Tonic Jukebox History
WEEK 54 - Water
March 22 is World Water Day. The theme this year is 'valuing water'.
Here in Tonic Jukebox we are doing our bit by featuring songs with a watery theme.
Monday March 22
Handel’s Water Music
The Water Music is a collection of orchestral movements composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to King George I's request for a concert on the River Thames. Coincidentally, this was the same year Handel moved to Stanmore where he spent 18 months living and working. Today we feature the Hornpipe from Handel's Water Music
Performance
Tuesday March 23
Rivers of Babylon
Rivers of Babylon is a song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of the Psalms.
Some years ago I took part in an outdoor promenade performance on Southbank, directed by Mary King. One of the songs we sang was this arrangement of Rivers of Babylon by the impressive Ken Burton. If you haven't heard of him, follow the link. I just loved the arrangement and hoped we could sing it at Tonic, but it proved to be too difficult. I found this recording of a youth choir winning a competition with the song. You may need to turn up the volume at the beginning as it starts very quietly, but then turn it down a bit.
Performance
Wednesday March 24
Let the river run
Let the River Run is a song first featured in the 1988 film Working Girl, with music and lyrics by Carly Simon. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1989.
Performance
Thursday March 25
Aquarium (from The Carnival of the Animals)
The Carnival of the Animals is a humorous musical suite of fourteen movements by the French romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). It was written and first performed in 1886. This has become one of the composer's best known works, especially the penultimate movement, The Swan.
Performance
Friday March 26
Scheherazade (The Sea and Sinbad's Ship)
Scheherazade is a symphonic suite composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1888 and based on One Thousand and One Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights). Rimsky-Korsakov wrote a brief introduction that he intended for use with the score as well as the programme for the premiere: 'The Sultan Schariar, convinced that all women are false and faithless, vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Scheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales for a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely. Here is the first of the four movements.
Performance
Weekend March 27/28
Fantasia on British Sea Songs
Fantasia (or Fantasy) on British Sea Songs is a medley of British sea songs arranged by Sir Henry Wood in 1905 to mark the centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. For many years it has been an indispensable item at the BBC's Last Night of the Proms concert.
Sir Henry Joseph Wood CH (1869-1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century.
Performance (16 mins)
Here in Tonic Jukebox we are doing our bit by featuring songs with a watery theme.
Monday March 22
Handel’s Water Music
The Water Music is a collection of orchestral movements composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to King George I's request for a concert on the River Thames. Coincidentally, this was the same year Handel moved to Stanmore where he spent 18 months living and working. Today we feature the Hornpipe from Handel's Water Music
Performance
Tuesday March 23
Rivers of Babylon
Rivers of Babylon is a song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of the Psalms.
Some years ago I took part in an outdoor promenade performance on Southbank, directed by Mary King. One of the songs we sang was this arrangement of Rivers of Babylon by the impressive Ken Burton. If you haven't heard of him, follow the link. I just loved the arrangement and hoped we could sing it at Tonic, but it proved to be too difficult. I found this recording of a youth choir winning a competition with the song. You may need to turn up the volume at the beginning as it starts very quietly, but then turn it down a bit.
Performance
Wednesday March 24
Let the river run
Let the River Run is a song first featured in the 1988 film Working Girl, with music and lyrics by Carly Simon. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1989.
Performance
Thursday March 25
Aquarium (from The Carnival of the Animals)
The Carnival of the Animals is a humorous musical suite of fourteen movements by the French romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). It was written and first performed in 1886. This has become one of the composer's best known works, especially the penultimate movement, The Swan.
Performance
Friday March 26
Scheherazade (The Sea and Sinbad's Ship)
Scheherazade is a symphonic suite composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1888 and based on One Thousand and One Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights). Rimsky-Korsakov wrote a brief introduction that he intended for use with the score as well as the programme for the premiere: 'The Sultan Schariar, convinced that all women are false and faithless, vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Scheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales for a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely. Here is the first of the four movements.
Performance
Weekend March 27/28
Fantasia on British Sea Songs
Fantasia (or Fantasy) on British Sea Songs is a medley of British sea songs arranged by Sir Henry Wood in 1905 to mark the centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. For many years it has been an indispensable item at the BBC's Last Night of the Proms concert.
Sir Henry Joseph Wood CH (1869-1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century.
Performance (16 mins)