Running the European Gamut ... and saluting while we're at it!

This Friday on Vivace, we'll really "run the gamut" of European music, (as it has been said - Book of R. Graves, Chapters 1-1050).

In the first two hours, we'll start with a long work by Mozart, and move on to music by Czech composer Václav Pichl, French composer Francois Devienne (his delightful Bassoon Concerto No.1), Italian composer Ferdinando Carulli, Johann Christian Bach (the London Bach), Austrian composer Ignaz Holzbauer and Czech composer Bedřich Smetana.

After 8 o'clock, we'll celebrate some birthdays including those of the US Army, the Flag of the United States and the Austrian composer, Anton Eberl, who was a student of Mozart.

As ever, I hope you'll allow me to keep you company as you go about your preparations for the day, for Vivace, this Friday, 6-9 am, right here on WTJU-Charlottesville.

Julia Wolfe: Steel Hammer - John Henry Redux

Julia Wolfe
Steel Hammer
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Trio Mediaeval
Cantaloupe Music

The legend of John Henry has grown and changed over the years. Was John Henry real or fictional, black or white, short or tall? Virtually every detail of the story has multiple answers -- and that's the point of Julia Wolfe's work, "Steel Hammer." Wolfe ingeniously presents the multiplicity of the story with layers of sound that simultaneously obscure the text and make transparent its interpretations.

This is high-energy, complex material, and as with many of Wolfe's compositions, the music demands your attention in an insistent and aggressive manner. But it's only when you give "Steel Hammer" your full attention that the music can convey its meaning.

Trio Mediaeval sing with pure, unwavering tones, providing an unemotional narrative to the work. Wolfe incorporates a number of folk instruments and sounds into her ensemble to provide color and context. Hearing the banjo, dulcimer, or the sound of clogging deep in the mix give the listener a hint of Appalachia without being overtly folk-like.

As always, the Bang on a Can All-Stars hold nothing back in their performances. This is difficult, demanding music, but these musicians don't just play the material -- they own it.

Start the week on a lively note!

Start your week on a lively note when I'll be filling in for John on Dawn's Early Light.  As ever the program opens with music of Bach, this week, the English Suite No.1 in A-Major, BWV 806.

They'll both be on the show.

At 7 am, we'll celebrate our first birthday of the day with music by Otto Nicolai, most famous, perhaps, for being the founder of the Vienna Philharmonic. As well as hearing music by Glazunov and Corelli, we'll also celebrate the birthdays of the London Symphony Orchestra, Danish composer Carl Nielsen - and, just before 8 o'clock, the 80th birthday of America's most-beloved Anatine-American.

After 8 o'clock, we'll have a symphony by Johann Stamitz, a piano sonata by Mozart and there's one more birthday to celebrate: that of a great 20th Century American composer.

I hope you'll join me bright and early for Dawn's Early Light, this Monday morning, 6-9 am, right here on WTJU-Charlottesville.