Author: mrsfostermusic

“Strange Fruit” is a song originally recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939, based on a poem by Abel Meeropol. The song was a protest song about American racism and in particular, the lynching of black Americans. Such lynchings had reached a peak in the southern United States at the turn of the century and the song’s lyrics are an extended metaphor linking a tree’s fruit with lynching victims. You can read more about the background to the song’s lyrics here.

The song has been covered by numerous artists, including Nina Simone (whose version was sampled in Kanye West’s “Blood on the Leaves”), UB40, Jeff Buckley, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Robert Wyatt, and Dee Dee Bridgewater.  On the 31st December 1999, Time magazine named “Strange Fruit” as the “Best Song of the Century”.

Eleanora Fagan (1915 – 1959), professionally known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz singer who had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop singing. 

Despite being written in the 1930s, the message of the lyrics is sadly still relevant today.

“Gabriel’s Oboe” is the main theme for the 1986 film The Mission. The theme was composed by Ennio Morricone.

Ennio Morricone (born 1928) is an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and former trumpet player, writing in a wide range of musical styles. He has sold over 70 million records worldwide.

Today’s extract is one of Morricone’s best-known compositions and his score for the film, The Mission is considered by many to be one of the greatest film scores of all time. The oboe’s main theme heard in today’s extract has been described as “unforgettable” and a “celebrated oboe melody”.

The oboe is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. The bassoons that you heard playing the ticking rhythm in yesterday’s post are also double reed instruments. Sound is produced by blowing into the reed at a sufficient air pressure, causing it to vibrate with the air column. A double reed features two pieces of cane vibrating against each other. A musician who plays the oboe is called an oboist.

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) was an Austrian composer from the Classical period of music:

Haydn’s Symphony No. 101 in the key of D major is the ninth of his twelve London symphonies. It is popularly known as The Clock because of the “ticking” rhythm throughout the second movement which you can hear in today’s extract.

Compared to the Baroque period (see yesterday’s daily listening piece), orchestras in the Classical period were a little larger. The key features of music had changed too. Music from the Classical period tended to be mainly homophonic in texture. The phrasing was more balanced with question and answer phrases. Melodies were often clear and simple, and the dynamic ranges of the orchestra increased, with crescendos (becoming louder) and diminuendos (becoming softer) appearing.

Listen out for:

• The use of dynamic changes and a change to the minor key. At this point the brass and percussion sections play for the first time. When all instruments play together like this, it is called the tutti section
• The regular beat – this movement has two beats to a bar
• Constant tempo (speed)
• The bassoons providing the ‘ticking’ rhythm and playing in a staccato style (short, detached notes)

Arcangelo Corelli (1653 – 1713) was an Italian violinist and composer from he Baroque period of music.

Corelli’s Twelve Concerti Grossi, is a collection of twelve works composed in the late 17th century but not published until 1714. A concerto grosso was a popular form of music in the Baroque period and these works dramatically affected the style of the baroque music for the next generation of composers.

A concerto grosso consisted of two contrasting groups of instruments:

• The concertino soloists section (in today’s extract consisting of a 1st violin, a 2nd violin and a cello)
• The ripieno section – this is the rest of the string section together with the continuo. The continuo is the ‘rhythm section’ usually consisting of harpsichord, lute and bass string instruments. In today’s extract it consists of original baroque instruments called an archlute, violone and barqoue organ.

In today’s extract listen out for a question and answer (like a call and response) section between the concertino section and the ripieno.

“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” is a song by the British pop duo Eurythmics consisting of members Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. The song was released in early 1983 and became their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide.

The 1980s saw synth pop dominate the charts. The pop duo used synthesisers and drum machines on many of their songs from this time. This song features a repeated riff played on the synthesiser and dramatic vocals from the lead singer, Annie Lennox. A riff is a short, repeated melodic pattern, often forming the background to a solo or vocal line.

Their music (particularly with Lennox’s vocal stylings) brought a soul music twist to the electronic sound, which proved popular with broader audiences.

Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major was written in October 1791. It consists of three movements, in a fast–slow–fast succession, and today’s extract is from the slow second movement. A concerto is a piece for a solo instrumentalist and orchestra.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) is widely recognised as one of the greatest composers in the history of classical music. He was a child prodigy, playing keyboard and violin and composing from the age of five. He went on to compose more than 600 works during his short lifetime.

The Clarinet Concerto in A, K622 was completed in 1791, the year of Mozart’s death. It was also the first clarinet concerto to be written by a major composer, however it was originally written for the basset clarinet which is a clarinet that has four semitones added to its lower range.

Shortly after this extract begins you will hear the soloist’s cadenza. A cadenza is a dramatic solo passage where the soloist plays and the orchestra pauses and remains silent. The music then returns to the main theme of this second movement.

“You Can Call Me Al” is a song by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was from his 1986 album, Graceland. The lyrics follow an individual seemingly experiencing a midlife crisis, and were partially inspired by Simon’s trip to South Africa and his experience with its culture and in particular, the South African township music that he heard. This song became one of his biggest solo hits and Graceland became his most successful studio album selling up to 16 million copies worldwide.

It is said that the names in the song came from a funny memory of going to a party at the New York apartment of Pierre Boulez, the French conductor-composer. Simon and his first wife Peggy arrived, meeting their host at the door, who evidently had no clue who they were. Boulez introduced them to his guests as “Al and Betty.”

Here is the official video for the song. Listen out for the musician, Bakithi Kumalo’s bass guitar solo at 3 minutes 44 seconds as it is a musical palindrome. Only the first half was recorded – the second half is the first half played in reverse.

To listen to a brilliant podcast which talks through exactly how this song is put together, go to Strong Songs.

This song, With Cat Like Tread, is from the comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance, first performed in 1879. The music was composted by Arthur Sullivan and the libretto (the text) was by W. S. Gilbert. Gilbert and Sullivan refers to their theatrical partnership and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which The Pirates of Penzance is one of their best known. Generally, Gilbert and Sullivan plots, while farcical, are satires on Victorian society, and make fun of human foibles. 

A comic opera is a musical play with some spoken dialogue and a light or amusing plot. This story follows Frederic, a pirate’s apprentice, who falls head-over-heels in love with Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley. Frederic is due to be released from his apprenticeship on his 21st birthday, but there’s a snag. Born on 29 February, Frederic discovers that he is technically still a youngster. His contract specifies that he remain apprenticed to the pirates until his “twenty-first birthday”, meaning that he must serve for another 63 years!

In the clip above, the pirates (who are only pretending to be scary) are coming to take revenge on the Major-General for lying to them about being an orphan – he had done this to stop the pirates attacking him and taking all of his daughters as their wives. The police (who are completely incompetent) are lying in wait for them, but are too frightened to come out. 

Here is a photo from another production of The Pirates of Penzance. Do any of you recognise Mabel?

This lovely song is called Malka Moma and is sung here by The Philip Koutev Choir. Malka Moma (translation – A Young Girl) is a Bulgarian song written in folk style. The words were written by Neli Andreeva and the music was written by Neli Andreeva and Georgi Genov. 

Bulgaria’s ancient style of singing is associated with haunting and expressive vocals, interesting harmonies and unexpected rhythms. The singers use a technique where the vocal folds are closed while the throat is open. This results in a rich and powerful sound.

The Bulgarian people have long known that the human voice is much more expressive in song than in conversation. 

Itzhak Perlman (born 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist, conductor, and music teacher. He first fell in love with the violin at the age of three. He battled the polio disease to become a virtuoso of the violin and one of the world’s leading players.

Based on Sholom Aleichem’s stories,  Fiddler on the Roof  is the tale of the small, tradition-steeped town of Anatevka in Russia. The story focuses on the main character, Tevye and his attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon his family and their lives. Fiddler on the Roof became the longest-running musical in American history, a title it maintained for almost ten years.

Klezmer is a style of folk music that draws upon the traditions of Ashkenazi Judaism and Eastern European folk traditions. The music from Fiddler on the Roof combines traditional show tunes with Klezmer scales and melodies.

Klezmer music has featured on two previous blog posts:

https://hayesmusic.blog/2020/04/03/daily-listening-friday-3rd-april/

https://hayesmusic.blog/2020/04/26/daily-listening-sunday-26th-april/