Symphony of Sorrowful Songs

Henryk Gorecki's "Symphony No. 3" topped the classical charts in both Britian and the U.S. when it was released back in 1992. To date it has sold over a million copies, a feat that is rare in the world of classical music.

Learn more about the piece and read the poetic texts in this beautiful work, also known as the "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs."

Read the "classics" this summer!

Your "Sunday Baroque" host Suzanne Bona adds her suggestions to our summer book lists.

- Companion to Baroque Music (Compiled and edited by Julie Anne Sadie; University of California Press 1990) This is a good all around reference book.
- Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment (by James R. Gaines; Harper Perennial 2005)
- The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents (edited by Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel, revised and expanded by Christoph Wolff; WW Norton 1998)
- Handel (by Christopher Hogwood; Thames & Hudson 1996)
- Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician (by Christoph Wolff; WW Norton 2000)
- Vivaldi: Voice of the Baroque (by H.C. Robbins Landon; University Of Chicago Press 1996)
- Master Musicians Series: Vivaldi (by Michael Talbot; Oxford University Press 2000)
- Master Musicians Series: Handel (by Donald Burrows; Oxford University Press 2001)

Here's a link to more summer reading recommendations.

"Music is organized sound."

I like this quote from French composer Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varese. It means that music can be found anywhere; composed by anyone or anything.

Take a closer look at the above picture. Haven't you heard music in the soughing sound of wind playing across a telephone wire, in the liquid sound of falling rain, the staccato sound of clicking high heels, the rhythm of fingers on a keyboard?

Next time you're in Croatia check out this rather odd instrument.



Here's another bizzare instrument. Try this for spicing up that next road trip in Japan!



And finally, when was the last time you really sat down, relaxed and reveled in the sound of the Aquaggaswack?



J.B. (a listener) sent me this link from the Wall Street Journal link about a new instrument called a "Thummer."

If you didn't want to take care of Babou you could have just said so...

Those words came from my friend, Francois, who used to live just a few blocks from me in Palouse. He recently took a great job in Missouri and was planning on leaving his senior Bassett Hound, Babou, with me for a few weeks. As he spoke these words to me I was on the couch, my right foot encased in a knee high cast and perched atop a big, fluffy pillow. Just the day before I'd slipped off the edge of my sturdy
and orthopedically recommended sandals and broke my foot in three places. The break itself is not very inducive to gut busting laughter but leave it to Francois to find the funny side!

Sharing music with you in the mornings is such a part of my life that it's really felt strange to be at home and away from the music and the microphone for so long.

My last doctor's appointment was not as encouraging as I'd hoped. Apparently, the worst break has shown no healing at all and, unfortunately, has pulled even farther apart. After two weeks of being on crutches I was not thrilled at this news and at the recommendation that I be off my feet completely for another two weeks. Hopefully, there will be some new bone growth in the next week or so. If not, I think that surgery may be in my future.

Well, that's the update on why you haven't heard me on air for the past few weeks. While having a broken foot is not the ideal way to enjoy this amazing late summer
weather, I have learned a lot from this experience.



I've learned more about my friends and neighbors in Palouse, at Northwest Public Radio, in Pullman, Portland and beyond. I've learned how generous and hospitable we can be when someone is in need. I've received wonderful meals, rides to the doctor, loans of wheelchairs, gift of housecleaning, dog walks, books, encouragement, etc. I've received A LOT!!!! I've learned that the members of Palouse Federated Church rock!!!! I'm learning that while it is "more blessed to give than to receive" it can sometimes be more challenging to receive than to give. It's necessary, however, to learn to receive gracefully, gratefully and without guilt. This honors and respects the giver.

I hope that you are well and enjoying this amazing weather!

What is a warhorse?

When you hear the word warhorse what comes to mind?

This?

Maybe.....but in music, and particularly in classical music the word warhorse means something very different. According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000, one of the definitions is that of "a musical or dramatic work that has been performed so often that it has become widely familiar."

That's the basic definition. In my 16 years plus of programming and hosting classical music I most often hear this phrase used in a way that suggests a piece perceived as one or more of the following: old, trite, too familiar, boring, over played, etc. As you can see the term is generally not used in a complimentary fashion.

This afternoon I received a voice mail from a listener who stated that this morning's music seemed to contain a lot of "warhorses," specifically mentioning Leo Delibe's "Flower Duet" from Lakme.

This got me to thinking......hmmm......I wonder how many times I've programmed the "Flower Duet" this year? I thought this could bear some investigating so I accessed the part of our music software that tracks when each piece is played. What I found is interesting.

In 2007 I have played the "Flower Duet," including today, a total of three times. Three times! In slightly over five months! The actual dates in 2007 are January 3rd at 09:36am, March 5th @10:52am and today at 10:54am. Then I decided to check how many times the "Flower Duet" has been heard so far this year during Northwest Public Radio's afternoon and evening music. The total? Once. To be precise, on April 5th @12:17pm.

To summarize, The "Flower Duet" has been played during Northwest Public Radio's classical music programming a total of four times in 2007. Does that seem excessive to you? It doesn't to me. As tone (no pun intended) is not always easy to convey with the written word alone, let me assure you that I am in no way feeling defensive in regards to this listener's comment. It's a fair statement and a thought provoking one.

This is not the first time that someone has called, e-mailed or otherwise contacted me to state that I, or someone else, is playing a piece "too often" or "all of the time" and when I go back and look at the actual statistics they tend to come out very similar to what I discovered regarding the "Flower Duet."

So why, then, do we often perceive that something is heard often or even, depending upon our likes and dislikes, too much? Well, I think that it gets back to the definition posted above. I refer to the two final words of the definition, "widely familiar." Perhaps when we hear something that is familiar it stays with us longer? Could it be that a familiar piece of music, even if heard infrequently, is perceived as being heard more often than it is by the very fact that it is familiar?

I believe that we listen to classical music with different ears, or maybe a better way to phrase it is with different expectations. For instance, when a promoter of contemporary music calls me one of the first questions he or she asks is, "How many spins are you giving it?" In other words, how many times are you playing the song? And I can guarantee you that they are not asking how many spins a song has received this year. Oh no. They are asking how many spins per hour; at the very least per daypart (an average of three or four hours).

Classical music "songs" can be anywhere from under 1:00 to over an hour! Contemporary music tends to average in at about 4:00 minutes per song. Could that be another reason why classical music pieces can be perceived as being heard too much? If a song lasts 4:00 minutes maybe it can bear being heard every hour or so (although THAT could take up another post entirely!). Conversely, if a piece of music last 14 or 40 minutes is it perceived as being heard more often simply because it lasts longer each time that it is heard?

Well, I've raised some questions. What do you think?

If you're interested check out this Tom Manoff commentary about one of the most famous warhorses of all.

f# g f# e e d b d e

Every day I receive e-mails, letters, cards and phone calls from listeners asking me to help them find a particular piece of music. That's normal for someone who works at a radio station. However, I must share with you some of the ways in which people have asked for help because I find them creative, funny and sometimes downright challenging.

For instance, just last week I received an e-mail from a listener in regard to a particular piece heard in March. Unfortunately, the playlist for that particular date was missing and I could not retrieve the file from my computer.

Northwest Public Radio listeners being the creative people that they are, this particular man sent me an e-mail, some of which I include here.

"....if I remember rightly it had a melodic motif that went something like this:
f# g f# e e d b d e, with the second e being an octave lower than the first and third." This may go down as one of my more interesting requests! Not having perfect pitch I resorted to the help of a virtual keyboard.

I'm sorry to report that after listening to this melody about eight times I cannot identify it. It sounds familiar but it's turning out to be one of those "can't quite put my finger on it" moments.

Why don't you give it a try and let me know if you recognize it?

This experience made me think about some other interesting and fun requests I've received over the years. Here are a few favorites.

A listener taped music from a t.v. commercial onto a video tape, played the video, held the phone up to the video and asked me to identify the music. I can't remember now what the piece was but I do remember that I successfuly identified the piece.

I've had numerous listeners hum, sing, whistle or do something that approximates those things over the phone. Just recently this happened and I asked the listener to call back and sing it again on my voice mail because I didn't recognize it. I then forwarded the message to some of my colleagues at Northwest Public Radio but to no avail.

If you called, e-mailed or otherwise wrote to me with an unusual request it would be great to hear from you and for you to share your story with the other NWPR listeners.