mentions:
Alvin Ailey - 1955
photo by Carl Van Vechten
Showing posts with label Leonard Bernstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leonard Bernstein. Show all posts
September 26, 2024
July 30, 2024
July 28, 2024
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis articles/mentions
September 27, 2023
78 RPMs 10: Artie Shaw ~ Nightmare
~
Artie Shaw ~ Nightmare
78 RPM, side 1 label
photo by Styrous®
On September 27, 1938, Artie Shaw recorded Nightmare, a song totally unlike anything he'd ever recorded before. It is a slow, sinister sounding jazz piece that evokes stealth, spies, criminals and other assorted miscreants.
In 1953, Shaw and other prominent figures in the music industry were targeted, including Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Lena Horne and Pete Seeger, all of whom were named publicly as suspected Communist sympathizers, in the infamous publication Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio. Some of them were already being denied employment because of their
political beliefs, history, or association with suspected subversives. Red Channels effectively placed the rest on a blacklist.
Indeed, it was a nightmare!!!!!
Martin Scorsese used Nightmare in his 2004 film, The Aviator which stared Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, and Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner.
The video for Nightmare (link below) has a stripper performing a very slow and very sensual fan dance that is PERFECT for the languid tempo of the tune as Shaw oozes and slinks along with his clarinet.
Non-Stop Flight
The "B" side of the record is a typical Shaw jazz tune; Non-Stop Flight is a bouncy, happy tune that makes you want to get up and jitterbug your ass off. Shaw wails away nicely with his clarinet and the backup band,
Artie Shaw ~ Non-Stop Flight
78 RPM, side 2 label
photo by Styrous®
My copy of the record is a repressing on the Bluebird label. Both Nightmare and Non-Stop Flight songs were written by Artie Shaw.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A - Nightmare
Side 2:
B - Non-Stop Flight
Credits:
Record Company – Radio Corporation Of America
Written By Artie Shaw
Written By Artie Shaw
Notes:
Different label from Artie Shaw And His Orchestra - Nightmare / Non-Stop Flight - missing patent information.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Side A): B7875A T J5
Matrix / Runout (Side B): B-7875B |) 3 c
Matrix / Runout (Side B): B-7875B |) 3 c
Artie Shaw And His Orchestra – Nightmare / Non-Stop Flight
Label: Bluebird (3) – B-7875
Format: Shellac, 10", 78 RPM, Repress
Country: US
Released:
Genre: Jazz
Style: Big Band
Label: Bluebird (3) – B-7875
Format: Shellac, 10", 78 RPM, Repress
Country: US
Released:
Genre: Jazz
Style: Big Band
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Jazz Standards ~ Artie Shaw
National Endowment for the Arts ~ Artie Shaw
YouTube links:
"In the world we live in, compulsive perfectionists finish last"
~ Artie Shaw
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, September 27, 2023
~
December 11, 2021
Brassy Berlioz & Adolphe Sax
~ Hector Berlioz - 1863
photo by Pierre Petit
Today is the birthday of French composer Hector Berlioz who was the author of many styles of music from light "Pop" classical (Symphonie fantastique) to heavenly "Grand" opera (La Damnation de Faust).
Berlioz
discovered the brass and woodwind instruments that were being invented at the time by
Adolphe Sax, fell in love with the sound of them and utilized them in some of his works to great advantage.
This is beautifully demonstrated in his Requiem, Op. 5, The Grande Messe des Morts, that he composed in 1837, which has an orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles, as well as the Symphonie fantastique.
In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra
was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was
expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by the current
instrument makers such as Sax.
The Requiem is scored for a massive orchestra, including four brass choirs at the corners of the stage, and chorus. In relation to the number of singers and strings, Berlioz indicates in the score . . .
"The number [of performers] indicated is only relative. If space permits, the chorus may be doubled or tripled, and the orchestra be proportionally increased. But in the event of an exceptionally large chorus, say 700 to 800 voices (!!!!), the entire chorus should only be used for the Dies irae [portraying Judgement Day], the Tuba mirum, and the Lacrimosa [the last two part of the Dies irae], the rest of the movements being restricted to 400 voices."
Lacrimosa dies illa
Qua resurget ex favilla
Judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus:
Pie Jesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem. Amen.
Full of tears will be that day
When from the ashes shall arise
The guilty man to be judged;
Therefore spare him, O God,
Merciful Lord Jesus,
Grant them eternal rest. Amen.
There is the story that during the premiere in Paris of the Requiem Mass, conductor Francois-Antoine Habeneck, decided to take a pinch of snuff during an especially tricky passage at the very moment he should have been giving an important cue to the orchestra. To avert disaster, Berlioz jumped up, gave the cue, and afterwards accused Habeneck of sabotage. An urban legend (link below)?
One of my favorite pieces of music by Berlioz is the Trio of the Young Ismaëlites from his oratorio, L'enfance du Christ, which features two flutes and harp. It is a beautiful and soothing exposition of flute at its very best.
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Berlioz site ~ Grande messe des morts (Requiem)
Classical Notes ~ Berlioz Requiem
The Imaginative Conservative ~ Top 10 Greatest Requiem Masses
Indychoir ~ Berloz Requiem: Program notes
Player FM ~ Berlioz gets snuffed?
Requiem (Grande Messe des Morts) ~ sgrathwohl ~ The Berlioz Requiem: A few thoughts
Hector Berlioz ~
Requiem (Grande Messe des Morts) ~
WDR Symphony Orchestra & Choir (complete) (1 hr., 19 mins.)
Leonard Bernstein ~ Dies Irae (3 mins., 18 secs.)
Monteverdi Orchestre et Choeur ~ Dies Irae (12 mins.) Myung-Whun Chung (complete) (56 mins.)
Trio des jeunes Ismaélites (L’enfance du Christ)
October 17, 2021
20,000 Vinyl LPs 315: Hair ~ Original 1967 Off-Broadway Cast
~
Hair ~ Original 1967 Broadway Cast album
vinyl LP front cover
cover photo photographer unknown
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Over fifty years ago, the Off-Broadway production of Hair opened on October 17th of 1967. The work reflects the creators' observations of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of the late 1960s, and several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement.
I was heavy into musicals at
the time and had been since the forties (Mario Lanza link below). To me the Off-Broadway production celebrated the joy of The Summer of Love,
as I perceived it, because it captured the innocence of the period
along with the rage plus it had a "raw edge" only seen in a musical once before. That was in 1958 with West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein. Hair was like no musical I
had ever seen. It is no big deal by today's standards but at the time it blew
me away!
Hair ~ Original 1967 Broadway Cast album
vinyl LP front cover detail
cover photo photographer unknown
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Hair is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot. The musical broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of "rock musical", using a racially integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-In" finale.
Hair opened on Broadway the following year on April 29, 1968, and a new
recording of the musical was issued that year (link below). In 1979 Hair was made into a
film by Miloš Forman who, the previous year, directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (link below) and five years later would direct the blockbuster film, Amadeus. Hair
has been performed all over the world with recordings of them issued; I
will write about some of them and there is a website that reviews some
of them (link below).
One of my favorite songs is I Got Life sung by the character George Berger, portrayed very nicely by Treat Williams, to help his friend Claude Hooper Bukowski, portrayed by John Savage, in the film version. But my very favorite song is the finale of the film version of the musical, The Flesh Failures (Let The Sunshine In). It is a joyous song of hope but the tragedy of war is brilliantly evoked during the song in the film. (links below).
Hair ~ Original 1967 Broadway Cast album
vinyl LP back cover
back cover photo photographer unknown
photo of album cover by Styrous®The musical's profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag,
and its nude scene caused a lot of controversy and, as a result, made it difficult to find a home in a Broadway theatre.
photographer unknonwn
In
the production I saw the nudity wasn't so blatant; the cast was under s
sheet or something and the lighting was so dim you couldn't make
anything out, , "No big deal!" I thought.
About the same time as the Summer of Love, Charles Perry discovered LSD through his roommate at the University of California.
"One of the peculiar things about LSD was that for a very long time, it was legal," Perry says in the film, Something's Happenig Here.
The drug was finally outlawed in October 1966, prompting thousands to flock to Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco, to protest. Some of the participants in the "Love Pageant Rally" included the Diggers, an anarchist group distributing free food.
"One of the peculiar things about LSD was that for a very long time, it was legal," Perry says in the film, Something's Happenig Here.
The drug was finally outlawed in October 1966, prompting thousands to flock to Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco, to protest. Some of the participants in the "Love Pageant Rally" included the Diggers, an anarchist group distributing free food.
Hair ~ Original 1967 Broadway Cast album
vinyl LP back cover details
cover photo photographer unknown
photo of album cover by Styrous®
After people left San Francisco at the end of the summer of 1967 to resume their college
studies, those remaining in the Haight wanted to commemorate the
conclusion of the event. A mock funeral entitled "The Death of the
Hippie" (link below) was staged on October 6, 1967, and organizer Mary Kasper explained the intended message:
"We wanted to signal that this was the end of it, to stay where you are, bring the revolution to where you live and don't come here because it's over and done with."
Organized to convince the media to stop covering the Haight, attendees burned underground newspapers and hippie clothing. Leaders carried a coffin down Haight Street and the crowd stopped for a “kneel-in” at the corner of Haight and Ashbury.
Through this performance, the Diggers sought to end the
commercialization of the hippie lifestyle and the main stream
appropriation of their social experiment.
Ironically, Hair,
which told the story of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution
of the 1960s, opened eleven days later; so much for the end of
commercialization.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1a Walker Daniels, Gerome Ragni, Steve Dean (4), Arnold Wilkerson And The Company* – Aint't Got No
A1b Walker Daniels, Marijane Maricle – I Got Life – 4:00
A2 Sally Eaton, Shelley Plimpton, Jonelle Allen – Air – 1:25
A3 Gerome Ragni And The Company* – Going Down – 2:33
A4 Walker Daniels, Gerome Ragni And The Company* – Hair – 3:00
A5 Jill O'Hara And The Company* – Dead End – 2:33
A6 Shelley Plimpton – Frank Mills – 1:47
A7 The Company* – Hare Krishna – 3:10
A8 Walker Daniels And The Company* – Where Do I Go? – 2:54
A1b Walker Daniels, Marijane Maricle – I Got Life – 4:00
A2 Sally Eaton, Shelley Plimpton, Jonelle Allen – Air – 1:25
A3 Gerome Ragni And The Company* – Going Down – 2:33
A4 Walker Daniels, Gerome Ragni And The Company* – Hair – 3:00
A5 Jill O'Hara And The Company* – Dead End – 2:33
A6 Shelley Plimpton – Frank Mills – 1:47
A7 The Company* – Hare Krishna – 3:10
A8 Walker Daniels And The Company* – Where Do I Go? – 2:54
Side 2:
B1 Suzannah Evans, Linda Compton, Paul Jabara– – Electric Blues – 2:35
B2 Suzannah Evans, Linda Compton, Paul Jabara And The Company* – Easy To Be Hard – 3:03
B3 Walker Daniels – Manchester – 1:00
B4a Jonelle Allen, Susan Batson, Alma Robinson – White Boys
B4b Linda Compton, Shelley Plimpton, Suzannah Evans – Black Boys – 3:30
B5 The Company* – Walking In Space – 4:20
B6 The Company* – Aquarius – 2:15
B7 Jill O'Hara And The Company* – Good Morning Starshine – 3:47
B8 Walker Daniels – Exanaplanetooch – 2:35
B9 Jill O'Hara – The Climax – 1:45
Companies, etc.
Recorded At – RCA Studio A
Mastered At – RCA Studios
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
Record Company – Radio Corporation Of America
Copyright © – RCA
Copyright © – Channel H Productions
Credits:
Band – Galt MacDermot, Greg Ferrara, Jimmy Lewis (2), Leonard Seeds, Steve Gillette (2)
Directed By [Orch.] – Galt MacDermot
Engineer – Ernie Oelrich*
Liner Notes – Elenore Lester
Lyrics By – Gerome Ragni, James Rado
Music By – Galt MacDermot
Performer [Cast] – Alma Robinson, Arnold Wilkerson, Ed Crowley, Edward Murphy, Jr., Gerome Ragni, Jane Levin, Jill O'Hara, Jonelle Allen, Linda Compton, Marijane Maricle, Paul Jabara, Sally Eaton, Shelley Plimpton, Steve Dean (4), Susan Batson, Suzannah Evans, Thommie Bush, Walker Daniels, Warren Burton, William Herter
Producer [Album] – Andy Wiswell, George R. Marek
Notes:
© 1967 RCA, New ork, N. Y.
Liner notes © 1967 Channel H Productions. Reprinted by permission.
The Original Cast Recording
Indianapolis Pressing with at least a variant Jacket Mfg. Plant # (6) on liner, variant of this undisclosed press which shows 8, by same catalog #.
Recorded in RCA Victor's Studio A, New York City
Stereo Dynagroove
1st catalog #: sleeve; 2nd: labels
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (A Side Label): UPRS-9538
Matrix / Runout (B Side Label): UPRS-9539
Matrix / Runout (A Side Stamped): UPRS -9538--2S ɪ A1
Matrix / Runout (B Side Stamped): UPRS - 9539--2S ɪ A1
Rights Society: ASCAP
Other (Jacket Mfg. Plant #): 6
Various – New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater Presents Hair - An American Tribal Love-Rock Musical
Label: RCA Victor – LSO-1143, RCA Victor – LSO 1143
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1967
Genre: Rock, Stage & Screen
Style: Musical, Jazz-Rock, Folk Rock
Label: RCA Victor – LSO-1143, RCA Victor – LSO 1143
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1967
Genre: Rock, Stage & Screen
Style: Musical, Jazz-Rock, Folk Rock
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
The Atlantic ~ The Death of the Hippies
Broadway.com ~ How Hair's nude hippies changed Broadway forever
Broadway World ~ Hair is Still Relevant After 50 Years
Cast Album Reviews ~ Hair
Iconic Images ~ Death of Hippie
NY Times ~ Why Hair Has Endured
Charles Perry ~ Something's Happenig Here
Saturday Evening Post ~ Love & Haight: the Summer of Love
YouTube links:
I Got Life (film)
Walking In Space (film)
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