Poster Vacuum cleaner
Vacuum cleaner that combines a brush and a suction pump. Image from Popular Science Monthly, Volume 88 (1916)
Wikimedia Commons
Performance Today®

Music for vacuum and floor polisher

After a holiday weekend, there's often a big clean-up that has to take place. So on Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll help out with a special piece by Malcolm Arnold; his Grand Overture for Vacuum Cleaners, Floor Polisher, and Concert Band.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Ludwig van Beethoven: 5 Variations on "Rule Britannia" in D, WoO 79
Melvyn Tan, fortepiano
The Beethoven Broadwood Fortepiano
EMI 54526

Gioacchino Rossini: Duetto in D Major for Cello and Double Bass
Bion Tsang, cello; DaXun Zhang, double bass
Bates Recital Hall, Butler School of Music, University of Texas, Austin, TX

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11, Op. 95, "Serioso"
Danish String Quartet
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Rose Studio at Lincoln Center, New York, NY

Malcolm Arnold: A Grand Grand Overture: For Three Vacuum Cleaners, One Floor Polisher, and Concert Band, Op. 57
United States Marine Band; Colonel Michael J. Colburn, conductor
Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria, VA

Hour 2

Maurice Ravel (orch. Narcis Bonet): Three Hebraic Melodies: 2. Mejerke, main Suhn (Chanson Hebraique)
Liat Cohen, guitar Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra Frederic Chaslin, conductor
The Jewish Soul: Liat Cohen, guitar and The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra
Centaur 2537

Felix Mendelssohn (arr. Rachmaninoff): A Midsummer Night's Dream: Scherzo
Vadym Kholodenko, piano
The Cliburn, Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth, TX

Peter Tchaikovsky: Lullaby
Vadym Kholodenko, piano
The Cliburn, Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth, TX

Maurice Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA

Joaquin Rodrigo: Fantasia para un Gentilhombre
Ekachai Jearakul, guitar; Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY

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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.

Hosted by Valerie Kahler, 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.

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