.
There are no tearful farewells, no promises to stay in touch.
When it's time to move on, they pick up and go.
The first of these has sections in six different keys.
Closely related to be sure, the second uses only four different keys, but wanders farther
afield.
In both cases, however, there's nary a transition in sight.
See you in six.
One, two, three, four.
Five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22,
23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44,
45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 65,
65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 78, 79, 79, 90, 91, 91, 91,
91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 91, 92, 91, 92!?
Oh
Olé a
couple of transition lists wonders
the first was from Mozart's Serenade in B-flat major the last movement the finale and
That was Christopher Hogwood and the Amadeus winds
By the way, if you heard all that noise there, it was not recorded next to a campfire
That was the keys of the instruments clicking away and has a contrabassoon in it
And that's a lot of keys that are big and they make a lot of noise
And then we heard from an album called the Schoenstein yodeler der Berge the most beautiful
yodelers of the mountains a tune called mine a yodel veldt
My yodel world, I guess that is the Wolfgang lintner band
yodel world
Is that a Swiss theme park? I?
Don't know about that
But I do know Peter shikily when I see him in the mirror his show is called shikily mix from PRI
Public Radio International
Today's show is called there's nothing between us. We're just good friends
We're talking about music with well-defined sections, but no
transitional fufa raw separating them
Now unlike the melody on top and bass line on the bottom texture that has been so popular for the last few centuries
The favorite texture of serious Renaissance music was based on points of imitation
One part presents a short melodic idea
Which is then imitated by all the other parts one after the other sort of like the beginning of a round
So the sections are defined by these points of imitation and what usually happens is that while some parts are finishing up a section
Another part introduces a new melodic idea that will serve as the basis for the next section
Now you may not be used to listening this way, but if you pay attention and turn off that TV
You'll be able to hear the new bits of material being introduced and imitated in this beautiful piece
The texture doesn't very much, but there are definite overlapping sections in
Terms of key or tonal centers both of these next two pieces stick pretty close to home
Me too. I'll be back in less than five minutes
Oh
Okay that pair began with just going to pray
a chance on a long bro doing BCA which
in addition to being poorly pronounced means
In the shade of a bush in the morning. I found belong my sweetheart making a rosary
Just gonna put this back in here now folks
Then from an album called fluffy ruffle girls
That was a rag called pickles and peppers by Adeline Shepherd all the rags on this album
were written by
Women most of them at the end of the 19th century beginning of this century
Virginia Eskin was the pianist
Hey, I almost forgot about old Dickey Wagner on the other CD player. Let's see where the prelude to Tristan is
I don't know
I may just have hit it wrong here, but it sounds as if he still hasn't settled down
Okay, I'll take it out here again, I wish I knew how long this cut is, you know
I should know I mean the piece was on that Philly Orchestra program. I went to in 1954
well, we'll let the wag simmer in his own juice a while longer and turn to a genre that has been traditionally light in the
transition department I
refer to the theme and variations genre in which providing
Transitions between variations is as rare as not providing them is common and vice versa
Most sets of variations are based on the harmonic structure of the theme often. It's a popular theme of the day and
Hey
You know, I just realized why the theme is so important in the music of our self-centered society
Ever since Freud we've been obsessed with the ego the self the me
Well, if you take those two words the me and put them together
See what I mean now, it's insights like that that separate this show from your typical
dry-as-dust
Music appreciation course taught by some absent-minded
professor who wouldn't recognize the real world if he tripped over it and I say he because
Women are usually more in touch with the real world men make sure of that
Anyway, both members of our next pair of selections are based on the harmonic structure of the theme
I can't believe I never noticed that before and
in addition to that structure the sections or variations in the first piece are defined by changing the texture and
sometimes the tempo and once by switching to the minor key and then later back again and in the second piece they're defined by
Well, basically they're defined by who's playing
This dynamic duo of the theme and variations honor lasts about 10 minutes
you
Okay, that was two sets of theme and variation pieces
They're first Brahms variation and fugue on a theme by Handel and that was played by Emmanuel X
That wasn't the whole piece by the way, just the theme in the first eight variations
then the second was Gerry Mulligan and
People don't tend to call the standard jazz
Procedure there of theme and improvised choruses theme and variations, but that's exactly what the form is
this was Bernie's tune and
Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax Chet Baker on trumpet and you know
This is from one of these terrific mosaic boxes here and I left the box at home
So my guess is but please don't bother to write or call if I'm wrong
I think that it's Carson Smith on bass and Chico Hamilton on drums
My name is still Peter Shickely and the show is still Shickely mix from PRI Public Radio International
This next pair of pieces takes the idea of transitionlessness to the max
In these works the sections that abut each other sometimes have virtually nothing in common not melody
harmony rhythm texture tempo or even in the second piece instrumentation
well within each piece of the performers are the same and
Of course, there are no transitions between the sections now you may remember that today's show is called
There's nothing between us. We're just good friends. Well in these two pieces, you're not even sure about the friends part
It's more like a room full of strangers
Fascinating strangers, but strangers I'll be back in a little under seven minutes
You
I
Hear the wind blow I hear the wind blow it seems to say
I
I found a new friend underneath my
Come on
My god, please pass the milk, please, please pass the milk, please
By myself
What's that blue thing?
I don't understand you
I just don't understand you
I don't understand the things you say I can't understand a single word
I don't understand you
I just don't understand you
I cannot understand you
I don't understand you
I heard a sound, turned around, turned around to find the thing that made the sound
Mysterious whisper
The day that love came to play
I'm having a heart attack
Fingertips
I walk the low, darkened corridors
And I walk the low, darkened corridors
I walk the low, darkened corridors
And I walk the low, darkened corridors
Talk about your odd couple. That was Messiaen and They Might Be Giants.
The Messiaen was the first of the four rhythmic etudes.
The Ile de Feu, that's the Isle of Fire number one.
That was Peter Hill playing the piano, Olivier Messiaen.
And then from They Might Be Giants, the album Apollo 18, that was Fingertips.
A favorite cut of mine. Actually, I guess you should say a favorite bunch of cuts.
Well, I guess it's time to check in on Wagner again. Let's see where he is here.
He's still roiling around.
You'd think he would have settled into something by now.
Okay, I'm going to bring it down again. We'll leave him to his own compositional devices and go on to our next piece.
Now we're going to shift gears a bit here, folks, and listen to a piece that is sort of a synthesis of cake-having and cake-eating, transition-wise speaking.
This piece is made up of layers, and each layer can be thought of as having sections or as being a section,
in the sense that that section appears at some point, evolves and disappears.
But the sectional changes in one layer don't happen at the same time as those in the other layers.
So the overall effect is one of constant change, constant and gradual change, which is what a transition is.
Now, that aren't meant to be in front of anything,
maybe we can talk about a transition that isn't meant to connect anything,
which, as it happens, is a pretty good working definition of minimalism.
Okay.
Tourist song, composed and performed by John Adams from his album, Hoodoo Zephyr.
Very nice cut.
What is it we used to say when we were kids?
Hoodoo.
You do.
You do what?
Have a power.
What kind of a power?
The power of voodoo.
Hoodoo.
You do.
You do what?
Have a power.
What kind of a power?
The power of voodoo.
Hoodoo.
You do.
You do what?
Have a power.
What kind of a power?
The power voodoo.
Hoodoo.
You do.
You do what?
Have a power.
What kind of a power?
A little grade school minimalist humor there.
Now, you know when you go to a symphony orchestra concert and usually the program booklet says
this piece is scored for two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.
Well, on this John Adams album here, it says composed and produced utilizing the Korg Wave
Station, Yamaha Electone, Yamaha SY-77 and SY-99, Emu Systems Proteus I and Emax II,
Kurzweil K2000, and Lexicon LXP-15.
I could have sworn I heard a Hammond B3 in there, or maybe it was a B52.
Minimalism is, like jazz, one of those terms that's getting harder and harder to use with
any assurance of what it means.
Some of the composers commonly called minimalists don't like the term, and that piece is certainly
a far cry from the early works of Terry Riley, Philip Glass, and Steve Rice.
It's much more toe-tapping, melodic, and sensual.
I once asked Paul Taylor, one of my very favorite choreographers, what he does when he sees
many performances of one of his pieces during his New York season, and he said sometimes
he picks a particular dancer and follows just him or her throughout the whole piece.
I like to do that listening to Tourist Song, that John Adams piece.
Follow a particular layer, which makes me notice details I'd never noticed before.
The first time I hear certain kinds of minimalist music, I find myself suddenly realizing that
some element has changed considerably since the beginning, but I'd been in such a trance,
and I'm talking about an attentive trance, that even though I knew that things were changing,
I'm surprised at how much they've changed.
I love that feeling.
Hey, you know that Wagner has got to be over by now.
I bet we've missed out here.
Let me pull it up here.
I can't believe it.
Let me turn it down a little bit here.
There's got to be a timing here somewhere.
Let me look in the booklet of this thing.
Here it is.
The timings are listed.
Prelude to Tristan and Isolde, 10, 19, 45, 11.
What?
Oh, here's the code.
That means it lasts 10 days, 19 hours, 45 minutes, and 11 seconds.
Just kidding, folks.
It'll actually be over in less than a week.
We might as well listen to as much of it as we can.
You know, it actually reminds me of the John Adams in a way.
It sounds like an eternal transition.
I know there's a theme that keeps coming back and the opening motif and everything, but
it never stays in one key long enough to feel like it's really there, you know what I mean?
And remember how hushed the very beginning of the piece was?
The whole prelude feels like a gigantic, ecstatic transition from silence to singing.
You know what?
I think I'm just going to read the end credits now and then we can listen to Isolde and the
Chicago Symphony until the show's over or the cows come home, whichever happens first.
So 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.
It's distributed by PRI, Public Radio International.
We'll tell you in a little while how you can get an official playlist of all the music
on today's program with album numbers and everything.
Just refer to the program number.
This is program number 94.
And this is Peter Shickly saying goodbye 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.
Thank you.