Tonic Jukebox History
WEEK 45 - Winter
Officially Winter runs from December 21 to March 20, so we are right in the middle of the season. A good moment therefore to make 'winter' our theme of the week.
Monday January 18
Winter (from the Four Seasons)
The Four Seasons is the best known of Vivaldi's works. It is a group of four violin concerti, each of which illustrates a season of the year. They were written around 1716–1717 and published in 1725. No prizes for guessing that we would include this piece. Although I could have picked one movement, I decided to give you the full 9 minutes of this highly atmospheric composition. It is played here on period instruments rather than their modern equivalents, which I feel enhances the piece.
Performance
Tuesday January 19
Troika from Lieutenant Kijé
Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé music was originally written to accompany the film of the same name (1934). It was Prokofiev's first attempt at film music, and his first commission. The principal melody in the movement called 'Troika' is taken from an old Hussar song. It gives the impression of a fast winter's journey by means of the troika, a traditional Russian three-horse sled.
Performance
Wednesday January 20
Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind
The text is from Shakespeare's As You Like It. As with many of the songs in Shakespeare's plays, this one has been set by many composers. You may remember Bryan's setting of 'With a hey, ho, the wind and the rain' (from Twelfth Night) in our Seven Ages of Man. Here are 3 settings of Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind. I have picked 3 very different settings and included the Quilter version as I like it, having sung the piece on a few occasions.
Thomas Arne's 18th century version: Performance
(yes, he of Rule, Britannia! fame)
Roger Quilter's 1905 version: Performance
John Rutter's 1975 version: Performance
Lyrics here
Thursday January 21
Les Patineurs
Emile Waldteufel (1837-1915) was a French pianist and composer of popular music as well as waltzes and polkas. He was born in Strasbourg, France, into a family of musicians. He is best known for the waltz "Les Patineurs" (The Ice Skaters), composed in 1882. Some excellent paintings accompanying this one.
Performance
Friday January 22
Winterlust (Winter joy)
This polka was written in 1862 by Josef Strauss (1827-1870), a brother of Johann Strauss II (the waltz man). Josef trained as an engineer and designed a horse-drawn revolving brush street-sweeping vehicle as well as publishing two textbooks on mathematical subjects. He was a talented artist, painter, poet, dramatist, singer, composer and inventor. Oh, and by the way, he was a prolific composer, composing almost 300 works.
Performance
Weekend January 23/24
Two tracks for you this weekend.
Do you want to build a snowman?
First, a bit of fun. This week I was going to include the scene from Disney's Frozen which includes this song. The video material did not work for me, but I found it sung by Disney's Circle of Stars. I just thought we needed something less serious and sung by young people having fun making music.
Performance
The end of Act 3 of La Bohème
Certainly one of my favourite passages of Puccini and this recording of La Bohème features a terrific cast including Jussi Björling, Victoria de los Angeles and Robert Merrill. You will hear a beautiful love duet between Mimi and Rodolfo set against an argument between their friends, Marcello and Musetta. The latter pair's singing deteriorates into name calling -"Pittore da bottega!" (shop painter), "Vipera!" (viper), "Rospo!"(toad), "Strega!"(witch). Listen out for this bit. The third act of La Bohème is set at the gates to the city (Paris) and it is snowing, which adds to the unfolding tragedy. A perfect end to our week of Winter-themed music.
Performance
Winter (from the Four Seasons)
The Four Seasons is the best known of Vivaldi's works. It is a group of four violin concerti, each of which illustrates a season of the year. They were written around 1716–1717 and published in 1725. No prizes for guessing that we would include this piece. Although I could have picked one movement, I decided to give you the full 9 minutes of this highly atmospheric composition. It is played here on period instruments rather than their modern equivalents, which I feel enhances the piece.
Performance
Tuesday January 19
Troika from Lieutenant Kijé
Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé music was originally written to accompany the film of the same name (1934). It was Prokofiev's first attempt at film music, and his first commission. The principal melody in the movement called 'Troika' is taken from an old Hussar song. It gives the impression of a fast winter's journey by means of the troika, a traditional Russian three-horse sled.
Performance
Wednesday January 20
Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind
The text is from Shakespeare's As You Like It. As with many of the songs in Shakespeare's plays, this one has been set by many composers. You may remember Bryan's setting of 'With a hey, ho, the wind and the rain' (from Twelfth Night) in our Seven Ages of Man. Here are 3 settings of Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind. I have picked 3 very different settings and included the Quilter version as I like it, having sung the piece on a few occasions.
Thomas Arne's 18th century version: Performance
(yes, he of Rule, Britannia! fame)
Roger Quilter's 1905 version: Performance
John Rutter's 1975 version: Performance
Lyrics here
Thursday January 21
Les Patineurs
Emile Waldteufel (1837-1915) was a French pianist and composer of popular music as well as waltzes and polkas. He was born in Strasbourg, France, into a family of musicians. He is best known for the waltz "Les Patineurs" (The Ice Skaters), composed in 1882. Some excellent paintings accompanying this one.
Performance
Friday January 22
Winterlust (Winter joy)
This polka was written in 1862 by Josef Strauss (1827-1870), a brother of Johann Strauss II (the waltz man). Josef trained as an engineer and designed a horse-drawn revolving brush street-sweeping vehicle as well as publishing two textbooks on mathematical subjects. He was a talented artist, painter, poet, dramatist, singer, composer and inventor. Oh, and by the way, he was a prolific composer, composing almost 300 works.
Performance
Weekend January 23/24
Two tracks for you this weekend.
Do you want to build a snowman?
First, a bit of fun. This week I was going to include the scene from Disney's Frozen which includes this song. The video material did not work for me, but I found it sung by Disney's Circle of Stars. I just thought we needed something less serious and sung by young people having fun making music.
Performance
The end of Act 3 of La Bohème
Certainly one of my favourite passages of Puccini and this recording of La Bohème features a terrific cast including Jussi Björling, Victoria de los Angeles and Robert Merrill. You will hear a beautiful love duet between Mimi and Rodolfo set against an argument between their friends, Marcello and Musetta. The latter pair's singing deteriorates into name calling -"Pittore da bottega!" (shop painter), "Vipera!" (viper), "Rospo!"(toad), "Strega!"(witch). Listen out for this bit. The third act of La Bohème is set at the gates to the city (Paris) and it is snowing, which adds to the unfolding tragedy. A perfect end to our week of Winter-themed music.
Performance