Welcome to the weekend and your Saturday at the Symphony Evening Concert. Before we get to the Music, I must tell you about my Halloween. It really was a fun night with most folks in a right jolly mood. We had lots of great guisers come through on their way to parties and bars. The guises ran the gamut of your witches, ghosts, goblins, the zombified and a surprising number of straight men in dresses. One of the two best costumes of the night though was the guy dressed as the Dead Cat in the Hat complete with a papier mache' death mask that looked exactly like the Cat in the Hat in the Dr Suess book apart from being all pale and dead like of course. The very best costume of the night belonged to the 6' 5" fellow fully decked out as a Mayan High Priest complete with feathered bird mask, cape and Dagger.
It really was just a fun night right up until the trucks began arriving and the scanners were bewitched by some fucking ghastly goblin. I spent a couple of hours on the phone with the help desk reprogramming the damn things so that we could check in and then put up the deliveries. The truck was already late, it was already after 2 in the morning and it was the last thing I needed at that moment. I ended up not getting off until 4:15 and sorry to say the job was not finished, but I had to come back at 3 this afternoon. So my buddy told me to go home and I will do what I can then the day shift will have to rally to the cause. And they did so it all turned out well but it sure played hell with me and my buddy for quite a while. I am really fucking glad Fraturday is finally over and we have arrived at the appointed time for Music and Men.
Our featured composer this evening is Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov who was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.[a 2] He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade is an example of his frequent use of fairy tale and folk subjects.
The symphonic suite "Scheherazade", our featured work for this evening, is among the most famous works by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908). It is based on various stories in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales dating from the Islamic Golden Age. The work is framed as a set of stories within a story, since they are related by the queen Scheherazade to Sultan Shahryar in order to stave off her execution. Rimsky-Korsakov prefaced the score with this introduction:
"The Sultan Schariar, convinced that all women are false and faithless, vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Sheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales, told seriatim, for a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely."
The work opens with the sultan's theme played by the low brass - an ominous, slow motif representing the stern, merciless nature of the despotic ruler. It is quickly followed by Scheherazade's theme played by solo violin over the strumming of a harp. It is a melancholy motif with a strong Oriental character, and it serves to unify the work by reappearing regularly, just as Scheherazade's character appears throughout the One Thousand and One Nights, setting the disparate stories into a definite frame.
Scheherazade is scored for two flutes and a piccolo (with 2nd flute doubling on 2nd piccolo for a few bars), two oboes (with 2nd doubling cor anglais), two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns in F, two trumpets in A and B-flat, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, tam-tam, harp and strings. The suite received its premiere on October 28, 1888, under the baton of the composer.
This recording was made by conductor Jos van Immerseel, violinist Midori Seiler and the Anima Eterna Orchestra, which plays on period instruments. (So listen for some interesting sounds! Source material from Wikipedia and the video description) You may also hear Rimsky-Korsakov's Symphony Number 3 in C Major, Opus 32 over on my tumblr with a performance by the St. Peterburg State Symphony Orchestra under the baton of André Anichanov.
To accompany Scheherazade and to appease your desire for some visual inspiration I have an exquisite collection of muscly models who are Naked or Nearly So to please the most discriminating of tastes. Each portrait has it own charms and you will be hard pressed to pick a favorite. Additional inspiration cna be gained from Sens-Asian 19 who is your Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr. Thanks for sharing your evening with me, see you again on Monday for another week of Music, Men More! Until next time as always, Enjoy!
It really was just a fun night right up until the trucks began arriving and the scanners were bewitched by some fucking ghastly goblin. I spent a couple of hours on the phone with the help desk reprogramming the damn things so that we could check in and then put up the deliveries. The truck was already late, it was already after 2 in the morning and it was the last thing I needed at that moment. I ended up not getting off until 4:15 and sorry to say the job was not finished, but I had to come back at 3 this afternoon. So my buddy told me to go home and I will do what I can then the day shift will have to rally to the cause. And they did so it all turned out well but it sure played hell with me and my buddy for quite a while. I am really fucking glad Fraturday is finally over and we have arrived at the appointed time for Music and Men.
Our featured composer this evening is Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov who was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.[a 2] He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade is an example of his frequent use of fairy tale and folk subjects.
The symphonic suite "Scheherazade", our featured work for this evening, is among the most famous works by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908). It is based on various stories in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales dating from the Islamic Golden Age. The work is framed as a set of stories within a story, since they are related by the queen Scheherazade to Sultan Shahryar in order to stave off her execution. Rimsky-Korsakov prefaced the score with this introduction:
"The Sultan Schariar, convinced that all women are false and faithless, vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Sheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales, told seriatim, for a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, consumed with curiosity, postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and finally repudiated his bloody vow entirely."
The work opens with the sultan's theme played by the low brass - an ominous, slow motif representing the stern, merciless nature of the despotic ruler. It is quickly followed by Scheherazade's theme played by solo violin over the strumming of a harp. It is a melancholy motif with a strong Oriental character, and it serves to unify the work by reappearing regularly, just as Scheherazade's character appears throughout the One Thousand and One Nights, setting the disparate stories into a definite frame.
Scheherazade is scored for two flutes and a piccolo (with 2nd flute doubling on 2nd piccolo for a few bars), two oboes (with 2nd doubling cor anglais), two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns in F, two trumpets in A and B-flat, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, tam-tam, harp and strings. The suite received its premiere on October 28, 1888, under the baton of the composer.
This recording was made by conductor Jos van Immerseel, violinist Midori Seiler and the Anima Eterna Orchestra, which plays on period instruments. (So listen for some interesting sounds! Source material from Wikipedia and the video description) You may also hear Rimsky-Korsakov's Symphony Number 3 in C Major, Opus 32 over on my tumblr with a performance by the St. Peterburg State Symphony Orchestra under the baton of André Anichanov.
To accompany Scheherazade and to appease your desire for some visual inspiration I have an exquisite collection of muscly models who are Naked or Nearly So to please the most discriminating of tastes. Each portrait has it own charms and you will be hard pressed to pick a favorite. Additional inspiration cna be gained from Sens-Asian 19 who is your Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr. Thanks for sharing your evening with me, see you again on Monday for another week of Music, Men More! Until next time as always, Enjoy!
