jmc's classics
his is Labor Day. One of the trademark events of Labor Day is the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. It was hosted by the late comedian Jerry Lewis (his birth name was Joseph Levitch). It still goes on after Lewis died in 2017. Lewis's son is Gary Lewis who was the lead singer of Gary Lewis and the Playboys. They were a rock band in the 1960's and had several hits. I remember this band. I applaud Jerry Lewis for his work with Muscular Dystrophy.
Labor Day in my opinion is not an important holiday. Along with New Year's Day and Columbus Day should be eliminated. I recently googled "music for Labor Day" and I got "top 10 Labor Day Songs" on thenation.com, check it out. Two of the songs that I have seen are: Union Burying Ground by Woody Guthrie and Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger. Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) is the father to Arlo Guthrie. Pete Seeger (1919-2014) is supposedly the favorite of Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. Seeger was also an activist. After Labor Day we will still have warm weather, but things will start to be starting up again with music and theatre. Symphony, Opera and other venues that close down for the summer start up in September or October. I wish that the summer would end later such as September 14 Holy Cross Day! I do like Fall. In fact it is one of my favorite times of the year.
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August 22 is the birthdate of Claud Debussy (1862-1918) one of the most iconic composers. he was born the same year as Frederick Delius (1862-1934). Debussy was more famous. He is remembered for his Clair De Lune which has been for orchestra which has been adapted to jazz and other instrumentations. It comes from his Suite Bergamasque (L75) for piano. He began composing it in 1890 and completed it in 1905.
Debussy was part of the impressionist movement in music. This was a movement in the arts in the 19th Century during the Romantic era and maybe after the Romantic era. It emphasized both mood and atmosphere. It also encompassed other arts. Debussy regarded the symphony as obsolete. His music was a French reaction to the music of German opera composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883). Debussy. was influenced by both Russian and Far Eastern music in hie early career. Among his other famous works were Prelude to an Afternoon Faune from 1894, Nocturnes from 1897-9 and Images from 1905-12. He wrote one completed opera Pelleas et Melisand plus he had started other operas that he did not complete. Yesterday was the anniversary of the Death of Elvis Presley. He does not need to be made in to an idol. He did not seem to be happy. I do like some of his music.
This is the anniversary of the completion of Ein Klein Nachtmusik (little night music) (K525) by Mozart in 1781. It is also the anniversary of the completion of His last symphony #41 also known as "Jupiter" in 1788. It is not known the why Mozart gave K525 that title. It is a serenade for two violins plus Viola, Cello and Double Bass. Both works are among Mozart's most famous works.
This is one on Mozart's most iconic works. It has been used in movies and commercials. The St. Louis Football Cardinals (now the Pheonix Cardinals) used it as part of their theme music. Many of Mozart's serenades were commissioned by rich patrons. But with this work, it is not known who commissioned it. This piece is in four movements: Allegro, Romanze, Minueto and Finale. There is a theory that He may have had a fifth movement to it. This would take a long time to discuss. Also, nobody knows who commissioned the 41st symphony known as Jupiter which was also completed on the same date. That was the first work of Mozart that I had heard of. My family had a 78 rpm of it with Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. This recording is available on CD. The NBC Symphony orchestra was a radio orchestra created for Toscanini and disbanded in 1957 shortly after Toscanini's Death. There are numerous recordings of K525 available. The one that I have is of Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic coupled with the 36th Symphony (K425) known as Linz. The 36th is another of Mozart's famous works. Also included is the 40th Symphony (K550). This symphony does not have a name. This is another famous works of Mozart. Especially the first movement. It has been used in commercials and movies also. This is more Iconic than Ein Klein Nachtmusik! I am in Facebook probably too much. There are a lot of good sites on Facebook dealing with Classical Music and related areas. There are a lot of sites dedicated to certain composers. There is a site called Love Classical Music which has some interesting articles etc. Also, Classical FM which is based in England. Both pages and their sites are worth checking out.
Another excellent site on Facebook is interlude. Or Interlude.HK so it must be in Hong Kong. I don't know. This is a good site, and it has some music on it. I recommend this site. interlude.hk Laurence Olivier was considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. He was a good actor at playing the protagonist roles in Shakespear movies. He made several. He played the title role in the 1948 film version of Hamlet. There were other versions of Hamlet made in to Movies. William Walton (1902-1983) wrote the film score for this movie. However in the 1968 movie version of Romeo and Juliet, he was the narrator. The soundtrack was by Henry Mancini (1924-1994) Nino Rota (1911-1979). The latter I don't know much about. I like the soundtrack for this movie.
I have never been much in to Shakespear but as I have said I liked toe movie Shakespear in Love and the Gilligan's Island episode when the castaways made a musical based on Hamlet. My favorite work of Olivier's was the 1983 movie The Jazz Singer with Neal Diamond and Lucy Arnez who was the daughter of Lucile Ball. t was set in recent times and set in New York and Los Angeles. This movie had some funny scenes in it. I have written about Walton before. I do like his music. When we think about Walton we think about the 1970's TV series or Wal-Mart. I do not like Wal- Mart Olivier was a very versatile actor. Shakespear's works will probably last forever. |
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