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 Williamsstole borrowed from this piece when he wrote the film score to Star Wars.
Today is the birthday of Rosa Parks, a civil rights hero who needs no introduction.
You might need an introduction, however, to Michael Daugherty. He is one of the best living American composers today. I’m particularly fond of him because his music isn’t pretentious OR corny. The line between pretentious and corny is very thin – it’s hard to not be one or the other. His pieces often follow a story of some sort, such as Superman, UFOs, or American landmarks.
Rather than blab on, I will quote Daugherty’s own website regarding his composition, Rosa Parks Boulevard.
“Rosa Parks Boulevard pays tribute to the woman who, in 1955, helped set in motion the modern civil rights movement by her refusal to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1957, she moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she has lived ever since. One of the many honors bestowed upon Rosa Parks is a downtown Detroit boulevard bearing her name.
In the fall of 1999, I had the pleasure of attending a Sunday church service with Parks…. {She}viewed the words spoken by African-American preachers as a source of strength. Preachers also inspired African-American poet James Weldon Johnson. In the preface to God’s Trombones, his 1927 volume of poetry, Johnson describes how the preacher ‘strode the pulpit up and down in what was actually a very rhythmic dance, and he brought into play the full gamut of his wonderful voice, a voice-what shall I say? Not of an organ or a trumpet, but rather of a trombone, the instrument possessing above all others the power to express the wide and varied range of emotions encompassed by the human voice – and with greater amplitude’….
Rosa Parks Boulevard features the trombone section, echoing the voices of generations of African-American preachers in Detroit and across the country. Fragments of the melody Oh Freedom are played in musical canons by the trombones, which I associate with the preacher. I also introduce a musical motive, which I associate with Parks, first heard in the woodwinds and vibraphone. These lyrical sections alternate with a turbulent bus ride, evoked by atonal polyrhythms in the trumpets, horns and non-pitched percussion. The recurrence of ominous beating in the bass drum reminds us that while progress was made in civil rights in the twentieth century, there is still much to be done in the twenty-first century.”
Ask a Norwegian about Norwegian music, and without a doubt Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) will be the first composer mentioned.
Grieg’s music retains a strong hold in our culture, because he tends to write simple, 4-measure melodies that are easy to remember and fun to sing. It’s likely that you’ve heard his most-well-known piece “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” in which there is really only one melodic idea, repeated over and over again (hence, the reason you probably know it.) Today’s piece comes from the same set of pieces. “Morning Mood” follows a similarly simple form – one melody, presented a number of ways – nothing fancy, just lovely morning mood music.
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