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Ready and willing, here's the theme.
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. And it is good that our bills are paid by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
And it is good that this fine radio station chips in. And it is good that the program is distributed by PRI, Public Radio International.
But you can't talk about good without also talking about evil. I don't know if that's true, but it sounds good. What's the name of that early Clint Eastwood movie?
The Good, the Bad, and the Morally Ambiguous? Well, that's a good description of the subject of today's program, which is witches. I like that, witches, witches.
It reminds me of that game, you know, what's the greatest number of successive repetitions of a word you can have in a coherent sentence?
The answer I remember is, it's a sentence about correcting a grammar exam in school. And it goes, Where John had had had, Jane had had,
had had, had had, had had the approval of the teacher. Did you follow that? Jane had had, had had, had had, had had the approval of the teacher.
That's eight hads in a row. Divided, it's true, by a semicolon, but that is definitely a legitimate semicolon because it's... Oh, oh, come on.
I know it's irrelevant, but can't we have a little fun here? I'm not sure I want to know the answer.
I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that question, but speaking of fun, in preparation for this show, I went out and bought a recording of the opera Hansel and Gretel.
It's a Phillips recording, and it's, you know, one of those boxes with a couple of CDs in it, and I opened up the box, and there, in addition to the two CDs in the booklet, was a plastic bag with the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
I guess the idea is that your kids can work on the puzzle while they're listening to the opera, right? Well, that's a nice idea. And it occurs to me that the recording companies are missing out on a terrific marketing gimmick here.
This could really be extended to all sorts of operas.
I mean, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat could have a coloring book in it, and, uh, let's see, the box would have to be a bit larger than usual, but Fidelio could come with prison chains.
Kids would love that. Pagliacci, a little miniature bass drum you could bang along with the music. And it wouldn't have to only be for kids, either.
I mean, Carmen worked in a cigarette factory. You open up the CD box, and there's a pack of Marlboros.
Or, uh, Verdi's Falstaff contains a little can of Molson's or a Jack Daniels miniature. Uh, The Trojans by Berlioz.
We'll skip over that one and move right along to, uh, okay, Samson and Delilah. A little pair of scissors in there. Hey, the possibilities are endless. And I think the recording companies should get with it.
Oh, here's a good one. Lohengrin, you open up the box and a swan flies out. Okay, okay, back to business here, which is, as we said before, witches.
As anybody who has seen The Wizard of Oz knows, there are good witches and bad witches, but most people think of witches as bad. Either actively bad, or at least the bearers of bad tidings.
We're going to start with a gaggle of witches. Or three gaggles, actually. Scenes from three operas featuring the kind of women's group you approach with trepidation.
Uh, the first and third are thunder and lightning type scenes. Both have shrill piccolo parts.
But in the middle one, the witches, although they are completely evil at heart and born to raise hell, often sound quite jolly. They prance around going ho, ho, ho, ho.
You'd think they'd studied singing with Santa Claus. They sound like the students at a girls' school. Which is where, actually, the opera was probably first performed. It's in English, and the last selection is also in English.
But don't strain yourself trying to understand the text of that one. After Hail Satan, it's mostly nonsense words. And here's the libretto for the first selection. It's, uh, hold on here.
It goes, uh, these are witches. What have you been doing? Tell us. I slit the throat of a boar. And you? There crossed my mind a helmsman's wife.
That helmsman's wife sent me to the devil. But her husband, who sets sail, I'll drown him with his ship. I'll give you a north wind. I shall raise stormy seas. I shall drive him onto shoals.
And, uh, then they join hands and go into a wild dance. Our first suite is called Covenly Choruses. I'll see you in about 12 minutes.
Que sera? Bien, quand… .
The late of all, the sharing of their sunset shall move fame.
Of the great of sun by fate to seek Italian ground.
The queen and he are now in chase. Hark! Hark!
We'll face him.
When they've done, my trusty elf, in form of Mercury himself,
a scent from Jove shall chide his stay, and judge himself right with all his fleet away.
It is my love, it is my love, it is my love, it is my love, it is my love.
We'll hunt them for a storm, we'll hunt them for a storm, we'll hunt them for a storm.
In a deep forest cell, we'll be there.
To dream.
Covenley Choruses with scenes from Verdi's Macbeth Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Marshner's The Vampire In the Verdi we heard Riccardo Mutti conducting
the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and the New Philharmonia Orchestra In Dido and Aeneas we heard Nigel Rogers as the Sorceress Don't ask me why the Sorceress
is being sung by a man in the baritone range I don't get it myself even after reading the explanation in the booklet Anyway, the English concert and its choir were conducted by Trevor Pinnock
It's a terrific recording Heinrich Marshner's The Vampire dates from 1827 Apparently Wagner admired the work What we heard comes from the soundtrack of a British television version
updated to the 1960s London art scene We heard David Perry conducting the Britain Singers and the BBC Philharmonic Well, I guess that
I hate it when the phone rings Excuse me
Hello?
Oh yeah, that silly little game about repeated words It was eight The word had occurred eight times in a row Oh, you have a sentence with more?
Okay, what is it? No, no, a thousand times no? Well, am I being dense here? That only has two no's in a row Oh, come on
Give me a break Of course, if you actually said no a thousand times You're not going to do that, are you? Will you please stop? Stop it
Hey, listen I'm hanging up if you don't stop Okay, here I go I'm hanging up Brother Takes all kinds, I guess Anyway
Oh man This is going to be one of those days Hello? I can't believe this Here, I'm going to hold the phone up to the mic
Can you believe that? Okay, Dr. No I was always taught not to take no for an answer So I'm hanging up No kidding
Have a nice day And please don't call again Boy There are some people who I wish did not have this number
I don't know who he is But I'm Peter Shickley And the show is Shickley Mix From PRI Public Radio International Today's show is called
Every Witch Way And I was thinking about the fact That the English word hex Is related to the German word for witch Which is hexa And it occurred to me That the word hexameter
Might not only mean a poetic line With six metric feet It might also mean a device For measuring how many spells per month A given witch has cast
Can't you imagine an old hag Puttering around her hut in the forest?
Who is it?
Hexameter reader, ma'am Well, come right in, young man I've been very good this month I've only cast one spell And believe me
He looks better as a frog Than he did as a prince Now, don't you overcharge me You young whippersnapper
Or I... You don't scare me, ma'am
I'm bigger than you And besides, I use hexoff Hexoff? That's right, ma'am Hexoff repels a spell Before it has a chance to get under my skin
And there's no toxic residue either So I don't have to worry about Rover licking me when I get home I feel relaxed and self-confident Now that I know That any spell you try to cast
Will roll off me like Water off a duck's back
You leave Quacksilver alone, you Bye, ma'am
Have a nice day Curses Filed By Hexoff That's right By Hexoff
Out!
You can't be too careful Okay, we've heard from witches in groups Now let's consider individual witches Okay, let's consider individual witches Here are three songs
Dealing with three powerful sorcerers The lyrics of the second number in English Go like this The pastry is ready Done to a turn
Oh, how the firewood crackles and burns Gretel, my sweet You'll soon be roast meat Well, I never Very clever In the oven soon You'll look to see my biscuits cook
When you're in Slam! Shut the door Wham! Then Gretel will be out of here I'll be a cake for my tea The cake in little bits I'll slice With nuts and sugar Make it nice
My magic oven glowing red Will turn you into gingerbread Well, I never Very clever Hi, hi, hi, hi In wild delight She seizes a broomstick
And sits astride it Her hop, hop, gallop, lop, lop My broomstick nag Giddy up, don't lag And she goes on like that for a while Three formidable sorcerers here
But they all get vanquished in the end So their sorcery comes to naught That's why I call this sweet Witchcraft Ebbing See you in about ten minutes
Blood, red moon
Find your woman Singing a zombie tune Lightning crash Thunderbolt
Standing alone At the crossroads of doom She paint my holy cross red
Burned black candles At the corners of my bed
Ain't never been so afraid
Of the living or the dead As I am of the woman Witchery, witchery
Hang my picture
Upside down Swampwood vine Keep me bound Soft to grass
On my crown
On my trail Yeah, I'm
She paint my holy cross red Burning black candles At the corners of my bed
The condors of my bed ain't never been so afraid of the living or the dead as I am of the woman which you raised.
Black cat bone, dress in bathtub gin, Mojo Satchel bit out a human skin.
Damn byler and his Mexican, bid his fool get religion and give up his sin.
She paid my holy cross.
Burned black candles in the condors of my bed ain't never been so afraid of the living or the dead as I am of that woman which you raised.
Which you raised.
You're in there, shut up, close the door.
There's a little girl who's turned into a witch.
She's in there, shut up, close the door.
She's free tomorrow.
Ding dong, the witch is dead. Witch, old witch, the wicked witch. Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead. I'll say it high and say it low.
Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead. She's gone where the god was told she'd be. Ding dong, ding dong, the witch is dead. Ding dong, ding dong, the witch is dead. She's gone where the god was told she'd be. Ding dong, ding dong, the witch is dead. I'll say it high and say it low.
Ding dong, ding dong, the witch is dead. Witch, old witch, the wicked witch. Ding dong, ding dong, the wicked witch is dead. She's gone where the god was told she'd be. Ding dong, ding dong, the witch is dead.
I'll say it high and say it low. She's gone where the god was told she'd be. Ding dong, ding dong, the witch is dead.
I'll say it high and say it low.
She's gone, there's a goblin, she'll be mine He knows he won't go out Now take off the wicked thing
Take off the wicked wicked thing Sing it high, sing it low Take off the wicked wicked thing
Take off the wicked wicked thing
Witchcraft Ebbing Our suite began with Dr. John singing Witchy Red from the television album. Then, of course, the Witches Aria from Hansel and Gretel, sung by Chris.
and Krista Ludwig, with Sir Colin Davis conducting the Dresden State Opera Orchestra. Apparently there's been at least one production of Hansel and Gretel
in which the roles of the mother and the witch are sung by the same person, illustrating Bruno Bettelheim's view that they represent the good and evil sides of the parent. That's gingerbread for thought.
Then last we heard Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead from The Wizard of Oz in the 1967 version by the Fifth District. And that's the fifth estate. By the way, what is that? Does that mean anything? What does the fifth estate mean?
You know, in the old division of classes of society with specific powers, the first estate was the clergy, the second was the nobility, the third was the commons, and the fourth was the press, the public press.
What was the fifth estate? Now, the guys in that rock group were college boys. Did they just decide to be a new estate, the fifth? Or does the fifth estate mean something that I don't know about? Well, I don't know.
If you can enlighten me on that, please do so. You know, I like to regard this program as a fount of knowledge in general, not just musically.
Oh, man. Hold on a minute.
Hello? No, no, no, no. Sabotage. You're thinking of a fifth column. I'm talking about fifth estate. Okay, bye.
Okay.
Hello? Yeah. No. Superfluous person. You're talking about a fifth wheel. That's not it. Okay, bye.
Hello?
No, that's the fifth amendment. Thank you.
Oh, this is getting out of hand. Hello?
Hey, that's plausible. Yeah. The bottles you inherit when your alcoholic uncle dies. Maybe that's it. Okay, thanks. Well, it's possible. You know, the fifth estate could be...
This has got to stop.
No more calls. Oh, man. Okay, everybody. Listen to this. Can you believe that? No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not even kidding.
Man, I hope that phone stops ringing. Name and ID. That's all anybody's going to get out of me. The name's Peter Shickley. The show's Shickley Mix from PRI, Public Radio International.
Every Which Way is the name of today's show. And you may remember back there earlier in the show, I went for a cheap laugh by making a gratuitous slur on women's groups.
But you know, I think one of the most interesting things to come out of the women's movement is the revival of the idea of witches as a positive force.
Everyone, except those who think in terms of the most simple-minded stereotypes, knows that in many cultures, what we call witch doctors are actually involved in healing instead
of, or at least in addition to, putting bad spells on one's enemies. Witchcraft is a matter of plugging into channels of energy that most people don't have access to.
I'm not sure what that means, but some people do seem to have some kind of a gift. Now, personally, I'm a pretty rational kind of guy. Weird things don't tend to happen to me.
I have a very mechanical mind when it comes to cause and effect. But I'm also in favor of humility when it comes to contemplating the extent of our knowledge. But enough of that. Enough about me.
What do you think of my world outlook? If we're in agreement, then it seems to you that whether or not it's taken literally in
the supernatural sense, the idea of sorcery can be used whimsically, metaphorically, and even instrumentally, as in dance music for a witch.
This suite is called Whiffs of Witchcraft. It has three numbers and lasts about nine minutes, after which the spell will be broken.
So, the children have seen them In quiet places where the moss grows green
Colored shells jangle together The wind is cold, the year is old The trees whisper together And bend in the wind
They leave
For next week a monkey Is coming to stay
I was a witch's hat Sitting on her head like a paraffin stove
I'd fly away and be a bat Across the air I would roam
Stepping like a tightrope walker Putting one foot after another
Wearing black cherries for rings
Many sights to see And when I look in my window
So many different people to be
That it's strange So strange You've got to pick up every stitch
You've got to pick up every stitch You've got to pick up every stitch Mmm Mmm
Must be the season of the witch Must be the season of the witch Yeah
Must be the season of the witch
On her shoulder, do you think I see her?
Summer cat looking over His shoulder at me And he's strange
Sure is strange You've got to pick up every stitch
You've got to pick up every stitch, yeah Beatniks are out to make it rich
Must be the season of the witch Must be the season of the witch Yeah Must be the season of the witch
Pick up every stitch
Bits running in the ditch Beatniks are out to make it rich
Oh, the season of the witch The season of the witch
The season of the witch
Do you think I see
And when I So many different people to be It's strange
Sure is strange Pick up every stitch You've got to pick up every stitch
Do rap it's running in the ditch Oh, no Must be the season of the witch
Must be the season of the witch Yeah Must be the season of the witch
The whiffs of witchcraft, sweet.
began with Witch's Hat by The Incredible String Band from their album called The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter. Then came the first section of Witch of Ender,
part of a dance score that Moondog composed for Martha Graham. It was performed by a motley bunch of New York freelancers. And last was Donovan singing Season of the Witch,
which brings us to tidbit time at the old... Should I answer that? What if it's the no man?
Well, hello. It is the no man, right? But you've finished doing your sentence with the greatest number of consecutive repetitions of a word, I assume.
No, no, a thousand times no. Look, I've got a... Yeah? Okay. I like a good intellectual challenge as well as the next man. Shoot.
Okay. You're saying that I should be able to guess your name on the basis of what you've just done. Okay, fair enough. So, let's see. Okay.
I'm going to guess that your name is Hal. Yes! All right, how about that? Woo-hoo-hoo! Well, no, I didn't use any sorcery. I just...
Okay, at first I was thinking that you were going to say no a thousand times. But then I thought, wait a minute. No, no, a thousand times no. Which isn't a complete sentence, by the way. Okay, okay, that's okay.
But then I figured you said no, no a thousand times. That's 2,000 no's plus the one at the end of the sentence.
So, I computed that you said no 2,001 times and the name of the computer in 2,001 is Hal. Right? Okay.
Well, I don't know about genius, but... Look, I... Okay, look, I got to go back. Okay, bye. Well, you lose some and you win some. Okay, where were we?
Tidbit time. Okay. Okay, now, I have to say that tidbit time today brings a tear to my eye
because I'm more or less repeating the tidbit from Sickly Mix number one. This is show number 161, and way back there on show number one,
I pointed out that the instruments... The instrumental break in the Fifth Estate's version of Ding Dong the Witch is Dead was a bourree by the 17th century composer Michael Pretorius,
played on Renaissance instruments. But since then, a CD has been released with everything the Fifth Estate ever recorded.
And the liner notes fill in some nice details on how their big hit came to pass. I'm going to read this. As 1966 neared its end,
Don Askew attended a Christmas party at which he advanced the theory that any song properly presented could become a hit record. Other partygoers doubted Askew's idea and challenged him to this wager.
Bet your group can't get a hit with a song from the Wizard of Oz soundtrack. Askew took on the friendly wager and bounced the idea off the group. Wadhams, putting his Dartmouth education to pop music advantage,
worked out an unusual arrangement. At the time, Wadhams said, I was studying... Renaissance dance music. There is no happier or more entertaining music. So I thought, why not use it?
And so Wadhams embellished Ding Dong with the bourree movement from the famous dance suite Terpsichore by the 17th century composer Michael Pretorius. For our basement demo, this is a quote,
we literally dubbed the band over a full Renaissance orchestra playing the piece on an LP. Then we taped the verses and bridge from Ding Dong in the same key at the same tempo and spliced it out.
together. You couldn't listen to the result without laughing. Everybody knew it was a hit. So here's the part of the archive LP that they dubbed over. It's performed by the
Collegium Terpsichore, conducted by Fritz Neumeier, followed by the actual demo made by the group, dubbing over the LP.
The
original demo for Ding Dong the Witch is Dead by the Fifth Estate with the Pretorius Bourree they so dearly loved. Delightfully appropriated. You know, in a way, I like the demo better. For the released
recording, they brought in members of the New York Pro Musica, but it's not as big a renaissance band as on the archive LP, and it doesn't have that great rasping bass instrument that's on the LP.
Okay, we gotta get on our broomsticks here. We're going to go out with some Mendelssohn, as much as we can hear of the overture to Die Erste Walpurgisnacht, a cantata or oratorio or whatever it is.
Based on a Goethe poem about the first Walpurgis night, which is May Day Eve. May Day Eve is
not a cry of help from Adam. It's the night before the first of May, when in German tradition, all the witches fly to a rendezvous. Christoph von Dochnany is conducting the Cleveland Orchestra.
And that's Sickly Mix for this week. Our program is made possible with funds provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by this radio station and its members. And our program
is distributed by PRI, Public Radio International. 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 161. 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.
If you'd like a copy of that playlist I mentioned, send a stamped self-addressed envelope to Sickly Mix. That's S-C-H-I-C-K-E-L-E, Sickly Mix. Care of Public Radio International,
100 North 6th Street, Suite 900A, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55403.
PRI, Public Radio. International.