There are many musical “fragments” that get so well known that the rest of the work – if not forgotten entirely – is known by far fewer people than know the whole thing. I shared a prime example of that a couple of months ago in Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. Today’s choice is not quite so extreme as folks only knowing the first few bars of that from the film score of 2001: A Space Odyssey. In this case it is a whole variation that is well known – Nimrod.
George McConnell
Sunday Theatre
In a week of songs from the shows its appropriate that my Sunday choice should be from one of Gowans and Larsson’s Salvation Army musicals.
Frolics At The Tower
The final Knightswood School production that I was involved with was Yeomen of the Guard – and tonight’s link is to the overture.
Bernstein Being Gentle
From the point of view of “best music” there is no doubt that West Side Story was the number 1 show that I was involved in. I’ve already shared a couple of songs but here is a lovely one for my Friday “gentle” selection.
He Really Was A Happy Fella😂
Returning again to this weeks ‘theme’ I spent the last week before I moved from Glasgow to Bournemouth travelling up to Stirling each evening to play in the pit orchestra for the production of The Most Happy Fella (one of my few professional music gigs).
A Bonus For Today
Just found this – an excellent bonus share for today…
More Theatrics
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals are all packed full of “good tunes” and Oklahoma is no exception. One of the unexpected consequences of playing for a show with multiple rehearsals and then several public performances is that you end up knowing all the words – which I guess would be a bonus if I ever had to sing them in a karaoke contest 😂
In The Pit
I mentioned a while back about playing in a production of West Side Story – but that wasn’t my first (nor my last) experience of being in a “pit”.
Completing The Castle Toward Programme
I have already shared two of the three pieces of music that were on the programme when I went to Castle Toward – the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and the Haydn Cello Concerto in C. Here is the third one.
Stillness For Sunday
I first learned to play cornet in our Young People’s band in Govan – with my dad as YP Band Leader – so no pressure there. Then, by the time I joined the Songsters (choir for those unfamiliar with Salvation Army terminology 😉) my dad was Songster Leader. So there is probably no doubt that my “style” owed something to my father.