1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,700 This is classical radio KSCY, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, at 91.7 FM, serving Dubuque at 101.7 FM. 2 00:00:08,700 --> 00:00:11,800 And now, Shickley Mix. Peter, are you ready? 3 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:30,800 Oddly enough, I am. Here's the theme. 4 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:38,800 Well, hello there. I'm Peter Shickley, and this is Shickley Mix, a program dedicated to the proposition that all musics are created equal. 5 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:43,800 Or, as Duke Ellington put it, if it sounds good, it is good. 6 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:48,800 And the bills for the good stuff we're about to hear are paid by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 7 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:54,800 and also by this wise and good radio station, which provides me with a home away from home, 8 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:58,800 within whose nurturing walls I hatch my intellectual eggs, 9 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:08,800 and whence the resultant birds of wisdom fly to the four corners with the navigational help of PRI, Public Radio International. 10 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:18,800 Recently, I celebrated, quietly, with my wife, on a night we were going out to dinner anyway, an approximate anniversary. 11 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:24,800 I don't know the exact date of my first effort, but it must have been when I was 12 and a half or 13. 12 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:30,800 It suddenly occurred to me, recently, that I've been writing music for 50 years. 13 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:37,800 It's hard to imagine. Here I am, still trying to figure out how to behave around members of the opposite sex, 14 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:43,800 and yet I've got a half a century of continuous endeavor in my chosen field behind me. 15 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:49,800 It has also occurred to me that a piece I wrote over 45 years ago, which was later published, 16 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:54,800 is still being played occasionally, judging from my royalty reports. 17 00:01:54,800 --> 00:02:02,800 Wowie zowie! I might almost feel that I'd written a war horse, or what in the popular field they call a standard, 18 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:08,800 if it weren't for the fact that most of the occasional performances that piece gets are on concerts that I conduct. 19 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:15,800 But there is something very satisfying about having a piece pull away from you and develop a life of its own. 20 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:20,800 Performances you don't know about, people you've never met being affected by it. 21 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,800 It's a bit like watching your kids grow up. 22 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:32,800 And it's not so much an ego thing. Well, okay, I guess it is an ego thing, but it's not necessarily a fame thing. 23 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:39,800 Even if people don't know that you did it, it's nice to have something you did be part of the community culture. 24 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,800 It's happened a couple of times in conversations about Christmas music 25 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:50,800 that people have said how much they love the Joan Baez album Noelle without realizing that I wrote the arrangements. 26 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,800 Now, I'm no saint of self-effacement, that's for dang sure. 27 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,800 I'm not pretending that when that has happened I've kept my mouth shut about my involvement. 28 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:06,800 And I have no illusions about whose name and beautiful voice and musicality have kept the thing in print. 29 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:11,800 But it really makes me happy to think that more than 30 years after the album came out, 30 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:18,800 Joan and I are still spreading yuletide cheer to a far-flung bunch of complete strangers. 31 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:27,800 Now, imagine being a composer whose works are still being played 100 years after his death, like Brahms. 32 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:33,800 Or 200 years, like Mozart. Or 300 years, like Purcell. 33 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:43,800 Okay, how about having something you wrote still be well-known more than 700 years after you're dead and gone? 34 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:49,800 Unless you're a musicologist, the chances are pretty slim that you've ever heard of Tommaso di Celano. 35 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,800 But you might very well recognize this melody. 36 00:03:53,800 --> 00:04:03,800 Dies Irae, dies Irae, stardesse gut, infamile, 37 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:10,800 dessnerani, dessnerani, dessnerani 38 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:27,800 vandus lebo ex-budus, vandu oe ude exes benus, kundasinte disbussu. 39 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:40,800 Turamios pa gente solu, mestre per carrentino, 40 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:48,800 calce nonne santecum. 41 00:04:48,800 --> 00:05:01,800 Mos rume di dell'annua, ume suceche dell'alua, 42 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:18,800 yurihani, dies valsuma. Ries ritus, parfereu, 43 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:30,800 inodorum cantileu, undemodus, yuriceu. 44 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:39,800 Nune excello, kundus ile. 45 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:53,800 Vibhilatte, atkarehni, nili urdureharehni. 46 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,800 The first six verses of the sequence Dies Irae, Day of Wrath, 47 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,800 sung by the monks of the Abbey Saint-Pierre-de-Solem. 48 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,800 It's part of the Mass for the Dead, or Requiem Mass, 49 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,800 and it has an interesting and perhaps unique history among Gregorian chants. 50 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:15,800 The man to whom it is attributed, Tommaso di Celano, died in the 13th century. 51 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,800 It became popular outside Italy in the 14th century, 52 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:23,800 it became an integral part of the Requiem Mass during the 16th century, 53 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,800 and in the 19th century it started appearing in secular pieces 54 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,800 to signify death or damnation. 55 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,800 If you recognize the melody and you're not a Catholic, 56 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,800 you probably know it from one of those orchestral works. 57 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:41,800 Now, I'm no music historian, but I can't help wondering 58 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,800 if the Dies Irae isn't the oldest melody in our culture 59 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,800 that is well known to non-specialists. 60 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:51,800 It's certainly older than Greensleeves, 61 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,800 it's from about the same time as Sumer is a Cuman in, 62 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:56,800 but how many people know that piece? 63 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:58,800 I can't think of any other... 64 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,800 Excuse me. 65 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,800 Hello? 66 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:06,800 Who is this? 67 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:08,800 Is this Joan? 68 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,800 Hello? Hello? 69 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,800 I pick up the phone and there's the beginning of that Noel album I was talking about. 70 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:20,800 Joan Baez singing 71 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:30,800 Oh come, oh come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel. 72 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,800 Well, whoever was playing it has a good point. 73 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,800 That carol may be as old as the 13th century. 74 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,800 I believe it comes from the Plainsong era. 75 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:42,800 You know, that's an interesting question. 76 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,800 What's the oldest well-known music in our culture? 77 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,800 Anyway, the Dies Irae is a good contender, 78 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,800 and we're going to be hearing a lot of it today. 79 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,800 Old Tommaso was a Franciscan, so he must have placed great value on humility. 80 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,800 And if he has a radio up there in heaven, 81 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:05,800 today's program will surely try his resistance to the sin of pride. 82 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:10,800 Let me read you the first six verses in an English translation. 83 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,800 Some of it's a bit stilted, but I've chosen this translation 84 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:18,800 because it matches the meter and rhyme scheme of the original Latin. 85 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:24,800 Day of wrath and doom impending, David's word with sibils blending, 86 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:26,800 heaven and earth in ashes ending. 87 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:31,800 Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth when from heaven the judge descendeth 88 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,800 on whose sentence all dependeth. 89 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:39,800 Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth, through earth's sepulchres it ringeth. 90 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:42,800 Oh, before that's a tongue twister. 91 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:47,800 Wondrous sounds the trumpet flingeth, through earth's sepulchres it ringeth. 92 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:50,800 Oh, before the throne it bringeth. 93 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,800 Death is struck and nature quaking, 94 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:57,800 all creation is awaking to its judge and answer making. 95 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,800 Lo, the book exactly worded wherein all hath been recorded, 96 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,800 thence all judgment be awarded. 97 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:10,800 When the judge his seat attaineth, and each hidden deed arraigneth, 98 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,800 nothing unavenged remaineth. 99 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:16,800 Strong stuff. 100 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,800 Apocalypse, if not now, soon. 101 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,800 Okay, before we go on, let me play you the opening again. 102 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,800 I'm doing this because the opening is the easiest part to remember 103 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,800 and also because many of the later pieces that refer to the Dies Irae 104 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:33,800 only quote the opening. 105 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:49,800 Now, here are some excerpts from what is probably the first polyphonic, 106 00:09:49,800 --> 00:10:04,800 or multi-voiced, setting of the Dies Irae. 107 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:28,800 Oh, before the throne it bringeth, 108 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:36,800 all creation is awaking, 109 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:49,800 all creation is awaking, 110 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:58,800 all creation is awaking, 111 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:08,800 all creation is awaking, 112 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:18,800 all creation is awaking, 113 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:33,800 all creation is awaking, 114 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:48,800 all creation is awaking, 115 00:11:48,800 --> 00:12:04,800 all creation is awaking, 116 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:23,800 all creation is awaking, 117 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:35,800 all creation is awaking, 118 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:48,800 all creation is awaking, 119 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:58,800 all creation is awaking, 120 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:08,800 all creation is awaking, 121 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:15,800 all creation is awaking, 122 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:25,800 all creation is awaking, 123 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:35,800 all creation is awaking, 124 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:45,800 all creation is awaking, 125 00:13:45,800 --> 00:14:05,800 all creation is awaking, 126 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:15,800 all creation is awaking, 127 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:35,800 all creation is awaking, 128 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:45,800 all creation is awaking, 129 00:14:45,800 --> 00:15:05,800 all creation is awaking, 130 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:15,800 all creation is awaking, 131 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:35,800 all creation is awaking, 132 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:45,800 all creation is awaking, 133 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:55,800 all creation is awaking, 134 00:15:55,800 --> 00:16:03,800 all creation is awaking, 135 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:08,800 The 19th century romantics 136 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,800 developed a fascination 137 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:11,800 with everything that was morbid 138 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:11,800 or decaying or lurid or extreme 139 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:13,800 or preferably all four. 140 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:18,800 That was the century that gave 141 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:17,800 us Frankenstein, Dracula, 142 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:22,800 and Freud, not to mention 143 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,800 newly built ruins. 144 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:22,800 I should mention, by the way, 145 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:24,800 having compared a requiem mass 146 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:26,800 with a secular symphony, 147 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:28,800 that most requiems use the text 148 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:30,800 but not the plain song melody 149 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:32,800 we've been dealing with. 150 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:34,800 The Mozart and Verdi requiems, 151 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:35,800 for instance, don't use 152 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:37,800 Tommy's tune. 153 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:38,800 They set the text to 154 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,800 completely original music. 155 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:41,800 But they do share with 156 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:43,800 the Berlioz symphony 157 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:45,800 a fire and brimstone quality 158 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:47,800 compared to the Brumel. 159 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,800 Okay, it's tidbit time, 160 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:51,800 and we're going to be hearing 161 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:53,800 an instrument that, I must say, 162 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:55,800 is a new one to me. 163 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:56,800 Now, I know of a bunch 164 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:57,800 of instruments that are 165 00:16:57,800 --> 00:16:59,800 named after people. 166 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:01,800 The sousaphone, the saxophone, 167 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:03,800 the hecklephone, the theremin, 168 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:04,800 the sarousaphone, 169 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,800 the Wagner tuba. 170 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:07,800 But they are all named 171 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:09,800 either after their inventors 172 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:10,800 or, in the case of Sousa 173 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:12,800 and Wagner, 174 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:13,800 after the composers who 175 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:15,800 specified what they wanted. 176 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:16,800 By the way, speaking of 177 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:18,800 the 19th century, 178 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:19,800 which is when these instruments 179 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:20,800 were invented, most of them, 180 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:21,800 can we make a case for 181 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:23,800 the age of individualism here? 182 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:25,800 Are there any pre-19th century 183 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:27,800 cases of people naming 184 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:28,800 new instruments 185 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:30,800 after themselves? 186 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:31,800 Interesting question. 187 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:32,800 Anyway, the instrument 188 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:34,800 we're about to hear 189 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:36,800 is the only one I know of 190 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:38,800 that is named after a singer, 191 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:39,800 and it's an interesting story. 192 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,800 phone rings 193 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:44,800 Hello? 194 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:46,800 No, the English horn 195 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:48,800 was not named for Lena Horne. 196 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:50,800 She's American. 197 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:51,800 Man, these people 198 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:54,800 must have me on speed dial. 199 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:55,800 So anyway, here's the story 200 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,800 behind this instrument. 201 00:17:57,800 --> 00:17:59,800 The French writer, Emile Zola, 202 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:00,800 had a brother who married 203 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:02,800 a singer named Celeste. 204 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:04,800 In spite of her name, 205 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:05,800 she had an unnaturally 206 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:07,800 low voice, which was 207 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:09,800 so terrifyingly awful 208 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:10,800 that everyone called her 209 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:12,800 the gorgon, after the 210 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:13,800 snake-haired sisters 211 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:15,800 of Greek mythology who, 212 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:16,800 if you looked at them, 213 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:18,800 you turned to stone. 214 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:19,800 So when a Parisian 215 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:20,800 instrument maker invented 216 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:22,800 a sort of a cross between 217 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:24,800 a bass trombone and a didgeridoo 218 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:26,800 with a tone that sounded 219 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:28,800 like a consumptive walrus, 220 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:30,800 he named it after her. 221 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:31,800 And the recording I'm about 222 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:33,800 to present is the first time 223 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:34,800 I've ever heard anyone 224 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:36,800 play the gorgonzola. 225 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:37,800 But before we hear it, 226 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,800 let me back up a bit. 227 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:41,800 A few days ago, Kenneth Mattel, 228 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:42,800 one of the co-directors 229 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:44,800 of Ken and Barbie's 230 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:45,800 early music consort, 231 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:47,800 brought me a recording 232 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:48,800 of an anonymous 233 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:49,800 17th-century English air 234 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:51,800 he recently discovered 235 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:52,800 and asked my opinion 236 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:54,800 of the performance. 237 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:56,800 Here he is singing 238 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,800 My Joy It Knows No Bounds. 239 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,800 My joy it knows no bounds 240 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,800 No bounds my joy doth know 241 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:09,800 Doth know 242 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:11,800 Tis true you know 243 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:12,800 Tis truly so 244 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:14,800 My joy doth know 245 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:16,800 Know know know know 246 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:18,800 No bounds 247 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:20,800 No bounds 248 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:25,800 Doth my joy know 249 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,800 Well, I told Ken 250 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:29,800 that it sounded fine to me, 251 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:31,800 except for one thing. 252 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:32,800 I reminded him that 253 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,800 in the 17th century, 254 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:35,800 it was customary to double 255 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,800 the bass line being played 256 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:38,800 by the harpsichordist's 257 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:40,800 left hand. 258 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:41,800 You know, they would have 259 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:43,800 a cello or a bass or a bassoon 260 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:44,800 or whatever was available, 261 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:46,800 double the bass line. 262 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:47,800 So I'll be darned if Ken 263 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:49,800 doesn't have a gorgonzola 264 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:51,800 in his instrument collection. 265 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:52,800 And he overdubbed it, 266 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:54,800 and this is the new version. 267 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:55,800 He just brought it to me 268 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:56,800 before the show. 269 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:57,800 Now I want to emphasize 270 00:19:57,800 --> 00:19:58,800 that there's nothing new 271 00:19:58,800 --> 00:19:59,800 in this version 272 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:01,800 in terms of notes. 273 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:02,800 It's just that now 274 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:04,800 the left-hand harpsichord part 275 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:05,800 is being doubled 276 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:07,800 by the gorgonzola. 277 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:08,800 Here we go. 278 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:10,800 My joy it knows 279 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:12,800 No bounds 280 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:13,800 No bounds 281 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,800 My joy doth know 282 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:18,800 Know know 283 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:19,800 Tis truly know 284 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:21,800 Tis truly so 285 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:23,800 My joy doth know 286 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:25,800 Know know know know know 287 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:27,800 Know bounds 288 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:29,800 Know bounds 289 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:35,800 Doth my joy know 290 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:39,800 Isn't that interesting? 291 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:40,800 Ken and Barbie's 292 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:42,800 early music consort. 293 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:43,800 Now you can hear 294 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:44,800 that the bass line 295 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:46,800 is the Dies Irae melody, 296 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:48,800 the associations of which 297 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:50,800 completely contradict 298 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:52,800 the joyful text of the song. 299 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:53,800 I think we need 300 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,800 a new musicological term here 301 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:57,800 to describe the cognitive dissonance 302 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:00,800 produced by this juxtaposition. 303 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,800 How about oxymoronic affect? 304 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:06,800 We can abbreviate it OA. 305 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:07,800 That makes it seem as if 306 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:09,800 the term's been around for years. 307 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:10,800 Although, actually, 308 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:11,800 come to think of it, 309 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:13,800 I'm no Franciscan monk. 310 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:14,800 I don't have to pretend 311 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:15,800 that I hold humility 312 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:17,800 in higher regard than chocolate. 313 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:18,800 If anyone asks you 314 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:19,800 who invented the term 315 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:21,800 oxymoronic affect, 316 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:22,800 just tell them it was 317 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:24,800 the noted scholar Peter Shickely, 318 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,800 host of Shickely Mix from PRI, 319 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,800 Public Radio International. 320 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:31,800 Today's show is called 321 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,800 The End of the World is Nigh. 322 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:35,800 The picture I get 323 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:36,800 is one of those guys 324 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:37,800 in a sackcloth carrying 325 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:39,800 a placard on a stick, 326 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:40,800 and the sound is the melody 327 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:42,800 that is the subject of our show, 328 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,800 Dies Irae, Day of Wrath. 329 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:46,800 Now the guy with a placard 330 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:48,800 on a stick is working 331 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:49,800 on a very small budget, 332 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:51,800 and he presumably believes 333 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:52,800 that simplicity is 334 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:53,800 a virtue anyway, 335 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:55,800 so humming or singing a hymn 336 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:57,800 is good enough for him. 337 00:21:57,800 --> 00:21:58,800 But as we have seen 338 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,800 and will be seeing, 339 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:01,800 many composers have erected 340 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,800 quite elaborate edifices 341 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:06,800 on this simple Gregorian chant, 342 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:08,800 or even on just the opening 343 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:10,800 phrase or two of the chant. 344 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:11,800 We're about to hear excerpts 345 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:14,800 from three such pieces. 346 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:15,800 The first is from a large set 347 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:17,800 of variations on the theme. 348 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:18,800 The second is from 349 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:19,800 a setting of a prayer 350 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:21,800 written by Mary Stewart 351 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:22,800 during the last years 352 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:24,800 of her captivity, 353 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:25,800 and the last is 354 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:26,800 a Halloween piece. 355 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:27,800 A great variety 356 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,800 of expression here. 357 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:31,800 The middle work is terribly sad, 358 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:32,800 even more so than the Brumel 359 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,800 we heard earlier, 360 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:35,800 whereas the outer selections 361 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:37,800 are more dramatic, 362 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:39,800 three very different meditations 363 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,800 on an apocalyptic theme. 364 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:43,800 We'll call this suite, 365 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:45,800 simply enough, Days of Wrath. 366 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:46,800 I'll be back 367 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:48,800 in 8-1-2 minutes. 368 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 369 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:50,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 370 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:21,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 371 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:51,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 372 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:21,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 373 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:51,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 374 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:21,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 375 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:51,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 376 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:21,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 377 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:51,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 378 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:21,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 379 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:51,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 380 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:21,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 381 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:51,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 382 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:21,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 383 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:51,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 384 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:56,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 385 00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:01,800 piano plays in bright rhythm 386 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:18,800 Days of Wrath. 387 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:19,800 We began with the opening part 388 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,800 of Franz Liszt's Totentanz, 389 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:23,800 Dance of Death 390 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:25,800 for piano and orchestra, 391 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:27,800 and Zimerman, 392 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:28,800 accompanied by Seiji Ozawa 393 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:29,800 conducting the 394 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:31,800 Boston Symphony Orchestra. 395 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:32,800 Then came the opening section 396 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:34,800 of the first 397 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:35,800 of Luigi Dalla Piccola's 398 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:37,800 Canti di Prigiona, 399 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:39,800 Songs of Prison, 400 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:41,800 with the New London Chamber Choir 401 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:42,800 and the Ensemble 402 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:44,800 Intercontemporain 403 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:45,800 under the direction 404 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:47,800 of Hans Zender. 405 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:48,800 All three of Dalla Piccola's 406 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:50,800 songs are based on the words 407 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:52,800 of people condemned to death, 408 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:54,800 Mary Stuart, Boethius, 409 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:56,800 and Savonarola. 410 00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:57,800 And they were composed 411 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:01,800 between 1938 and 1941. 412 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,800 According to the CD booklet, 413 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:05,800 Mussolini's announcement 414 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:07,800 of his radical fascism 415 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,800 on 1 September 1938 416 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:12,800 unleashed Dalla Piccola's fury. 417 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:13,800 Quote, I should have wished 418 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:15,800 to protest, 419 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:16,800 yet I wasn't so naive 420 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:17,800 as to suppose 421 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:18,800 that the individual 422 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:19,800 is not powerless 423 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:22,800 in a totalitarian regime. 424 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:23,800 The composer expressed 425 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:25,800 his feelings through his music 426 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:26,800 and through the symbolic choice 427 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,800 of texts that were heavy 428 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:31,800 with deeper significance. 429 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:32,800 Quote, given the world 430 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:34,800 political situation 431 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:35,800 a few weeks after 432 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:36,800 the Munich Conference, 433 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,800 it did not seem inappropriate 434 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:39,800 to think about the 435 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:40,800 last judgment. 436 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:42,800 Furthermore, I was convinced 437 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:43,800 that the use of the dies irae 438 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:45,800 in the manner of a cantus firmus 439 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:46,800 would facilitate the 440 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:51,800 comprehension of my ideas. 441 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:52,800 Then last, we heard 442 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:53,800 the tenth movement of a piece 443 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:55,800 called Brass Calendar, 444 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:56,800 performed by the 445 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:58,800 Chestnut Brass Company. 446 00:32:58,800 --> 00:32:59,800 The movements are inspired 447 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:01,800 by holidays or otherwise 448 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:02,800 significant days in each 449 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:04,800 of the 12 months, 450 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:06,800 and that was October, 451 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:07,800 the month, of course, 452 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:09,800 of Halloween. 453 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:10,800 In a hardly surprising 454 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:12,800 confluence of identity, 455 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:13,800 the composer of that piece 456 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:14,800 has the same name 457 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:16,800 as the host of this show, 458 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:18,800 to wit, Peter Shickely. 459 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:19,800 The show, incidentally, 460 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:22,800 is Shickely Mix from PRI, 461 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:27,800 Public Radio International. 462 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:29,800 The end of the world is nigh, 463 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:30,800 and we're trying to stave it off 464 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:31,800 by listening to works 465 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:33,800 based on the dies irae, 466 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:35,800 perhaps the oldest well-known 467 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:37,800 piece of music in our culture, 468 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:39,800 or perhaps not. 469 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:40,800 I suppose the oldest 470 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:42,800 well-known work of art 471 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:44,800 in tangible form in our culture 472 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:46,800 is The Iliad and the Odyssey 473 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:47,800 by Homer. 474 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:51,800 I mean, okay, okay, okay. 475 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:52,800 I can't argue with 476 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:55,800 the irrelevancy alarm there. 477 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:56,800 You know, the truth is, 478 00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:57,800 I'm trying to put off 479 00:33:57,800 --> 00:33:59,800 the next part of the show, 480 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:00,800 because this is where 481 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:04,800 I have to tell you 482 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,800 about something I slipped up on. 483 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:09,800 I have to humble myself, 484 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:10,800 humiliate myself, 485 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:12,800 admit my shortcomings, 486 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,800 fess up to my failure. 487 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:16,800 Get out the wet noodle, folks. 488 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:18,800 Your seeing-eye dog is blind, 489 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:20,800 or anyway deaf. 490 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:22,800 When I was preparing this show, 491 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:23,800 I read in several places 492 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:25,800 that the dies irae is quoted 493 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:28,800 in the Danse Macabre of Saint-Saëns. 494 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:29,800 So I listened to that 495 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:30,800 good old chestnut, 496 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:32,800 and I couldn't hear any dies irae. 497 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:33,800 I listened to it again, 498 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:35,800 and I still couldn't hear it. 499 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:36,800 Now, I've got 500 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:37,800 a fairly decent ear, 501 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:38,800 but what, am I going to say 502 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:39,800 that the Groves 503 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:40,800 and Harvard Music Dictionaries 504 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:41,800 don't know what 505 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:43,800 they're talking about? 506 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:45,800 Okay, okay, yeah, yeah. 507 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:47,800 I can hear you snickering there. 508 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:49,800 Don't think I can't hear you. 509 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:51,800 Okay, so, Mr. and Ms. Smarty Pants, 510 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:53,800 you think you can do any better? 511 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:55,800 Let's see, you find it. 512 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:56,800 You're going to have to concentrate. 513 00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:57,800 The piece is seven 514 00:34:57,800 --> 00:34:58,800 and a half minutes long, 515 00:34:58,800 --> 00:34:59,800 and remember, 516 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:01,800 the tune you're looking for is 517 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:03,800 dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, 518 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:05,800 dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, 519 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:07,800 dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, 520 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:09,800 dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. 521 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:13,800 Okay, wise guys, happy hunting. 522 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:16,800 piano plays softly 523 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 524 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:16,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 525 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:48,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 526 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:18,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 527 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:48,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 528 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:18,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 529 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:48,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 530 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:18,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 531 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:48,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 532 00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:18,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 533 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:48,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 534 00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:18,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 535 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:48,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 536 00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:18,800 orchestra only in bright rhythm 537 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:46,800 The Danse Macabre by Saint-Saëns, 538 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:47,800 performed by the 539 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:48,800 Philadelphia Orchestra 540 00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:50,800 under Ormandy, 541 00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:52,800 and shockingly enough, 542 00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:55,800 an unidentified solo violinist. 543 00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:57,800 Now about the Dies Irae, 544 00:42:57,800 --> 00:42:59,800 don't tell me if you heard it, 545 00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:01,800 okay, I don't want to know. 546 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:03,800 Nyeh, nyeh, nyeh, nyeh. 547 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:04,800 So anyway, I asked my friend 548 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:05,800 Rex about it, 549 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:06,800 and he did a smart thing. 550 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:07,800 He went to the library 551 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:09,800 and got a score. 552 00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:10,800 Sometimes these things 553 00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:12,800 are more obvious on the page 554 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:14,800 than they are to the ear. 555 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:16,800 And sure enough, he found it, 556 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:18,800 and boy is my face red, 557 00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:20,800 not to mention my ears. 558 00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:21,800 Now I have to say 559 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:23,800 that it's quite transformed. 560 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:24,800 I mean, there's quite a 561 00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:27,800 difference between this... 562 00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:30,800 bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, 563 00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:32,800 bum, bum, bum, bum, 564 00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:35,800 bum, bum, bum, bum, 565 00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:38,800 bum, bum, bum, bum, 566 00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:41,800 bum, bum, bum, bum, 567 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:43,800 and this... 568 00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:45,800 orchestra plays 569 00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:57,800 Not only did that sneaky 570 00:43:57,800 --> 00:43:59,800 sans-san change it from being 571 00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:01,800 in a minor type key 572 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:03,800 to a major key, from 573 00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:06,800 la, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, 574 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:09,800 to la, da, da, da, da, 575 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:12,800 da, da, da, da, da, da, da. 576 00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:13,800 But he also, and this is 577 00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:16,800 perhaps the greater obfuscation, 578 00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:17,800 he changed which notes 579 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:19,800 are accented. 580 00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:20,800 In the first phrase 581 00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:21,800 of the original, 582 00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:24,800 D-A-C-E-R-A 583 00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:27,800 D-A-C-E-L-A 584 00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:28,800 the first, third, fifth, 585 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:30,800 and seventh notes are accented 586 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:32,800 because of the text. 587 00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:34,800 But that cagey Camille 588 00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:35,800 has the second, fourth, 589 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:37,800 sixth, and eighth notes 590 00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:40,800 accented, la, da, da, da, 591 00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:42,800 da, da, da, da, da. 592 00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:43,800 A little bit later, he at least 593 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:45,800 has it in the minor, 594 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:47,800 but the accents are still askew, 595 00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:49,800 and in fact, in both cases, 596 00:44:49,800 --> 00:44:51,800 only the first phrase 597 00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:52,800 really retains the melodic 598 00:44:52,800 --> 00:44:55,800 outline of the original. 599 00:44:55,800 --> 00:45:09,800 Of course, now that I've got it, 600 00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:11,800 it seems so obvious, 601 00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:12,800 but hearing it in the context 602 00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:14,800 of today's show 603 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:16,800 made me doubly embarrassed 604 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:17,800 because I realized 605 00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:18,800 that Saint-Saëns 606 00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:20,800 was not only referring, 607 00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:21,800 in an ironically lighthearted 608 00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:24,800 way, to the D-A-C-E-R-A, 609 00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:25,800 but he was also, I'm sure, 610 00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:26,800 referring to the 611 00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:29,800 Berlioz symphony fantastique. 612 00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:30,800 That has the same 613 00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:32,800 rhythmic dislocation, 614 00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:34,800 but there it's very obvious 615 00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:35,800 because he retains 616 00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:37,800 the original minor scale 617 00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:38,800 and also because it comes 618 00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:40,800 immediately after 619 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:41,800 a straightforward statement 620 00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:43,800 of the theme. 621 00:45:43,800 --> 00:46:06,800 orchestra plays 622 00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:08,800 After hearing that, 623 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:09,800 the Saint-Saëns 624 00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:11,800 should be a piece of cake. 625 00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:13,800 Well, Rex works in radio, 626 00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:14,800 and he says that they must 627 00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:16,800 program the Danse Macabre 628 00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:18,800 at least a dozen times a year, 629 00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:19,800 and he never noticed that 630 00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:21,800 reference to the D-A-C-E-R-A. 631 00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:23,800 Rex is a very nice guy, 632 00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:24,800 and it was nice of him 633 00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:25,800 to say that. 634 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:26,800 But you know, 635 00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:28,800 I really am embarrassed. 636 00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:29,800 It's the kind of thing 637 00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:30,800 you'd expect a composer 638 00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:31,800 to be able to catch, 639 00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:32,800 especially if he's 640 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:33,800 looking for it, 641 00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:34,800 and especially if he's 642 00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:36,800 a composer, as I am, 643 00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:38,800 who has squeezed a lot of humor 644 00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:39,800 out of thematic 645 00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:41,800 free association. 646 00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:44,800 Okay, our last quotation 647 00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:45,800 of Friar Tommy's tune 648 00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:47,800 is my favorite in terms 649 00:46:47,800 --> 00:46:49,800 of the reason for the quote, 650 00:46:49,800 --> 00:46:50,800 and I quote 651 00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:54,800 from the liner notes. 652 00:46:54,800 --> 00:46:56,800 Butantan is a suburb 653 00:46:56,800 --> 00:46:58,800 of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 654 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:00,800 where the Butantan Institute 655 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:01,800 houses its world-famous 656 00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:03,800 snake farm, which, it appears, 657 00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:04,800 the composer visited 658 00:47:04,800 --> 00:47:08,800 during his concert tour of 1927. 659 00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:10,800 The music attempts to portray 660 00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:11,800 the composer's impression 661 00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:12,800 of the snakes 662 00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:14,800 with woodwind passages 663 00:47:14,800 --> 00:47:15,800 literally marked 664 00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:18,800 strisciante, slithering. 665 00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:19,800 A curious feature is that 666 00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:21,800 the movement concludes 667 00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:22,800 with a quotation 668 00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:24,800 of the 13th century sequence 669 00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:26,800 Dies Irae, Day of Wrath, 670 00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:27,800 which is used 671 00:47:27,800 --> 00:47:28,800 in the Requiem Mass 672 00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:29,800 and also in dramatic 673 00:47:29,800 --> 00:47:31,800 orchestral music, 674 00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:32,800 such as Berlioz's 675 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:34,800 Symphonie Fantastique 676 00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:36,800 and Saint-Saëns dans Macabre. 677 00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:37,800 I knew that. 678 00:47:37,800 --> 00:47:39,800 A travel book of 1933 679 00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:41,800 may explain the reference 680 00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:43,800 to the Dies Irae. 681 00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:44,800 It describes the snakes 682 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:46,800 in their enclosures thus. 683 00:47:46,800 --> 00:47:48,800 If they want a change of scene, 684 00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:49,800 they can climb 685 00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:50,800 the little trees 686 00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:52,800 and hang in looped contemplation 687 00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:53,800 of Sao Paulo's 688 00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:54,800 remoter villas. 689 00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:56,800 If they want a thrill, 690 00:47:56,800 --> 00:47:57,800 they can then 691 00:47:57,800 --> 00:47:58,800 relax their muscles 692 00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:00,800 and fall heavily to the ground, 693 00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:01,800 a thing they do 694 00:48:01,800 --> 00:48:02,800 with surprising frequency, 695 00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:04,800 reckless abandon, 696 00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:05,800 and a kind of brittle 697 00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:06,800 plopping sound, 698 00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:09,800 which is indescribably sinister. 699 00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:40,800 orchestral music 700 00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:10,800 orchestral music 701 00:49:36,800 --> 00:49:40,800 orchestral music 702 00:50:06,800 --> 00:50:09,800 orchestral music 703 00:50:36,800 --> 00:50:38,800 orchestral music 704 00:51:06,800 --> 00:51:08,800 orchestral music 705 00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:38,800 orchestral music 706 00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:08,800 orchestral music 707 00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:38,800 orchestral music 708 00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:09,800 orchestral music 709 00:53:09,800 --> 00:53:11,800 orchestral music 710 00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:36,800 The second movement, 711 00:53:36,800 --> 00:53:38,800 entitled Butantan, 712 00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:39,800 of Respighi's 713 00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:41,800 Brazilian Impressions, 714 00:53:41,800 --> 00:53:43,800 with George Mester conducting 715 00:53:43,800 --> 00:53:44,800 the West Australian 716 00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:46,800 Symphony Orchestra. 717 00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:48,800 Well, I'm out of here. 718 00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:49,800 I don't want to be in a boring 719 00:53:49,800 --> 00:53:50,800 old radio studio 720 00:53:50,800 --> 00:53:51,800 when the world ends. 721 00:53:51,800 --> 00:53:53,800 I want to be either at home, 722 00:53:53,800 --> 00:53:55,800 surrounded by my loved ones, 723 00:53:55,800 --> 00:53:56,800 or on the edge 724 00:53:56,800 --> 00:53:58,800 of the Grand Canyon. 725 00:53:58,800 --> 00:53:59,800 And why not go out 726 00:53:59,800 --> 00:54:00,800 with a bit more 727 00:54:00,800 --> 00:54:01,800 of the Lisztotentants, 728 00:54:01,800 --> 00:54:02,800 with Zimmerman on piano 729 00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:03,800 and Ozawa conducting 730 00:54:03,800 --> 00:54:04,800 the Boston? 731 00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:05,800 We'll pick it up 732 00:54:05,800 --> 00:54:08,800 right where we left off earlier. 733 00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:35,800 piano plays softly 734 00:54:38,800 --> 00:55:06,800 piano plays softly 735 00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:31,800 piano plays softly 736 00:55:31,800 --> 00:55:58,800 piano plays softly 737 00:55:58,800 --> 00:56:00,800 piano plays softly 738 00:56:00,800 --> 00:56:27,800 piano plays softly 739 00:56:27,800 --> 00:56:29,800 piano plays softly 740 00:56:29,800 --> 00:56:58,800 piano plays softly 741 00:56:58,800 --> 00:57:14,800 piano plays softly 742 00:57:14,800 --> 00:57:21,800 piano plays softly 743 00:57:21,800 --> 00:57:23,800 for this week. 744 00:57:23,800 --> 00:57:24,800 Our program is made possible 745 00:57:24,800 --> 00:57:25,800 with funds provided 746 00:57:25,800 --> 00:57:26,800 by the Corporation 747 00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:27,800 for Public Broadcasting 748 00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:28,800 and by this radio station 749 00:57:28,800 --> 00:57:30,800 and its members. 750 00:57:30,800 --> 00:57:31,800 Our program is distributed 751 00:57:31,800 --> 00:57:32,800 by PRI, 752 00:57:32,800 --> 00:57:35,800 Public Radio International. 753 00:57:35,800 --> 00:57:36,800 We'll tell you in a moment 754 00:57:36,800 --> 00:57:37,800 how you can get 755 00:57:37,800 --> 00:57:38,800 an official playlist 756 00:57:38,800 --> 00:57:39,800 of all the music 757 00:57:39,800 --> 00:57:40,800 on today's program 758 00:57:40,800 --> 00:57:41,800 with album numbers 759 00:57:41,800 --> 00:57:42,800 and everything. 760 00:57:42,800 --> 00:57:43,800 Just refer 761 00:57:43,800 --> 00:57:44,800 to the program number. 762 00:57:44,800 --> 00:57:47,800 This is program number 162. 763 00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:48,800 And this is Peter Shickely 764 00:57:48,800 --> 00:57:49,800 saying goodbye 765 00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:50,800 and reminding you 766 00:57:50,800 --> 00:57:51,800 that it don't mean a thing 767 00:57:51,800 --> 00:57:52,800 if it ain't got 768 00:57:52,800 --> 00:57:54,800 that certain je ne sais quoi. 769 00:57:54,800 --> 00:57:55,800 You're looking good. 770 00:57:55,800 --> 00:58:01,800 See you next week. 771 00:58:01,800 --> 00:58:02,800 If you'd like a copy 772 00:58:02,800 --> 00:58:04,800 of that playlist I mentioned, 773 00:58:04,800 --> 00:58:05,800 send a stamped, 774 00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:06,800 self-addressed envelope 775 00:58:06,800 --> 00:58:07,800 to Shickely Mix. 776 00:58:07,800 --> 00:58:11,800 That's S-C-H-I-C-K-E-L-E, 777 00:58:11,800 --> 00:58:12,800 Shickely Mix, 778 00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:13,800 care of 779 00:58:13,800 --> 00:58:14,800 Public Radio International, 780 00:58:14,800 --> 00:58:16,800 100 North 6th Street, 781 00:58:16,800 --> 00:58:18,800 Suite 900A, Minneapolis, 782 00:58:18,800 --> 00:58:22,800 Minnesota, 55403. 783 00:58:22,800 --> 00:58:27,800 PRI Public Radio International.