Bayou Renaissance Man

Following news that the "Fanfare for the First Lady" was nothing more than the lightly reworked theme music from "F Troop", a number of readers left suggestions as to what alternative theme tunes might be used.  One of them, perhaps inevitably, was "Yakety Sax", also known as the Benny Hill theme.  However, the Benny Hill Show used only part of "Yakety Sax" as its theme, omitting several of the variations in the original piece.

"Yakety Sax" is also said to be very hard to play for any saxophonist, due to the very difficult breath control needed to play some of the longer sections.  Boots Randolph allegedly called it the most difficult saxophone piece he'd ever played, and kicked himself for having composed it!  Be that as it may, it became his signature piece, demanded by audiences wherever he appeared.

Here's Boots Randolph performing his own composition.

The music has been used to indicate a funny, satirical or slapstick video more times than I can recall.  My favorite is still one I put on this blog back in 2013.  The authorities in New York City had banned an annual skateboarding event known as the "Broadway Bomb".  After the organizers defied the ban, the NYPD was ordered to stop the skateboarders.  Mayhem (of the very funny variety) ensued.  Someone filmed it from his apartment balcony, and set the resulting video to the tune of the Benny Hill theme, with highly entertaining results.  The music was a perfect fit for the action.

I hope that brought a smile to your face this Sunday morning!

Peter

Something different this Sunday, combining very old musical styles with recent pop and rock hits.  Algal the Bard plays a genre he largely originated, which has become known as Bardcore:   "medieval-inspired remakes of popular songs".

I don't like some of them, but then, I don't like a lot of modern music.  However, some are very well done indeed.  Here are a few samples.  First, Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters".

Next, a "tavern version" of "Take On Me".

"Losing My Religion" in medieval style.

And finally, here's "Toxicity" from System Of A Down.

You'll find many more of his videos at his YouTube channel.  Do a search there on "Bardcore" for more performers and music in the genre.

Peter

... according to Jennie Breeden and her "The Devil's Panties" comic strip.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version at her Web page.

"Renewed our vows".  Gigglesnort!

Peter

This may be the best recording I've ever encountered of Vaughn Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis".  It may also be unique in my experience, thanks to three factors.

The first is the dividing of the orchestra into two parts.  Vaughn Williams conducted this piece in the Gloucester Cathedral in 1910, and specified this arrangement for the inaugural performance.  Wikipedia describes it thus:

The Fantasia is scored for double string orchestra with string quartet, employing antiphony between the three contributory ensembles. Orchestra I is the main body of strings; Orchestra II is smaller. The published score does not stipulate the number of players in Orchestra I; Orchestra II consists of two first violins, two seconds, two violas, two cellos and one double bass.

Most modern performances don't make the division, playing it as a single, united orchestra:  but it does make an audible difference when two separate groups play together.  In this case, the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra performs on and above the stage at the Kilden Performing Arts Center in that city.  Orchestra 1 is, as noted above, the majority of the orchestra:  Orchestra 2 is positioned behind and above it, on the rear balcony.  Listen for the distinctive interplay between the two music sources.  It works, and adds a new dimension to the piece.

The second is the technical quality of the recording.  Most modern performances of a lot of classical music emphasize the bass, and de-emphasize higher registers.  I've heard performances of the Fantasia that remind me more of a German oompah marching band than a hymn!  In this performance, the orchestra and the editors of the recording have returned to what I think Vaughn Williams himself would recognize as what he wanted;  a more balanced, measured sound where the interplay of the elements of the orchestra, the balance of the music overall, is more important than thumpity-thump.  I enjoyed it very much.

The third is the conductor, Tabita Berglund.  Despite her youth and relative inexperience, she's about to take over as Principal Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  In this performance, she's simply magnificent;  and based on it, I suspect the standards of classical music in Detroit are about to take a distinct upward turn.  Her style of conducting is more flowing, more intimately expressive, than many other conductors in my experience.  She clearly puts herself into the music and conducts in terms of what it says to her, rather than merely reading dry notes on a music manuscript page.  For example, watch the last minute or so of this piece, particularly the final notes as they fade away.  Watch her body language, the expression on her face . . . and the sheer joy in her beaming smile as she looks up at the orchestra.  It's a musical vignette in itself.

Without further ado, here goes.

You can bet I'm going to look for more performances by the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, and particularly for more under the baton of Ms. Berglund.  Discovering their rendition of the Fantasia made my week.

Peter

Earlier this month came the news that iconic French singer Françoise Hardy had died, at the age of 80.  The BBC reported:

Hardy was born in Nazi-occupied Paris in 1944 and raised by her mother.

Like many girls at the time, she grew up listening to Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard and other American and British stars on Radio Luxembourg and she signed her first record deal at just 17.

Her breakout as a musician came in 1962 with the simple, plaintive song, Tous les garçons et les filles, when she sang of all the boys and girls walking hand in hand, while "I walk alone through the streets, my heart aching". It was an instant hit in France and even broke through in the UK charts.

Her style captivated fashion designers, becoming a model for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne, who designed a minidress out of gold plates for her.

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger once famously called her the "ideal woman", while fellow singer-songwriter Bob Dylan penned several love letters to her.

There's more at the link.

Here's her breakout song, "Tous les garçons et les filles".  Use the Closed Captions button to see an English translation.

This is my personal favorite among her songs:  an English rendition of "My friend the rose".  (The original French version may be found here.)

Here's another of her French-language hits, "Des ronds dans l’eau".

And finally, another English hit for her, "All over the world".  The French original may be found here.

She had a lovely voice, and touched many hearts.  May she rest in peace.

Peter

English folk/progressive rock group Magna Carta was formed in 1969, and - after many hiatuses (hiati?) - performed their last concert 50 years later.  They were never a major musical success, but developed a loyal fan base and influenced a number of other composers and groups in the genre.

I've selected five tracks at random from their early years, which I think were by far their most creative period.  First, from their album "Seasons", here's "Elizabethan".

Next, from the album "Songs from Wastie's Orchard", is "Time For The Leaving".

From the same album, an instrumental track:  "Sponge".

From the album "Lord Of The Ages", the opening track, "Wish It Was".

And finally, from the same album, "Falkland Grene".

Quite a mixture, with medieval, Renaissance, folk and rock influences.  I enjoy their music.

Peter

Johnny Mathis has had a mind-boggling career, entertaining audiences for almost 70 years.  His vocals are unmistakeable.  You can read all about his life at Wikipedia.

I grew up to the sound of his voice on my parents' gramophone (and yes, that term dates me!).  I thought I'd bring you a brief selection of his earlier works, out of the literally scores of hits and gold or platinum records he has to his credit.  Without further ado, and in no particular order, here we go.

He's still performing occasional concerts, even though he's in his late 80's.  What a magnificent showman!

Peter

Here's a treat for the older farts among us.  Who can forget the Chad Mitchell Trio and their satirical take on life, the universe and everything?

Their best-known song is almost certainly Lizzie Borden, concerning a young lady accused (but later acquitted) of murder.

Remember that the Trio was performing during the 1960's, when the draft for military service was a very hot topic of discussion.  All sorts of excuses were put forward in an effort to evade the draft.

The sporting world did not escape their satire.

And, of course, political issues of the day reared their ugly heads in some of their songs (only to be disemboweled with satirical glee).

They also performed many traditional folk songs and sea shanties.  A great many of their songs may be found on YouTube.

Peter

I'm enjoying the music of a late Baroque composer new to me, Johann Wilhelm Hertel.  He was prolific, leaving a very large corpus of music on his death, but is little performed today.

Here's his Concerto for Oboe in G Minor.  The soloist is Meike Güldenhaupt, performing with the Main-Barockorchester Frankfurt.

You'll find more of his works on YouTube.

Peter

... Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was performed for the first time in Vienna, Austria.  It went on to become perhaps the best-known symphony in the classical music repertoire.  The anniversary is being celebrated there with all due pomp and ceremony.

The symphony, widely regarded as one of the great masterpieces of Western classical music and culminating in the Ode to Joy, was first performed in 1824 in Vienna, where the German composer lived and worked for most of his life.

Now the city is celebrating with a series of performances of the symphony, notably by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by famed Italian Riccardo Muti.

“It's the whole world to us to be able to sing this wonderful message of love,” Heidrun Irene Mittermair, an alto in the Vienna Singverein Choir, told the BBC. “You're lifted up at the end, when you're singing.”

Heidrun, like the rest of the singers in the Singverein Choir, is not a professional musician - she’s a schoolteacher. But her choir sings at Vienna’s famous Musikverein Concert hall, with the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world’s finest orchestras.

Over the past few days, the choir has been singing the stirring Ode to Joy, the choral finale of Beethoven’s Ninth. Based on a poem by Friedrich von Schiller, it embraces a vision of universal brotherhood.

The musicologist Otto Biba said the symphony was revolutionary, partly because it culminated with singing.

“It was a symphony, but with something new in the fourth movement. There was a choir on the stage and the soloists were starting to sing," he said. "There were so many new details. It was very difficult for the musicians, and very experimental.”

“Beethoven opened the door to the future. It's a work left by Beethoven for the next generation,” Mr Biba said.

There's more at the link.

It's worth remembering that Beethoven composed this symphony while almost completely deaf.  At its premiere performance, conducted by Michael Umlauf, Beethoven was on stage as well, and tried to conduct his own work, but lost his sense of timing due to his deafness.  At the end of the piece: 

Beethoven was several bars off and still conducting; the contralto Caroline Unger walked over and gently turned Beethoven around to accept the audience's cheers and applause. According to the critic for the Theater-Zeitung, "the public received the musical hero with the utmost respect and sympathy, listened to his wonderful, gigantic creations with the most absorbed attention and broke out in jubilant applause, often during sections, and repeatedly at the end of them." The audience acclaimed him through standing ovations five times; there were handkerchiefs in the air, hats, and raised hands, so that Beethoven, who they knew could not hear the applause, could at least see the ovations.

For those who've never been to Vienna, and never heard the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra or seen the Musikverein, here are both of them in a single video.

Timeless indeed, and well worth commemorating on this anniversary.

Peter

Here's something for fans of progressive rock and bluegrass music alike.  Early in the 2000's, a group was formed in Nashville calling itself Moody Bluegrass.  As the name suggests, they took hits by the Moody Blues and re-scored them for bluegrass music, instruments and vocals.  It changed the nature of the songs very considerably, but made them accessible to many bluegrass fans who didn't enjoy heavier rock music.  Indeed, the Moody Blues themselves liked the variation enough that some of them performed on the bluegrass versions.

Moody Bluegrass put out two albums over the years.  I've selected five of their songs for this morning's blog post.  First, let's go to "Ride My See-Saw".  If you're not familiar with it, the Moody Blues original version may be found here.

Next, let's listen to "Nights In White Satin".  Moody Blues version here.

Here's "The Story In Your Eyes".  Moody Blues original here.

Next, "Send Me No Wine".  John Lodge of the Moody Blues joins in on vocals.  Moody Blues version here.

And to close, perhaps their best-known song, "I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band)".  Moody Blues live performance here.

You'll find all the Moody Bluegrass renditions of Moody Blues songs on YouTube.

Peter

Australian comedian, actress and model Nikki Osborne has made a series of tongue-in-cheek (or maybe not so in-cheek!) advertisements and videos about Moments condoms, which is apparently an Australian brand of prophylactics.  They're not exactly the sort of thing I can embed here, but they're certainly very funny to those who understand and appreciate the Australian sense of humor.

You'll find them all at this link.

I found particularly eye-opening the one where she lists every nickname for a condom that she's been able to find.  Verily, the mind doth boggle . . . I've clearly been living an overly sheltered existence!

Peter

This report boggles my mind.

At first glance, the Poetry Camera seems like another gadget in the ever-evolving landscape of digital devices. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that this is no ordinary camera. Instead of merely capturing images, the Poetry Camera takes the concept of photography to new heights by generating thought-provoking poetry (or, well, as thought-provoking as AI poetry can get) based on the visuals it encounters.

. . .

At the heart of this innovative device lies a Raspberry Pi, a credit card-sized single-board computer that packs a powerful punch. This tiny yet mighty component serves as the brain of the Poetry Camera, enabling it to capture images and communicate with OpenAI’s GPT-4 to generate poetry.

A Raspberry Pi captures the image and then employs computer vision algorithms to analyze the visual data. The AI models then interpret the image, identifying key elements, colors, patterns and emotions within the frame. This information serves as the foundation for the poetry-generation process.

There's more at the link.

Well . . . I suppose, if the AI has been sufficiently trained on enough poetry covering all sorts of topics, issues and environments, it might produce something roughly in sync with the theme of the picture.  On the other hand, it's not going to work very well on fast-paced action shots, particularly if it doesn't know what's going on.

I have a mental picture of using this device to take a photograph of my Drill Instructor during military basic training lo, these many years ago;  screaming insults at me from a range of about six inches, spittle flying everywhere (including all over me), eyes wide and staring . . . although I don't think it could also capture his halitosis and body odor.  I wonder what sort of poem it would produce about him in that scenario?

Peter

From Foxes In Love.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version on the comic's Web page.

Why does this remind me of myself as a child?

Peter

A reader sent me the link to this video a few weeks ago.  It made me smile, so I saved it in my Blog Fodder directory until I had a chance to use it.  It's titled "Top 100 One-Hit Wonders", which is self-explanatory.  Unfortunately for the title, a lot of the songs come from performers and groups who had more (sometimes a lot more) than one hit song;  but it's still an enjoyable collection.

Peter

Wisdom from Stephan Pastis and his 'Pearls Before Swine' cartoon.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version at the comic's Web page.

Peter

How many of you remember a British pop/rock group with the unlikely name of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich?  They were never as popular in the USA as other British invasion bands such as their contemporaries the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, but did very well in the British, European and colonial markets.  A couple of their songs made it onto US charts as well.

Here's their best-known song, from 1968:  "Xanadu", complete with electronic whip-cracking.

From 1966, here's "Hold Tight".

From the same year, "Bend It".

And perhaps their most quirky hit, with incomprehensible, nonsensical lyrics:  1967's "Zabadak!".

You'll find more of their music on their YouTube channel.  The "Swingin' '60's" indeed!

Peter

It's hard to believe that Mike Oldfield brought out his first album, "Tubular Bells", fifty-one years ago.  I bought it at once, and have bought every album he's recorded ever since.  He was (and still is) an iconic musician in the freewheeling rock 'n roll and disco era of the 1970's, bringing genuine instrumental music (with a capital M) and classical-style compositions to the world of electronic music.  Things were never quite the same after he came along.

Last year, a Spanish ensemble calling itself Opus One, under the leadership of Xavier Alern, professor of Musicology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, honored the 50th anniversary of "Tubular Bells" by recording the work as authentically as possible in the spirit of the original.  The ensemble says of itself:

Opus One is an orchestra of contemporary instruments created to pay tribute to Mike Oldfield while celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of his first album, Tubular Bells, a key work for understanding the music of the last half of the century.

The originality of the Opus One proposal lies in the fact that it aims to offer an accurate interpretation, without anachronisms and that fully respects the spirit of the legendary 1973 recording.

Of course, electronic music and recording have come a long, long way since 1973, and the ensemble wanted to use those improvements to upgrade the concert-style performance of the work.  I'd say they succeeded.

Well played!

Peter

I was reminded of an old XKCD comic by a post on MeWe yesterday.  With all the current kerfuffle over Israel, Gaza and what have you, it seemed particularly appropriate.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version at the strip's Web page.

I don't care whose side you're on in the Middle East dispute, I think we can all agree that's funny!

Peter

Courtesy of a link at Larry's place, I was led to this article.

Six out of ten meals consumed in British homes are eaten in front of the television, it emerged today.

Research has revealed that millions of families have all but abandoned the dining table and now retire to the sofa to enjoy their meal.

And as proof they are aware their TV dinners are not perhaps the best way, most admit they are guilt ridden by the bad habit.

A startling one third of us don't even make conversation with our dinner companions while dining in front of the television.

Researchers found the average dinner table dodger tucks into meals in front of their favourite programmes at least six times a week.

The study also found that 45 per cent don't actually enjoy the food they're eating in front of the box, while many opt for easy ready meals and takeaways.

There's more at the link.

I agree that not eating together, not paying attention to each other, is a very negative aspect of many modern families.  However, there's an easy answer, if only people would take it:

GET RID OF THE TELEVISION!

My wife and I took that decision when we married, and I don't think we've ever regretted it.  We don't own a television at all.  If something comes along that we really want to watch, we can either get it over the Internet, or buy DVD's of it, or look on streaming video sites - all of which can be watched on our computer screens.  Major sporting events like the Superbowl are usually watched with friends at one of their homes, with everybody bringing snacks and all of us making snarky comments as we watch developments unfold.  It becomes a social occasion rather than a goggle-box preoccupation.

What say you, readers?  Is the TV a center of your home life, or is it something you can take or leave as the mood suits?  How many of you also don't bother to have a TV at all?  Please let us know in Comments.  This might be an interesting discussion.

Peter