We pre-channel the ghost of legendary CBC broadcaster Max Ferguson on this week's post-St. Patrick's Day breakfast breakdown.

Set #1 - 8:00am - 9:00am

1. Traditional: Sean Ryan's Polka/
Traditional: Whiskey before Breakfast (rec. 1990)
Arranged by Glenn Morgan
Glenn Morgan - hammered dulcimer, Jim Wells - guitar
Glenn Morgan: D Is for Dulcimer
Fishbite Recordings, 9001-2
3:59

2. Marches Medley
Arranged by Herbert
4:26
(The Back o’ Bennachie, The Drunken Piper, 72nd’s Farewell to Aberdeen, Corriechoillie, My Love She’s But a Lassie Yet, and Rantin’, Rovin’ Robin.)

3. R. Binge: Cornet Carillon
3:01

Tracks 2-3 (rec. Edinburgh 1971)
The Pipes & Drums & Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
Amazing Grace
RCA, 07863 52008-2

4. Richard Rogers & Lorenz Hart: Lover (rec. 1947)
Les Paul - guitars & drums
Les Paul: The Best of the Capitol Masters
Capitol, CDP 7 996172
2:35
(One of those recordings that changed the world.)

5. Traditional: My Grief on the Sea/
Eileen McGann: Cape Clear
Eileen McGann - vocal
Heritage
Dragonwing Music, DRGN 005
3:27

6. Traditional: Xylophone, Percussion & Female Voices
3:33

7. Traditional: Drums & Rattles
8:07

8. Traditional: Kono, the Sacred Bird of the Bambaras (Percussion & Female Voices)
1:48

Tracks 6-8 (rec. Algiers 1969)
"Groupe folklorique malien"
African Rhythms & Instruments Vol.1
Lyrichord, LYRCD 7328

9. Hildegard von Bingen: O cruor sanguinis (12th cent.)
1:43

10. Hildegard von Bingen: O successores (12th cent.)
2:40

11. Hildegard von Bingen: Nunc gaudeant (12th cent.)
3:03

Tracks 9-11
Karen P. Thomas - conductor, Seattle Pro Musica
Alnight by the Rose
Seattle Pro Musica, SPM CD 9802

12. Traditional: Say You Love Me (rec. 2001)
Arranged by Dessie O’Halloran
Sharon Shannon - accordion, Dessie O’Halloran - vocal & fiddle
Sharon Shannon & Friends: The Diamond Mountain Sessions
Compass Records, 7 4305
4:31

Set #2 - 9:00am - 10:00am

13. Lord Berners: "Hornpipe" from The Triumph of Neptune Suite (1926)
Barry Wordsworth - conductor, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
EMI, CDC 7 47668 2
1:34

14. Traditional: The Rainy Day/
Nathan Curry & Frank Cassidy: Erin’s Kitchen/
S. F. Ryan: The Coast of Austria
Erin Cassidy - Irish flute & brass pennywhistle, Ian Clark - guitar, Rick West - bodhran, Rob Graves - snare drum, John Geggie - double bass, Carlos del Junco - harmonica
5:12

15. Pete Jung: Far Away
Erin Cassidy - flute & pennywhistle, James Stephens - fiddle, Golo Goerner - guitar
3:22

16. Paddy Keenan: Kahir's Kitchen
Erin Cassidy - flute, James Stephens - mandolin, Michael Bussiere - keyboard
3:15

Tracks 14-16 (rec. 1996-97)
Arranged by James Stephens & Erin Cassidy
The Wind at Play
Carleton Sound, CSCD-1001

17. Chris Whiteley & Les Smith: Mr. Weatherman
Chris Whiteley, Ken Whiteley
The Whiteley Brothers: Sixteen Shades of Blue
Borealis Recording Company, BCD 002
2:09

18. James F. Hanley & Joseph McCarthy: I'm in the Market for You (rec. NYC 9 Apr. 1930)
Ben Selvin - leader, Don Howard - vocal, The Columbia Photo Players
Ben Selvin: The Columbia House Players Vol.2
The Old Masters, MB 117
3:28
(I want my bailout and my bonus, and I want them now. Note recording date. Sidemen on this recording include Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey.)

19. Sammy Fain & Mitchell Parrish: The Moon Is a Silver Dollar (rec. 1995)
Mose Scarlett - vocal & guitar
The Fundamental Things
Borealis Recording Company, PD 013
3:27

20. Traditional: Planxty George Brabazon (rec. 2000)
Arranged by Paddy Moloney
The Chieftains, Janet Harbison & The Belfast Harp Orchestra
Water from the Well
BMG, 09026-63637-2
2:37

21. Ben Mink: Foreign Exchange
3:00

22. Jack Soberman, Ben Mink & Elliott Feldman: Manish Tuna*
3:31

Tracks 21-22 (rec. 1980)
Ben Mink - violin, mandolin & guitar, Allan Soberman - bass guitar, Martin Deller - drums & percussion, Cameron Hawkins - synthesizers, *Elliott Feldman - guitar, *Jack Soberman - piano
Ben Mink: Foreign Exchange
Passport Records, PB-2024

23. Irving Berlin: When That Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam
Jackie Washington - vocal & guitar
Midnight Choo Choo
Borealis Recording Company, BCD 112
3:08

24. Darol Anger: Melt the Teakettle (rec. 1996-99)
Natalie McMaster - fiddle, Darol Anger - baritone violin
Darol Anger: Diary of a Fiddler
Compass Records, 7 4275 2
5:17
(Baritone violin sounds an octave lower. Take that, violas!)

Set #3 - 10:00am - 11:00am

25. Pekel: Oost west, thuis best!
4:29

26. Traditional: Horlepiep
Arranged by Pekel
3:11

Tracks 25-26 (rec. 1999)
Pekel: John Bazuijnen - vocal, Erno Korpershoek - accordion, Peter Moree - guitar, Theo Schuurmans - bagpipes, Kees Wagenaar - vocal
Oost west thuis best
PAN Records, PAN 179CD
("East, west, home best!" Pekel, favoured by mariners, is a beverage made from wrung-out barrel staves.)

27. Antonín Dvořák: Largo from the New World Symphony (1893)
5:24

28. Ludwig van Beethoven: Minuet in G (1795)
2:54

29. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Andante Cantabile, String Quartet [No.1] (1871)
6:40

Tracks 27-29
Arranged by Margaret Dryburgh & Norah Chambers (c. 1942-45)
Leny van Shaik - conductor, Malle Babbe's Women's Choir
Paradise Road Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Sony, SK 63026

30. Hump
2:27

31. Humppakonehumppa
3:15

Tracks 30-31 (rec. Finland 1998)
Arranged by Eläkeläiset
Eläkeläiset: Onni Waris - keyboard & vocal, Martti Waris - bass & vocal, Kristian Voutilainen - drums & vocal, Lassi Kinnunen - accordion & vocal
Werbung, Baby!
Humppa Records, 010
3:15
("The Retirees". Finnized oompah music.)

32. Nancy White: Gaelic Envy (rec. 1998)
Nancy White - vocal & guitar
Gaelic Envy & Other Torch Songs
Borealis Recording Company, BCD 109
3:12

33. Rick Fielding & Tony Quarington: Those Gin Mill Syncopators
Rick Fielding - guitar
This One’s the Dreamer
Borealis Recording Company, BCD 119
4:35

34. Béla Fleck: Cheeseballs in Cowtown (rec. 1994)
Sam Bush - mandolin, Stuart Duncan - fiddle, Kenny Malone - drums, Victor Wooten - fretless bass, Jerry Douglas - resophonic guitar
Béla Fleck: Tales from the Acoustic Planet
Warner Brothers, W2 45854
4:51
(Sounds like a Conservative Party convention.)

35. Jake Thackray: The Hole (rec. 1969)
3:29

36. Jake Thackray: Lah-Di-Dah (rec. 1967)
3:18

37. Jake Thackray: Last Will & Testament of Jake Thackray (rec. 1967)
3:03

Tracks 35-37
Jake Thackray - vocal & guitar
The Very Best of Jake Thackray
EMI, 7243 5 82651 2 5

I absent me from the facility a while. Back on the air next week.

It's Scherchen-o-rama on this week's episode: the renowned German-Swiss Hermann Scherchen (1891-1966) in the double role of conductor and arranger.

Set #1 - 8:00am - 9:30am

1. Ludwig van Beethoven: 2nd movement: Allegretto from Symphony No.7 (1811-12)
Arranged for winds (1816)
André Moisan - conductor, Les Vents de Montréal
ATMA, ACD2 3004
9:38

2. Ludwig van Beethoven: Rehearsal of Symphony No.5 (1805-08)
44'
(Scherchen wrote the book on conducting. It is said he "worked largely through verbal instructions to his players and his scores were peppered with reminders of what he needed to say at each critical point in the music.")

3. Ludwig van Beethoven: Performance of Symphony No.5 (1805-08)
34'
(Scherchen said: "Music does not have to be understood. It has to be listened to.")

Tracks 2-3 (rec. Lugano, Switzerland 24-26 Feb. 1965)
Hermann Scherchen - conductor, Orchestra della Radio Televisione della Svizzera Italiana
Hermann Scherchen prova e dirige Beethoven: Sinfonia N. 5
Ermitage, ERM 126

Set #2 - 9:30am - 11:00am

4. J. S. Bach: Art of the Fugue (1742)
Orchestrated by Hermann Scherchen (1965)
Hermann Scherchen - conductor, Members of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra & Vienna Radio Orchestra
Universal, MCAD2-80352
109'
(Are you ready for an hour and a half of D minor? Scored for just winds and strings, and solo harpsichord in the three canonic movements, Scherchen's spare orchestration calls no undue attention to itself. The fugue subject is not the most interesting melody Bach ever conceived, but it's put through its paces, to the extent that Da-Vinci-Code-esque speculations have arisen concerning hidden symbols and meanings. Bach's leaving this work unfinished delivers a certain existential satisfaction.)

Brittney or the instrumental (string) quartet? What's the supreme achievement of Western-European music?

Set #1 - 8:00am - 9:00am

1. Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in G major op.77 no.1 (1799)
Amadeus Quartet: Norbert Brainin - violin, Siegmund Nissel - violin, Peter Schidlof - viola, Martin Lovett - cello
Deutsche Grammophon, 429 189-2
20'

2. Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E-flat major (1834)
Lafayette Quartet: Ann Elliot-Goldschmid - violin, Sharon Stanis - violin, Joanna Hood - viola, Pamela Highbaugh Aloni - cello
Death & the Maiden
CBC Records, MVCD 1149
21:09

Set #2 - 9:00am - 10:00am

3. Fritz Kreisler: String Quartet in A minor (1919?)
Brodsky Quartet: Andrew Haveron - violin, Ian Belton - violin, Paul Cassidy - viola, Jacqueline Thomas - cello
Music from Vienna 2
Challenge Classics, 72052
28'

4. Arnold Schönberg: String Quartet No.2 in F# minor op.10 (1908, rec. Los Angeles 31 Dec. 1936)
Text by Stefan George (1907)
Clemence Gifford - soprano, Kolisch Quartet: Rudolf Kolisch - violin, Felix Khuner - violin, Eugene Lehner - viola, Benar Heifetz - cello
In Honor of Rudolf Kolisch
Music & Arts, CD-1056
28:34
(I listen to this recording every New Year's Eve around 11:30pm. "I feel the air of another planet...")

Set #3 - 10:00am - 11:00am

5. Norma Beecroft: Amplified String Quartet with Tape (1991-92)
Accordes String Quartet: Fujiko Imajishi - violin, Marie Berard - violin, Douglas Perry - viola, David Hetherington - cello
Canadian Composers Portraits: Norma Beecroft
Centrediscs, CMCCD 9303
12:44

6. Kathryn Mishell: String Quartet No.2 (1999-2000)
Miwako Watanabe - violin, Connie Kupka - violin, Roland Kato - viola, David Speltz - cello
Kathryn Mishell: Musical Voyages
Pierian Recording Society, 0014
23:10

7. Ignazio Spergher: Sinfonia in Do Magg. (18th century)
Amedeo Aroma - organ
Sinfonie e Sonate per organo
Rivoalto, CRR 9811
10:45