Henry Purcell is probably the best-known English composer of the baroque era. To this day, he is revered in England much like Bach is revered in Germany – as the father of their musical heritage. He is buried next to the organ in Westminster Abbey, where was organist.
“Hear My Prayer” is a somber setting of the first verse of Psalm 102. The lamentations of the psalmist are clearly heard in the chromaticism of the music.
The month of March is named for the Roman god of war – Mars. And of course, Mars is the planet where the aliens in “War of the Worlds” came from. Don’t worry, though, we’ll conquer those aliens and colonize Mars soon enough.
Mars is awesome. There, I said it. Gustav Holst (1874-1934) must have thought so, too, because he wrote a kick-ass piece of music about it. This selection comes from a larger work called “The Planets” (what a bizarre name for a suite of pieces about Roman gods.) Seriously though, despite the astronomical name, the piece is more about astrological matters – think horoscopes. Each planet, er, god, has its own personality.[/twocol_one_last]
And I’m pretty sure that the great composer John Williams stole borrowed from this piece when he wrote the film score to Star Wars.
Alas, poor Frederic’s father had intended his son to become a ship’s pilot, but his hard-of-hearing nanny misheard him, and instead indentured him to be a pirate. And to make matters worse, his contract said he was to be indentured until his 21st birthday, as opposed to his 21st year of life. Normally this would not be a problem, but, you see, Frederic was born on February 29th, and so in his 21st year, he was only a bit over 5 birthdays old …
Throw in a few pirate and policeman choruses, a patter song or two, and corny love story, and you’ve got yourself an opry! (As ridiculous as this plot sounds, it’s fairly normal as operas go.)
The Pirates of Penzance is a comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan. In this number, the Nanny and Pirate King explain to Frederic the bizarre circumstances that bind him to a life a piracy.
This 1983 movie version of the Pirates of Penzance is like a bang hangover from the 1970s. However, it captures the spirit perfectly, and I can’t deny that I kind of like the electronic orchestra.
Recent Comments