1 00:00:00,050 --> 00:00:10,500 And now, Shickley Mix. Well, old man, you ready? As ready as I'm likely to be in my lifetime. Here's the theme. 2 00:00:25,450 --> 00:00:37,790 Hello there, I'm Peter Shickley, and this is Shickley 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. 3 00:00:37,790 --> 00:00:48,290 And how good it is to report that our bills are paid by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, by the National Endowment for the Arts, and by this here radio station, 4 00:00:48,550 --> 00:00:56,790 within whose solid walls I am ensconced, and whence our program is thrown to the four winds by PRI, Public Radio International. 5 00:00:58,510 --> 00:01:10,570 On today's program, we will examine the influence of Balinese gamelan music on the pokas of Bavaria, well, actually... all of southern Germany, between the World Wars. 6 00:01:11,110 --> 00:01:22,610 And the first thing we'll hear today is not a musical example, it's from an extremely rare documentary recording of Kaiser Wilhelm's nephew, Hans Otto Bonn, 7 00:01:22,790 --> 00:01:35,290 reading from the diary he kept during his trip to the South Pacific in 1921. It's a... Wait a minute, where is that? Where did I put that thing? 8 00:01:36,070 --> 00:01:43,170 It's a... cassette. What? Did I put it back up on the shelf? Maybe this is it. 9 00:01:45,910 --> 00:01:46,950 Oh, man! 10 00:01:48,930 --> 00:01:52,870 Wow, that coffee is hot! 11 00:01:52,950 --> 00:01:53,990 I mean, hot! 12 00:01:57,530 --> 00:02:09,970 Man, I should sue that fast food place for having such hot coffee. Oh, man, and now it's all over everything. How am I gonna... Okay. 13 00:02:10,729 --> 00:02:21,470 Here's a cassette. Let's see... Oh, brother, that coffee has smudged the label so you can't read it. Well, let's put it in and see what it is. 14 00:02:26,610 --> 00:02:27,610 Okay, here we go. 15 00:02:44,180 --> 00:02:44,720 Hmm. 16 00:03:02,430 --> 00:03:13,690 Well... This is obviously one of my karaoke tapes here. The voice track is obviously turned down. I'm gonna take this thing off here. 17 00:03:14,430 --> 00:03:27,250 All we're hearing is the accompaniment. You know, it's interesting, actually, listening to that accompaniment without knowing what the song is, because... Well, that phrase in the introduction, Be-boo-dee-doo-doo-dee-doh, that sounds familiar, 18 00:03:27,370 --> 00:03:39,150 and maybe somewhat unique, if I may be permitted, a small oxymoron. But, well, the accompaniment of the song in general, the instrumental texture and the chord pattern, 19 00:03:39,150 --> 00:03:51,890 it could be any one of a lot of songs. You know what I think it is? I'll bet it's the old George Jones number, Hearts in My Dream. Okay. You know what I'm gonna do? 20 00:03:52,250 --> 00:04:03,530 I'm gonna rewind this tape, and then I'll sing the first verse of Hearts in My Dream, and at the end of the verse, I'll turn up the right-hand channel, 21 00:04:03,650 --> 00:04:11,550 which is where the voice on the tape should be, and we'll see if I made the right call on what song it is. Okay? Now... 22 00:04:13,370 --> 00:04:25,650 Man, I wish the station manager would let me turn this phone off during the show. Hello? Oh, hello, sir. That's okay. 23 00:04:25,810 --> 00:04:38,420 It doesn't ring that often, really. What's... That's right, Hearts in My Dream, George Jones. Well, not absolutely certain, but I'm pretty sure. Why, what do you think it is? 24 00:04:39,900 --> 00:04:50,680 Oh... Oh, I don't know about that, sir. I mean, I suppose it could be, but... Fifty dollars? Fifty dollars, huh? Okay, you're on. 25 00:04:52,100 --> 00:05:03,380 Right, and I say it's Hearts in My Dream. Well, let's do it. Let's find out. Goodbye, sir. Okay, there's 50 bucks riding on this. Now, I'm gonna give myself a little echo here. 26 00:05:04,060 --> 00:05:13,500 I need all the help I can get. And we're ready to roll. I'll sing the first verse, after which I'll turn up the voice on the tape. Here we go. 27 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:29,220 I dreamed that all the hearts I'd broken 28 00:05:30,420 --> 00:05:38,740 Came to visit me And in my sleep they came to pay me 29 00:05:39,300 --> 00:05:41,140 For their misery 30 00:05:43,500 --> 00:05:51,220 They were all so torn and tattered Oh, such tales of woe 31 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,560 It was I who called them all 32 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:05,260 And my conscience hurts me so R-D-I-V-O-R-C-E 33 00:06:05,260 --> 00:06:06,060 Rats! 34 00:06:06,140 --> 00:06:17,840 Becomes final today Me and little J-O-E We'll be going away 35 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:31,880 I love you both And this will be pure H-E-double-L for me Oh, I wish that we could stop this 36 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,700 D-I-V-O-R-C-E 37 00:06:38,460 --> 00:06:47,680 Well, you can't win them all. Let me turn this echo off here. D-I-V-O-R-C-E. 38 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:58,060 Sung, according to the karaoke tape I see here, in the style of Tammy Wynette. Hey, 50 bucks is a lot of money. 39 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:12,060 You know, I'll bet the station manager wasn't really serious about... Hello? Yeah, okay. 40 00:07:12,780 --> 00:07:24,120 No, no, you might as well. I mean, there are so many deductions from my paycheck already, what difference is another 50... I mean, I hope there's enough to cover. You know, but what can I say? You were right. 41 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:35,800 By the way, what made you so sure? I knew it. Okay, goodbye, sir. I knew that'd be it. He recognized the intro. 42 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:47,680 That's the only part that's distinctive. Well, I'm not quite sure what to do here, folks. This is such a mess here. Let's see. 43 00:07:49,180 --> 00:08:00,040 Well, here's another cassette. Also illegible. Let's give it a try. Here we go. 44 00:08:24,090 --> 00:08:35,010 Okay, now those four clicks at the beginning mean that this is the classical equivalent of a karaoke tape. This sounds like a string quartet with the first violin missing, if you ask me. 45 00:08:35,669 --> 00:08:45,530 Okay, let me turn this over and see if there's a complete performance on the other side, you know, with the first violin. With a little luck here. Okay, here we go. 46 00:09:06,110 --> 00:09:17,110 Just as I thought, the last movement of the Lark Quartet by Haydn. What a difference when you add that first violin, huh? See, and that's interesting. 47 00:09:17,370 --> 00:09:28,470 The thing that can make it hard to identify a piece from just the accompaniment is that very often the accompaniment has nothing to do with the melody. That is, it complements the melody, 48 00:09:28,670 --> 00:09:37,110 but it doesn't share any musical material with the melody, except perhaps in terms of harmony. But rhythmically and melodically, it's different. 49 00:09:37,170 --> 00:09:48,810 In fact, the fact that it's different is often what makes the melody stand out. The accompaniment serves its function by contrasting with the melody. If it were too much like the melody, 50 00:09:48,990 --> 00:10:01,210 it would compete with the melody, rather than provide a background for the melody. I wish I could show you... Okay, wait a minute, here. This is a good example. 51 00:10:01,490 --> 00:10:12,330 Here's a piece in which all the voices share the same melodic material, with the result that there's no feeling of melody and accompaniment. Everybody's equal. It's all melody. 52 00:12:01,110 --> 00:12:12,110 The king's singers singing, Just going to praise, A l'ombre d'un bassinet. No headliners in that composition. Very democratic music. Importance of all parts-wise. 53 00:12:13,010 --> 00:12:25,730 But an awful lot of the music in this world consists of melody with accompaniment. The accompaniment may be a drum beat, a drone, an oompa, oompa, oompa, oompa, or whatever. 54 00:12:25,850 --> 00:12:36,970 But whatever it is, the accompaniment has to distinguish itself from the melody. And not upstage it too much. Although, actually, that last part isn't necessarily true. 55 00:12:37,590 --> 00:12:49,390 Sometimes the accompaniment is more interesting than the melody. In fact, when I did a lot of arranging in the late 60s, I used to pride myself on being able to make some songs sound more interesting than they really were. 56 00:12:50,330 --> 00:13:01,730 You know, let's forget about polkas and gamelans. I still can't find that tape. And besides, I'm sort of into this accompaniment business now. I put together a few things here while the kings were singing. 57 00:13:02,410 --> 00:13:11,330 Here's an Elton John song. And I'm going to sing a bit of it for you from the lead sheet, which just happened to be sticking out from under this mess here. 58 00:13:11,550 --> 00:13:24,410 A lead sheet just has the melody, the lyrics, and chord symbols. No piano part or even a bass line. So I'll just be improvising a very simple accompaniment on the basis of the chord symbols here. 59 00:13:25,070 --> 00:13:36,070 Let me swing around to the authentic instrument. I'll get the lead sheet set. And give myself a little echo here. Don't forget about that. 60 00:13:36,410 --> 00:13:38,230 And let's see how this goes. 61 00:13:40,650 --> 00:13:42,870 When I look back 62 00:13:42,870 --> 00:13:45,490 Boy, I must have been greedy 63 00:13:46,650 --> 00:13:50,790 Bopping in the country Fishing in the stream 64 00:13:52,090 --> 00:13:53,950 Looking for an answer 65 00:13:54,650 --> 00:14:05,190 Trying to find a sign Until I saw your city lights Honey, I was blind They said, get back, honky-cap 66 00:14:05,190 --> 00:14:07,730 Better get back to the woods 67 00:14:07,730 --> 00:14:13,870 Well, I quit those days And my redneck ways And I 68 00:14:13,870 --> 00:14:19,850 Oh, the change is going to do me good 69 00:14:22,310 --> 00:14:32,370 I do love this echo. Okay, now. Harmonically, that song isn't terribly interesting. 70 00:14:32,910 --> 00:14:45,730 But the melody is full of nice twists. There's some nice little pictures in the words. Still, you probably wouldn't want to listen to it long with that oompa accompaniment, technically known as a boom-chick accompaniment. 71 00:14:46,290 --> 00:14:57,890 As far as I'm concerned, Elton John's recording of this is definitely a case of an okay song being transformed into an absolutely great number thanks to the accompaniment. 72 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:20,250 I must have been greedy Bopping in the country Fishing in the stream 73 00:15:21,430 --> 00:15:25,830 Looking for an answer Trying to find a sign 74 00:15:26,990 --> 00:15:29,350 Until I saw your city lights 75 00:15:29,350 --> 00:15:41,580 Honey, I was blind They said, get back, honky-cap Better get back to the woods Well, I quit those days And my redneck ways 76 00:15:42,500 --> 00:16:05,570 And a silver mine 77 00:16:05,570 --> 00:16:12,770 It's like trying to drink whiskey Oh, from a bottle of wine 78 00:16:16,910 --> 00:16:27,770 Well, I read some books And I read some magazines About those high-density ladies Down in New Orleans 79 00:16:27,770 --> 00:16:39,010 And all the folks back home Well, say, that was a fun day And I was a fool They said, oh, believing the Lord Is the golden rule 80 00:16:39,010 --> 00:16:50,380 They said, get back Well, I quit those days And my redneck ways 81 00:16:50,380 --> 00:16:57,140 And ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Oh, change is gonna do me good 82 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:30,310 Get back, honky-cats 83 00:17:30,310 --> 00:17:41,770 Well, I quit those days And oh, change is gonna do me good 84 00:17:43,210 --> 00:17:55,160 They said, stay at home Boy, you gotta turn the phone Levin' down the city, boys 85 00:17:55,500 --> 00:18:08,300 Is gonna break your heart But how can you stay When your heart says no? How, how can you stop When your feet say go? 86 00:18:08,940 --> 00:18:19,600 You better get back Honky-cat Better get back to the woods Well, I quit those days And my redneck ways 87 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:26,440 And ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Oh, change is gonna do me good 88 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:37,380 Get back, honky-cat City ain't a where as I like 89 00:18:40,100 --> 00:18:47,820 Sell my mind It's like time to drink whiskey Oh, yeah 90 00:18:53,860 --> 00:18:54,900 Get back, honky-cats 91 00:19:05,660 --> 00:19:10,780 Get back, honky-cats Get, get back Whoo! 92 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:13,180 Elton John singing Honky Cat, which he wrote with Bernie Taupin. You know, even though the accompaniment threatens to upstage the melody there, 93 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:23,540 it nevertheless remains distinct from the melody. It doesn't really share material with the melody, except in a few cases, maybe. That Chinesey piano figure 94 00:20:23,540 --> 00:20:35,820 and those great licks in the brasses and saxes written by Gus Dudgeon, are completely different from the melody. There are honky-cats in that wind section. It takes one to know one, 95 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:46,620 and my name is Peter Schickely, and the show is Schickely Mix from PRI, Public Radio International. Today's program is called Background Information. 96 00:20:47,180 --> 00:20:58,880 We're running a check on some of the accompaniment characters without whom those prima donnas of musical texture, the melodies, would find that it feels pretty lonely on stage when there's nobody in the pit. 97 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:11,500 You don't need a huge orchestra down there. Sometimes just a guitar and a tapping foot will do it. We're about to hear a very ingenious and satisfying guitar part, but once again, 98 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:20,040 it's completely distinct from the melody. An interesting, finely worked setting for a simple but lovely stone. 99 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:32,910 Bird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings And learn to fly 100 00:21:34,630 --> 00:21:43,190 All your life Only waiting for this moment to arise 101 00:21:49,150 --> 00:22:00,530 Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these sunken eyes And learn to see All your life 102 00:22:02,390 --> 00:22:07,050 You are only waiting For this moment to be free 103 00:22:09,110 --> 00:22:10,510 Blackbird fly 104 00:22:14,190 --> 00:22:15,590 Blackbird fly 105 00:22:17,050 --> 00:22:20,050 Into the light of a dark black night 106 00:22:38,490 --> 00:22:39,190 Blackbird 107 00:22:47,290 --> 00:22:49,960 Into the light of a dark black night 108 00:22:52,200 --> 00:23:10,220 Blackbird singing in the dead of night 109 00:23:11,300 --> 00:23:13,900 Take these broken wings 110 00:23:13,900 --> 00:23:15,200 And learn to fly 111 00:23:16,820 --> 00:23:18,740 All your life 112 00:23:20,620 --> 00:23:25,180 You are only waiting For this moment to arise 113 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:27,960 You are only waiting 114 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,240 For this moment to arise 115 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:32,740 You are only waiting 116 00:23:32,740 --> 00:23:35,360 For this moment to arise 117 00:23:39,070 --> 00:23:50,990 Paul McCartney and friend, singing Blackbird, and playing one of the tastiest accompaniments ever written for guitar. Now that would be called a solo number, but there are, of course, 118 00:23:51,070 --> 00:24:02,170 three music makers involved, and I'm not counting the bird. Paulie's voice, two of them sometimes, Paulie's guitar, and Paulie's feet. For tidbit time today, 119 00:24:02,330 --> 00:24:14,950 we're going to contradict something that's self-evident. It's a truism that in order to achieve the effect of melody and accompaniment, it takes at least two units, two people, or two hands, or voice, and something else. 120 00:24:15,530 --> 00:24:27,550 Rare indeed is the person who, using nothing but his God-given monophonic voice, can create the effect of melody plus accompaniment. But rare, or even rare indeed, 121 00:24:27,770 --> 00:24:30,090 does not mean non-existent. 122 00:24:38,410 --> 00:24:49,370 Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings And learn to fly All your life 123 00:24:49,370 --> 00:24:58,890 You were only waiting For this moment to arrive Blackbird singing in the dead of night 124 00:25:01,010 --> 00:25:13,850 Take these broken wings And learn to fly All your life You were only waiting For this moment to be free 125 00:25:15,950 --> 00:25:19,010 Blackbird flying All your life 126 00:25:19,010 --> 00:25:19,350 You were only waiting 127 00:25:21,350 --> 00:25:32,470 her hair, her hair fly, Bum, ba, doo, yeah, to the light of the dark black night. Doo, doo, doo, bum-a-doo, boom, doo, boom, doo. Wee, doo, way, doo, way, doo. 128 00:25:32,590 --> 00:25:39,630 Bah, doo, bah, doo, bee, doo, boo, doo. Baa, baa, doo, ba, doo. Baa, doo, bum, baa, na, na, ba, doo, dee, doo. 129 00:25:39,970 --> 00:25:47,840 Baa, doo, baa, na, na, baa, da, da, la, da, da, da. 130 00:25:50,630 --> 00:26:03,010 Ding, ding, brown wings, I learned to fly, Ba, baa, doo, baa, doo, boy, oh, life, Only waiting for this moment to arrive 131 00:26:03,910 --> 00:26:15,210 Blackbirds singing in the dead of night Sing this song in my eyes and learn to sing All your life 132 00:26:15,210 --> 00:26:21,250 Only waiting for this moment to be free 133 00:26:31,150 --> 00:26:33,630 Into the light of the dark black night 134 00:26:34,030 --> 00:26:41,650 Blackbirds singing in the dead of night 135 00:27:07,570 --> 00:27:14,740 Into the light of the dark black night 136 00:27:24,020 --> 00:27:32,760 Bobby McFerrin's virtuoso rendition of Blackbird. I said it was voice only. Well, there's a little whistling in there. So sue me. 137 00:27:33,700 --> 00:27:44,400 One of the nice things about living on the same planet for a fairly long spell is being able to watch things grow. I remember, seems like decades ago in New York City, 138 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:52,760 watching the news on TV and the little human interest section was about a young street singer who did these amazing things with his voice. 139 00:27:53,040 --> 00:28:00,680 And here he is now, a fine jazz singer, a chart-topping pop singer, and a symphony orchestra conductor to boot. 140 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:14,700 Bobby McFerrin's ability to single-voicedly create melody and accompaniment brings us to an interesting question, namely, what is the sound of one hand clapping? Or one finger? Or one finger snapping? 141 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:28,260 Or is it possible to have an accompaniment without a melody? The reverse, an unaccompanied melody, is obviously possible, and not uncommon. But what about an unmelodied accompaniment? 142 00:28:28,940 --> 00:28:40,560 Although that may seem to be a logical impossibility, I think we should forsake the realm of pure logic in which we have been dwelling up until now, and consider the factor of musico-social conditioning. 143 00:28:41,180 --> 00:28:46,980 What's your idea of accompaniment? Or, to put it another way, what's your idea of melody? 144 00:31:34,060 --> 00:31:47,040 Keith Terry and Cross Pulse in a number called Into Ancestral Earth. But I bet you're supposed to say Into Ancestral Earth. The liner notes say, Images of Central Park in New York, 145 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:57,920 Spruill Plaza in Berkeley, Congo Square in New Orleans, places where people come together to drum. When I moved to the Park Slope section of Brooklyn in 1971, 146 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:07,700 there were often large groups of guys on the corner a couple of blocks away, just drumming and drumming for, was it really hours? I don't know, but I loved listening. 147 00:32:08,460 --> 00:32:19,600 Now how long would I have wanted to listen to the same thing in a concert hall? Would it then sound like a long accompaniment with no melody? I can imagine someone who isn't into Stravinsky, 148 00:32:19,820 --> 00:32:30,080 hearing the Symphony in Three movements for the first time, and thinking, in this section we're about to hear, hey, very nice groove, but when's the melody gonna start? 149 00:33:09,070 --> 00:33:21,310 Sounds great to me, just as it is. But like I said, I can imagine somebody leaping up on the stage and stopping the performance. Hey, Igor, listen man, that's some mighty fine groundwork you're laying down there, 150 00:33:21,370 --> 00:33:33,490 but you don't have anybody, like, walking on it, dig? Now I see you got a Hammond B3 up here on the stage. Mind if I sit in? Hey, hey, nothing trashy, man. Just a nice, free-floating line. I mean, you got the drum. 151 00:33:33,490 --> 00:33:36,430 And the dancing feet. I wanna see the smile. What do you think? 152 00:33:36,730 --> 00:33:39,550 Will it last a very long time, this way? 153 00:33:40,190 --> 00:33:40,910 Say what? 154 00:33:41,670 --> 00:33:44,350 Will it last a very long time, this way? 155 00:33:44,850 --> 00:33:54,150 Will it last a very long time, this way? Hey, man, we're talking about 30, 40 seconds here. Just that last section you played with the walking bass, okay? All right, hit it. 156 00:34:32,030 --> 00:34:43,469 Gilding the Lily. Unnecessary melodification. I could probably get sued for malpractice on that one. You know, I always loved those early rock and roll bass lines. 157 00:34:47,949 --> 00:34:58,230 And, uh... And many years ago, I came up with a nice accompaniment figure for a song. 158 00:35:02,590 --> 00:35:14,730 With a right-hand thing there on the same chord. But I never came up with a good melody for it. And then one day it occurred to me, with the help of Stravinsky's example, I should think, that it didn't really need a melody. 159 00:35:14,890 --> 00:35:25,510 It was fine just by itself. I added a middle section based on another bass line, came back to the first one, and wrapped it up. You've heard of the minute waltz. This is the minute stomp. 160 00:36:18,660 --> 00:36:29,860 The last movement, stomp, played by the composer himself, from my small serenade for piano. When the serenade was played at a concert in the early 60s, 161 00:36:29,860 --> 00:36:39,380 one of my colleagues on the Juilliard faculty, and a fellow composer, said to me, I like your serenade, Peter, but that last movement doesn't belong in a concert hall. 162 00:36:39,980 --> 00:36:50,080 And that comment was one of the reasons I decided to get out of academe. I'm no longer a teacher, but my name's still Peter Schickely. The program is still Schickely Mix, 163 00:36:50,860 --> 00:37:02,720 and it still emanates from PRI, Public Radio International. We're collecting background information here, for a highly unsystematic investigation of accompaniments. 164 00:37:03,300 --> 00:37:11,840 We've heard some music that sounds, at least to some ears, like accompaniments without melodies. Now we're going to hear an accompaniment that was written to stand alone. 165 00:37:12,340 --> 00:37:24,280 That is, it was written as a self-sufficient keyboard piece by one composer, and then years later another composer turned it into an accompaniment by writing an original melody which goes with it, 166 00:37:24,340 --> 00:37:37,180 but of course, as we have come to expect, is very different from it. Thus helping to ensure that the new melody will receive top billing. The first piece is virtually unchanged in its use in the second piece, 167 00:37:37,380 --> 00:37:49,360 but it is transposed to a different key, the opening bars are duplicated as an introduction, a couple of chords are added at the end, and an apparently spurious measure in the middle 168 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:59,280 that is now omitted in performances of the original piece is used by the appropriator. You never know what's going to happen to your children after you're gone. 169 00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:56,360 The first prelude from Bach's well-tempered Clavier, Book I, 170 00:42:56,520 --> 00:43:08,700 played by David Moroni, followed by the Ave Maria by Gounod, performed beautifully, breathing new life into a war horse, by Felicity Lott and Graham Johnson. 171 00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:21,180 You know, that Bach prelude seems to be irresistible to other composers. I'm sure there are many more, but right offhand I can think of about a half a dozen pieces that make use of that prelude. 172 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:34,640 Of course, I'm responsible for three of them myself. Speaking of myself, which I'm loath to do, let's go out with an even larger case of musical kidnapping, one that I had a hand in uncovering. 173 00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:46,360 P.D.Q. Bach's one-act opera A Little Nightmare Music uses Mozart's famous serenade Eine kleine Nachtmusik as its entire accompaniment. 174 00:43:46,520 --> 00:43:58,680 That is, P.D.Q., like Gounod, but predating Gounod considerably, I'd like to point out, simply wrote melodic lines for his singers that go with the pre-existing Mozart piece, 175 00:43:59,470 --> 00:44:07,180 thus saving himself the trouble of composing those time-consuming orchestral pieces. Here's the last movement of the Mozart. 176 00:47:06,240 --> 00:47:17,880 Sir Neville Mariner conducting the Orchestra of St. Martin in the Fields in the last movement of Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik. Now, in the finale of P.D.Q. Bach's opera, 177 00:47:18,460 --> 00:47:28,400 as Mozart, this is a character in the opera, as Mozart leads the string ensemble, the smug Salieri is taunted by the mysterious playwright Peter Schlafer. 178 00:47:29,180 --> 00:47:41,340 Salieri, who considers Mozart a good composer but hopelessly unbusinesslike, and therefore no threat, becomes so infuriated by Schlafer that he tries to poison the irritating writer. 179 00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:51,100 At the crucial moment, however, the servant, P.D.Q. Bach himself, bumps Salieri's arm, causing the poison to go into Mozart's glass instead. 180 00:47:54,160 --> 00:48:05,180 The Mozart has been called an opera composer who also wrote in other forms. And what I find interesting about this finale of P.D.Q. Bach's opera 181 00:48:05,180 --> 00:48:17,120 is how much, without any change whatsoever beyond the addition of vocal lines, this purely instrumental work sounds like the orchestral writing in parts of the later Mozart operas. 182 00:48:17,660 --> 00:48:22,840 Do you think Wolfgang heard secret vocal lines in his head while he wrote the Jupiter Symphony? 183 00:48:54,660 --> 00:49:18,960 threat at all, he's no threat at all, tis no, no sweat at all. You're lying, you're lying, and I can tell, and I can tell you where to go, my friend. You're lying, but not well. Well, I'm beginning to get quite angry, angry, so I'll be an angry man, I'll be a very angry man. 184 00:49:25,390 --> 00:49:40,150 You're crazy, you're silly, and you're a bore. You cannot face the awful truth, my friend. I cannot take much more, oh no, I cannot take much more, more, more, more, more, more. 185 00:49:40,210 --> 00:49:52,530 You've worked so hard to make your music as inspiring as you could, though he works half as hard, his music's twice as good, but he is no threat at all, he's no threat at all, tis no. 186 00:49:54,570 --> 00:50:13,430 Oh, no sweat at all. You're lying, you're lying, and I can tell, and I can tell you where to go, my friend. You're lying, but not well. Well, I'm continuing to get quite angry, angry, yes, now you're an angry man, now you're a very, very angry man. 187 00:50:14,970 --> 00:50:25,590 Ah! Ah! Ah! I'm not just a creep, I pity, I pity, I pity you. Well, I'm not just a creep, I pity, I pity you. 188 00:50:25,590 --> 00:50:28,950 I don't need your pious pity, and what's more, I don't need you. 189 00:50:30,330 --> 00:50:46,270 I don't need you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you I don't need you, you, you, you, you. 190 00:50:46,710 --> 00:50:55,390 I am a Christian man with patience and forgiveness in my soul, but if you push me, I might lose my self-control. Hey, you are no threat. 191 00:50:55,590 --> 00:51:05,130 at all, you're no threat at all, tis no, no sweat at all, that does it, I've had it right 192 00:51:05,130 --> 00:51:10,250 up to here, you cannot face the awful truth, my friend, your end is drawing near, I do 193 00:51:10,250 --> 00:51:19,350 believe I have finally shown, shown me why, I am an angry man, I am a very, very angry 194 00:51:19,350 --> 00:51:36,210 man, I've got some poison in this bottle here that should do the trick, oh no, Herr 195 00:51:36,210 --> 00:51:41,490 Bach, look what you've done, you oath, you bumped me, and you made me poison, the wrong 196 00:51:41,490 --> 00:51:54,230 one, stupid prompter, stupid prompter, that's what you are, that's what you are, that's what you are, that's what you are, that's what you are, that's what you are, that's 197 00:52:06,590 --> 00:52:16,820 The finale of A Little Nightmare Music, an opera in one irrevocable act by P.D.Q. Bach. 198 00:52:17,780 --> 00:52:28,560 The part of Antonio Salieri, a successful composer, was sung by James Billings, baritone, and Peter Schlafer, a mysterious writer, by Bruce Ford, tenor. 199 00:52:28,560 --> 00:52:40,060 That was the New York Pickup Ensemble, under the direction of yours truly. And, oh, look what's under this. Here's another cassette. 200 00:52:40,740 --> 00:52:52,380 Also washed out, of course. Get the coffee off of this. Let's try this one. I still someday would like to play you that tape of that Wilhelm's nephew there. Let's see what this is. 201 00:53:07,970 --> 00:53:17,910 I didn't know I had this on cassette. Well, that's Sickly Mix for this week. Our program is made possible with funds provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 202 00:53:18,050 --> 00:53:29,230 by the National Endowment for the Arts, and by this radio station and its members. Thank you, members. And not only that, our program is distributed by PRI, Public Radio International. 203 00:53:30,730 --> 00:53:40,630 We'll tell you in a moment 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... 204 00:53:40,650 --> 00:53:51,430 And this is Peter Sickly 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. 205 00:56:09,950 --> 00:57:55,480 If you'd like a copy of that playlist I mentioned, 206 00:57:55,680 --> 00:58:03,580 send a stamped, self-addressed, envelope to sicklymix, that's S-C-H-I-C-K-E-L-E, sicklymix, 207 00:58:03,980 --> 00:58:13,400 care of Public Radio International, 100 North 6th Street, Suite 900A, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55403. 208 00:58:15,460 --> 00:58:17,980 PRI, Public Radio International.