Tonic Jukebox History
WEEK 72 - Animals
Time to turn our attention to the Animal Kingdom.
Monday July 26
Flight of the Bumblebee
Flight of the Bumblebee is an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899/1900. Its composition is intended to evoke the seemingly chaotic and rapidly changing flying pattern of a bumblebee. Despite being a rather incidental part of the opera, it is today one of the more familiar classical works because of its frequent use in concert programmes.
Orchestral version
Arranged for a cello ensemble
(shorter version and rather interesting)
Tuesday July 27
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
The Lion Sleeps Tonight is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title Mbube for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in Zulu, while the English version's lyrics were written by George David Weiss. In 1961, it became a number one hit in the United States as adapted in English with the best-known version by the doo-wop group the Tokens. And of course it turned up in the musical, The Lion King.
Recording
While looking around YouTube I came across this excellent version.
Anne Reburn recording
And here is the original song.
Wednesday July 28
Schmetterling (Butterfly)
Edvard Grieg plays his own composition. (1906)
According to the YouTube notes this was recorded on a Welte-Mignon reproducing piano.
Recording
Flight of the Bumblebee
Flight of the Bumblebee is an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899/1900. Its composition is intended to evoke the seemingly chaotic and rapidly changing flying pattern of a bumblebee. Despite being a rather incidental part of the opera, it is today one of the more familiar classical works because of its frequent use in concert programmes.
Orchestral version
Arranged for a cello ensemble
(shorter version and rather interesting)
Tuesday July 27
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
The Lion Sleeps Tonight is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title Mbube for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in Zulu, while the English version's lyrics were written by George David Weiss. In 1961, it became a number one hit in the United States as adapted in English with the best-known version by the doo-wop group the Tokens. And of course it turned up in the musical, The Lion King.
Recording
While looking around YouTube I came across this excellent version.
Anne Reburn recording
And here is the original song.
Wednesday July 28
Schmetterling (Butterfly)
Edvard Grieg plays his own composition. (1906)
According to the YouTube notes this was recorded on a Welte-Mignon reproducing piano.
Recording
It's the 500th day of Tonic Jukebox
Who would have thought when we started in March last year that Tonic Jukebox would still be running on day 500? Certainly not me.
500 Miles is a song made popular in the United States and Europe during the 1960s folk revival. Who better to play it than one of my favourites?
Peter, Paul and Mary
And now something for you to do ....
Let me know a composer or piece of music that you did not know before hearing it on Jukebox, and now include in your 'favourites'. Email Philip here.
Who would have thought when we started in March last year that Tonic Jukebox would still be running on day 500? Certainly not me.
500 Miles is a song made popular in the United States and Europe during the 1960s folk revival. Who better to play it than one of my favourites?
Peter, Paul and Mary
And now something for you to do ....
Let me know a composer or piece of music that you did not know before hearing it on Jukebox, and now include in your 'favourites'. Email Philip here.
Thursday July 29
The Song of the Flea
The Song of the Flea is a song with piano accompaniment, composed by Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881). The lyrics are from the Russian translation of Goethe's Faust. It is probably the best known of the 65 or so songs that Mussorgsky composed. The music score of the Song of the Flea was published after Mussorgsky's death with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov as the editor. The orchestration by Igor Stravinsky became available in 1914. It was originally composed for a soprano, but it has been sung by bass singers, such as the great Russian bass, Feodor Chaliapin, whose recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
English version sung by John Tomlinson
Russian version sung by Chaliapin
The English words can be found here.
Friday July 30
The Armadillo
Lyricist, actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and pianist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs - Flanders and Swann. They first worked together in a school revue in 1939 and eventually wrote more than 100 comic songs together. Many of these are concerned with animals. I have chosen one of the less well-known. It is definitely one of my favourites. The picture it paints is priceless.
Recording
Weekend July 31/August 1
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 and we have included several movements in earlier weeks. Here are two we have not previously used.
Fossils
Finale
The Song of the Flea
The Song of the Flea is a song with piano accompaniment, composed by Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881). The lyrics are from the Russian translation of Goethe's Faust. It is probably the best known of the 65 or so songs that Mussorgsky composed. The music score of the Song of the Flea was published after Mussorgsky's death with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov as the editor. The orchestration by Igor Stravinsky became available in 1914. It was originally composed for a soprano, but it has been sung by bass singers, such as the great Russian bass, Feodor Chaliapin, whose recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
English version sung by John Tomlinson
Russian version sung by Chaliapin
The English words can be found here.
Friday July 30
The Armadillo
Lyricist, actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and pianist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs - Flanders and Swann. They first worked together in a school revue in 1939 and eventually wrote more than 100 comic songs together. Many of these are concerned with animals. I have chosen one of the less well-known. It is definitely one of my favourites. The picture it paints is priceless.
Recording
Weekend July 31/August 1
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 and we have included several movements in earlier weeks. Here are two we have not previously used.
Fossils
Finale