Bill McKibben: Where There's a Bill There's a Way

Fredrich Kuhlau (1786–1832) was a Danish composer of the late Classical and early Romantic periods who wrote prodigiously for the flute.  The final movement of his Fantasie for Solo Flute in D major, "Arietta and Variations" is charming,  virtuosic, and fun! The aria "Bati, Bati"  from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni is the theme. The operatic spirit shines in this 4 minute long gem.

Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12, performed by Karen Kevra, flute

Georg Friedrich Händel, Suite No. 5 in E Major, HWV 430:  IV. Air con Variazioni "The Harmonious Blacksmith" performed by Murray Perahia, piano 

Franz Schubert's Theme, from the Introduction, Theme, and Variations on "Trockne Blumen", D. 802 performed by Karen Kevra, flute and Jeffrey Chappell, piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Overture from Don Giovanni, K. 527, Hans Vonk, Staatskapelle Dresden

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Aria: "Batti, batti, o bel Masetto", Cecelia Bartoli, soprano, Wiener Kammerorchester  

Friedrich Kuhlau, Fantasie for Solo Flute in D major (Op. 38, No. 1),  movement 3, "Arietta and Variations", performed by Karen Kevra, flute

Composer Katherine Hoover's Winter Spirits is a musical tribute to the American Desert Southwest. This 5 minute piece was inspired by Marie Buchfink's artwork picturing a cross-legged native American flute player: A colorful cloud of tiny beneficent spirits rises from the flute into a cloud. Elements of dance, chant, and drumming combine to create a mystical, magical soundscape. 

Katherine Hoover, Kokopeli
Katherine Hoover, Winter Spirits
performed by Karen Kevra, flute

In this encore episode from Christmas eve 2020, we celebrate the life and legacy of Tony Barrand who died on January 29, 2022. Tony Barrand was born in England in 1945 but has lived most of his life in southern Vermont in the vibrant town of Brattleboro—a place that shines all the more brightly because of him. This Cornell PHD and Professor Emeritus of Boston University is not just an academic, but also a singer, dancer, and story-teller. What first grabs you is his way with words—he can give them weight, or make them sparkle depending on the point he is trying to make, but he uses words to greatest effect when he sings. His handsome  tenor voice really shines when joined by his singing comrades (John Roberts, Fred Breunig and Andy Davis) from the band Nowell Sing We Clear. This is top-notch exuberant music-making in a traditional style that will have you singing along, dancing, and entranced by the magic of the story-telling.  Guaranteed to brighten your days during this darkest time of year.

Special thanks to:
Andy Davis, Keith Murphy and Becky Tracy, Amanda Witman, Peter Amidon, Sue Dupre, Kari Smith, Carole Crompton, and Rachel Bell

Music, courtesy Golden Hind Music
Click here to order  Nowell Sing We Clear: Songs & Carols for Midwinter & Christmastide

Photo: BU Photography

Pianist Jeffrey Chappell reflects on his life and his formative mentorships first with pianist Jane Allen, and later with the legendary Leon Fleisher.  In this encore episode, Jeffrey reveals his early childhood genesis story with the piano; his studies at the Curtis Institute and Peabody Conservatory, and path that led him to an astounding last minute substitution for Claudio Arrau with the Baltimore Symphony. He addresses overcoming challenges and adversity and speaks about his lifelong meditation practice and his book Answers from Silence. 

Edgard Varèse is one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century and was called  "The stratospheric Colossus of Sound."  He lived life with intensity and composed the same way.  Varèse lived most of his composing life in New York City and  made music out of the  compelling cacophony of NYC street noises: sirens,  firetrucks, river sounds, foghorns, and even skyscraper construction.

Density 21.5 was composed in 1936 (and revised in 194) at the request of Georges Barrère to inaugurate his new platinum flute.  (21.5 is the density of platinum.) Density 21.5 breaks the stereotype of typical French music. This 4 minute-long  ground-breaking piece offers free tonality, an immense dynamic range,  surgically precise rhythms, steely and wispy colors, and it showcases Varèse's love for percussion.

Varèse was more interested in the nature of sound rather than the aspect of melody.  Listen with curiosity to the sounds and enjoy the emotional ride.

Music:
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12 for solo flute by Karen Kevra
Edgard Varèse -Poème électronique Kees Tazelaar, Edgard Varèse & Institute for Computer Music
Jacques Offenbach - Barcarolle from Tale of Hoffman, Sir Neville Mariner
Frédéric Chopin - Ballade #4, Opus 52, Alfred Cortot
Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No. 1,  Philippe Entremont
Edgard Varèse - Amériques, The Philadelphia Orchestra
Edgard Varèse, Ionisation, The New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Pierre Boulez
Edgard Varèse - Déserts, Choeurs de Radio France, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pierre Boulez
Claude Debussy - Syrinx, Karen Kevra
Cécile Chaminade - Concertino, Karen Kevra
Edgard Varèse - Density 21.5, Karen Kevra

Flight of the Bumblebee from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera  "The Tale of Tsar Saltan"--is at the heart of a fantastical tale which includes a large cast of characters including a king and a queen, a magical swan, and a prince turned bumblebee. It's a dazzling colorful encore piece, instantly recognizable and adopted by all kinds of instrumentalists, from string players, to pianists and of course flutists. The buzzier and the faster, the better!

Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12  for solo flute by Karen Kevra 

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Flight of the Bumblebee by the Russian National Orchestra

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, Op. 35 - I. The Sea and Sinbad's Ship,  André Previn · Rainer Küchl · Wiener Philharmoniker 

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Flight of the Bumblebee by Karen Kevra 

photo credit: Karen Kevra

Pierre-Octave Ferroud wrote "Jade"- a tropical work for solo flute in July of 1921. There are two musical features in this Asian-styled French piece that give it its distinctly far eastern flavor. The first is the pentatonic scale-- the five pitches are tied to five elements:  wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The second feature is a rhythmic one --the ever present dotted rhythms give the piece a bubbling dance quality. This is imaginative music so close your eyes and travel to a tropical  beach with waterfalls, ancient canopied banyan trees, fluttering butterflies and the glittering jade colored sea...

Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12

Pierre-Octave Ferroud,  Bergère Captive

Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Jade

All flute pieces performed by  Karen Kevra 

photo credit: Karen Kevra

One of the things that really sets Gabriel Fauré apart is the singing style of his music. He was an exceptional and prolific composer of song so it's no wonder that we hear that singing quality even in his instrumental works. Fauré's "Morceau de Concours" is an incredibly special tiny gem. Don't be fooled by the title. Though he wrote it as a sight-reading examination piece for students at the Paris Conservatory, it is a poetic lullaby. -A musical balm for this most dark time of year.

MUSIC:
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12, performed by Karen Kevra
Gabriel Fauré, Sicilienne, Op. 78, performed by Karen Kevra
Frédéric Chopin, Waltz in E flat major, performed by Jeffrey Chappell
George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue, performed by George Gershwin, piano with Paul Whiteman and the  Paul Whiteman Orchestra (Recorded June 10, 1924)
Gabriel Fauré, Violin Sonata no.1, op. 13, Allegro molto, performed by Arthur Grumiaux, violin, and Paul Crossley, piano
Gabriel Fauré, Piano Trio No. 1, Allegro molto moderato, performed by Marguerite Long, piano,  Jean Pasquier, violin, Pierre Pasquier, viola, Etienne Pasquier, cello
Gabriel Fauré, Piano Trio No. 1, Scherzo: allegro vivo, performed by Marguerite Long, piano,  Jean Pasquier, violin, Pierre Pasquier, viola, Etienne Pasquier, cello
Adjutant's Call/French Foreign Legion March, US Marine Band
Gabriel Fauré, Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11, performed bythe Cambridge Singers, Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonia
Gabriel Fauré, Morceau de Concours, performed by Karen Kevra

 Muse Mentors host Karen Kevra  discusses Beethoven's transcendent Hymn of Thanksgiving from the Op. 132 A minor string quartet with Nicholas Kitchen, the first violinist of the Borromeo Quartet.

Credits:
Beethoven, Hymn Of Thanksgiving (String Quartet Op. 132, Movement III)
 Borromeo Quartet  - Nicholas Kitchen, Violin; Kristopher Tong, Violin; Mai Motobuchi, Viola; Yeesun Kim, Cello)

Use this link to hear and see the entire performance by the Borromeo String Quartet 

CPE Bach was the second son of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara Bach and to say he was a prolific composer is putting it mildly. CPE Bach wrote loads of flute music--sonatas, chamber music, and dazzling concerti. The tremendous output of flute music had to do with the fact that he had a flutist for a boss--Frederick the Great of Prussia. His touching Sonata in A minor for solo flute was composed in Berlin in 1747 and the opening movement is a palate of fall colors --golden yellows, reds, mahogany, and conifer green. This piece is a kind of meditation on the fall--it has an intimate quality unlike any other and it expresses the sadness of the passing of summer, the gratitude for the harvest, and the quality of turning inward as we light our fires and face the winter.  

MUSIC:

Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12, performed by Karen Kevra

C.P.E. Bach, Cello Concerto in A minor, Allegro assai, performed by Alison McGillivray, and The English Concert

C.P.E. Bach Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor, Allegro, performed by Jean Rondeau, with Sophie Gent, Louis Creac'h, Fanny Paccoud, Antoine Touche, Thomas de Pierrefeu, Evolène Kiener 

C.P.E. Bach Flute Concerto In D Minor,  Allegro Di Molto, performed by Jean-Pierre Rampal-flute, Pierre Boulez-conductor 

C.P.E. Bach Sonata in A minor for unaccompanied flute, performed by Karen Kevra

Robert Frost recites "Reluctance" -included for educational purposes

Photograph: Cornwall, Vermont backyard by Karen Kevra