SOTW: Sweetest Thing

A lot has been on my mind recently. This week's song, "Sweetest Thing" by U2 has a calming feel to it, so I think it fits nicely as a backdrop.

Check it out below:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pbpwnTzCeQnp5v2aGNo9nAw

SOTW: ABC

It's back to work after the July 4th weekend. The Jackson Five brings you "ABC".

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pbpwnTzCeQnp5v2aGNo9nAw

SOTW: From Simon and Garfunkel

This week's song of the week is one of Simon and Garfunkel's greatest hits. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) features a nice little duet with great harmony. The last 2 measures of the song sound incredibly familiar, but I just can't place it. Please let me know if you have any thoughts.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pbpwnTzCeQnp5v2aGNo9nAw

Eye of the Tiger

This week's SOTW is Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. At this point, I don't have any supporting text other than encouraging you to check it out:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pbpwnTzCeQnp5v2aGNo9nAw

Midnight Train to Georgia

This week's SOTW is a 1973 Motown favorite by Gladys Knight & the Pips. As today is Martin Luther King Day, it's appropriate to choose a song performed by an African American artist. This title also intimately relates to this past week's DARPA review meeting in San Diego. The Duke DISP crew took the red-eye back to RDU Friday night, and our flight plan routed us through Atlanta. So figuratively we were on the Midnight Train to Georgia. Enjoy.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pbpwnTzCeQnp5v2aGNo9nAw

Baba O'Riley

This week's song is Baba O'Riley by The Who. I recalled the song's usage in an episode of House M.D., and noticed a descriptive annotation on the Wikipedia page. Scanning the other notable soundtrack uses, I learned that it was also used as the entrance music of former New York Yankees right fielder Paul O'Neil. At this point, that trivia probably qualifies as 'old school'.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pbpwnTzCeQnp5v2aGNo9nAw

2008: It's a New Year

It's 2008, and Classic Portnoy has resumed a regular posting schedule. To start things off, I'm instituting a new program called the Song of the Week (SOTW). I plan to update it on the first work day of each week. Last week's song was "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones, and this week's is "Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band. If you seek just a little more motivation, maybe this will help you start your week strong. Feel free to sing along at home.

Song of the Week

K. 364

Today's favorite music has been Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E flat major, K. 364 (320d). If you'd like to listen to it, you can download an Ogg version of the piece from the Wikipedia page.

My favorite clip is in the 1st movement and starts at about 51 second into the piece. This also happens to be 30 seconds chosen for the iTunes preview. There are multiple versions, but the first one I found is here.

If you know of any other songs that quote/reference this section, please let me know. There may be others by Mozart, but I am not aware of any. I wish I could 'google' that type of information. Maybe someday in the future.

Murray Perahia

It was a slightly roundabout way, but I learned about a concert by receiving a email invitation to a group dinner. The invitation to Murray Perahia's concert was on the same day and passed along to show (no pun intended) that they weren't mutually exclusive. I went to both. Dinner was Thai food. No surprises, it met expectations. I really enjoyed the concert afterward.

The summary:

In the more than 32 years he has been performing on the concert stage, American pianist Murray Perahia has become one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time. He has a long relationship with Duke University, having first performed here on the Duke Artists Series as a young rising star in 1979. A multiple Grammy-winner, Mr. Perahia performs in all of the major international music centers and with every leading orchestra. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and has recently embarked on an ambitious project to edit the complete Beethoven Sonatas.

I actually purchased one of his CDs a while ago, and it is quite good. (Mozart: Piano Sonatas K.310, 331 & 533/494) Köchel 331, Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11, is fairly well known mostly for its 3rd movement, Rondo Alla Turca. The concert's program included works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Chopin. At total of 5 pieces were scheduled, but Murray didn't stop there. He went into extra innings, playing 3 extra pieces with standing ovations between each one. Unfortunately, I didn't have the savvy to know the overture pieces. Funny enough, there was an accidental crowd mishap during the scheduled performance. In a three movement piece, the audience applauded after the second movement. Having lost count myself, I am sad to admit I was part of the problem. Overall, the concert was great. All the pieces were new to me, and I was very impressed with the performance. On a side note, I also learned that Murray is a member of the tribe thanks to Wikipedia.

Inland Empire

Inland Empire was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Dragging on for 3 hours, it was completely incoherent and mundane. I wish I could recover the time I wasted. The only entertainment I found during the movie was musical, which is very surprising because the soundtrack was practically nonexistent. The only humorous element was when a group of girls were dancing to "The Loco-Motion". I did notice a musical connection to the 1999 version of "The Thomas Crown Affair". The song "Sinnerman" by Nina Simone was featured in both movies. It was in the end credits of Inland Empire. IMDB confirmed that it appeared in "The Thomas Crown Affair", and I believe it was also in the end credits. Any help here would be appreciated.

Good Times, Great Oldies

New Year’s nicely segues into the following weekend with Nick and Craig mentioning that they’re going to be coming down to Durham. With a nearly record breaking high in the 70s, we saw the men’s basketball team host Virginia Tech in Cameron. It was a tremendously exciting overtime game, but we unfortunately lost 69-67. [Last year, that crew was here for the FSU overtime game in Cameron where we won 97-96.] The scarceness of overtime makes it such a thrill to watch, especially when it’s live.

That night, there was a huge reunion of friends on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. I’ll have to get the photo from Matt, but I’d say a dozen of us met up at Top of the Hill.

Post Scriptum: Nick found my CD, Elgar’s Enigma Variations. This was huge! I had been looking for it for a long time. By the way, my favorite variation is Nimrod (number 9)

Beethoven (Remix)

Just when you thought Wellington’s Victory (1813) couldn’t get any better, it does. As previously noted, Part I of this piece contains a quote of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.”

The new development relates to Part II: Victory Symphony. If you listen carefully, it is possible to hear the melody of “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.” [Technically, we should refer to this song as the British National Anthem, “God Save the King/Queen.” According to wikipedia, the lyrics for My Country, ‘Tis of Thee hadn’t been written until 1831.] It is quite cool. I've got the CD if you want to borrow it.

Personally, I think the story went something like this: Britain/Spain/Portugal just beat France in this battle and they asked Beethoven to write a little something commemorative. Beethoven was probably really busy working on one of his symphonies, but didn’t want to say no. So he threw together a couple “pop songs” with some trumpet fanfare and a little percussion. And the peasants rejoiced.

A Classic(al) Music Connection

A blog update is much overdue. I do hope to meet all expectations with the following update. As you may know, my favorite classical radio station, WCPE, has a Saturday evening request program. It was a treat to hear a very familiar tune on the radio this past weekend, one I couldn’t quite place at the time.

After checking the online play list, the noteworthy piece was Wellington's Victory, Op. 91 by Ludwig van Beethoven. According to wikipedia, it is “a minor orchestral work to commemorate the Duke of Wellington's victory over the French at the Battle of Vitoria in Spain on June 21, 1813.”

With the help of Apple’s iTunes, I discovered the appropriate section, “Part I: The Battle, Marlborough.” iTunes Link

Listen carefully, and you will hear an unmistakable connection to “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” [In addition, alternative lyrics sharing this same good old(e) tune are “The Bear Went Over the Mountain”]

"Get on your feet"

This weekend in college football, [The] Ohio State University (#1) defeated Michigan (#2) 42-39. It was a very exciting game. With an audience of 21.77 million viewers, it was the most-watched regular season football game since 1993. Alternatively, one could say it was the most popular regular season football game broadcast in HDTV ever.

[The] Ohio State University’s Marching Band was a major [no pun intended] part of my overall viewing experience. I found their song “Hang On Sloopy” particularly catchy and with good reason. According to the band’s website, it has been an Ohio State phenomenon since its debut in 1965.

• The ability of the song to bring the crowd to its feet has been noted by university officials, particularly in the pressbox…Dr. Paul Droste confirms this rhythmic power, noting that Sloopy was used on several occasions to test the structural integrity of the stadium.

Audio and video links for your entertainment:
http://tbdbitl.osu.edu/media/audio/hang_on_sloopy.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oPiBSktp6M
(Anyone notice the key change?)

However, let us not forget [The] Duke University Marching Band and1966 favorite “Devil With A Blue Dress On.” [Also notable for those particularly attached to 1965, “Can’t Turn You Loose” builds the excitement whenever the team enters.] I won’t even attempt to explain the intensity this song brings to Cameron Indoor Stadium’s critical moments. Next time you’re in town for a game, I’d highly recommend checking it out.

Do you hear what I hear?

Wednesday night Mike, Mohan, and I were stranded in Rochester because of rain in NYC, our connecting city. So it was quite late, and we were at Applebee’s having a small snack and drink. At one point I must have looked pretty focused and the waitress asked Mike/Mohan about me. “Is he communicating? Did he just phone home?”

No, I was not, simply ITZ [in the zone]. I was realizing a musical connection between the song on the radio and Pachelbel's Canon in D. Mohan and Mike were skeptical, but “Can’t Stop Loving You” by Phil Collins has the same chord progression. Right now I probably do sound pretty crazy, but Wikipeida verifies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_in_D

Wikipedia also brought to my attention the piece influence on “Basket Case” by Green Day and Burger King’s jingle. [Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us.]