It all began with a couple of friends who liked to drive around Boston listening to police radios and rushing to the scene of fires. Conductor Arthur Fiedler and his friend David Mugar were pondering how to attract a big crowd to their Boston Pops Orchestra July 4th events. Their mutual love of pyrotechnics led them to the idea of playing the1812 Overture and using actual howitzers during the performance. It concluded, of course, with a big splash of fireworks at the very end. On Performance Today, we'll hear the 1812 Overture, plus American folk tunes and patriotic marches for Independence Day 2013.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Erich Korngold: Kings Row
National Philharmonia
John Philip Sousa: Semper Fidelis March
United States Marine Band
Traditional, arr. Mark O'Connor: Amazing Grace/ America the Beautiful
Mark O'Connor, violin
Kulas Hall, Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland, OH
Johann Sebastian Bach: Three-Part Invention (Sinfonia) No. 10 BWV 796
Bela Fleck, banjo; Chris Thile, mandolin; Edgar Meyer, bass
Traditional: Shenandoah
St. Olaf Choir; Anton Armstrong, conductor
Boe Memorial Chapel, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN
Ron Nelson: Savannah River Holiday
United States Marine Band; Major Jason K. Fettig, conductor
Armstrong Concert Hall, Shenandoah University, Winchester, VA
Peter Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture
Boston Pops Orchestra; Keith Lockhart, conductor
Traditional, arr. Peter Wilhousky: Battle Hymn of the Republic
Jonita Lattimore, soprano
Symphony Center, Chicago, IL
John Philip Sousa: Stars and Stripes Forever (Encore)
World Orchestra for Peace; Valery Gergiev, conductor
Orchestra Hall, Chicago, IL
Hour 2
Morton Gould: American Salute
The Boston Pops; John Williams, conductor
Gustav Holst: Second Suite in F for Military Band
Dallas Wind Symphony; Jerry Junkin, conductor
Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, TX
David Wallace Reeves: Yankee Doodle Fantasie Humoresque
Dallas Wind Symphony; Kevin Sedatole, guest conductor
Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, TX
George Gershwin (arr. Mark Watters): Gershwin Medley - Fantasy on themes from Foggy Day, Summertime, An American in Paris, Bess, You is My Woman, S'Wonderful, and I Got Rhythm
Accademia Saxophone Quartet; Gaetano Di Bacco, soprano saxophone; Enzo Filippetti, alto saxophone; Giuseppe Berardini, tenor saxophone; Farbizio Paoletti, baritone saxophone
Sergei Luchevici National Philharmonic, Chisinau, Moldova
G.W.E. Friedrich: American Brass Band Suite - 1. Hail Columbia, 2. Prima Donna Waltz, 3. Massa'a in the Cold Ground, 4. Lilly Bell Quick Step
Mosaic Brass Quintet
Olympic Music Festival, Quilcene, WA
arr. Richard Rosenberg: Defense of Fort McHenry, or, The Star-Spangled Banner, Suite mvts 1, 2, 5, 6
Festival Symphony Orchestra, Chester River Chorale; Douglas D. Cox, director
National Music Festival, Decker Theatre, Washington College, Chestertown, MD
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About Performance Today®
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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.
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