The Komodo Dragon Show: June 2011

29 June 2011

Apocalyptic works for choir.

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

1. Leoš Janáček: Glagolitic Mass (1926-27)

Evlyn Lear - soprano, Hilde Rössel-Majdan - alto/contralto, Ernst Haefliger - tenor, Franz Crass - bass, Bedřich Janáček - organ, Rafael Kubelik - conductor, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Chorus

Deutsche Grammophon, 459 360-2

38'

2. Alfred Schnittke: Concerto for Choir (1984-85)

Text by Gregor Narekatsi from The Book of Mournful Songs (late 10th century)

Translated into Russian by N. Grebnev

Elena Dof-Donskaya - soprano, Valery Polyansky - conductor, USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir

35:02

3. Alfred Schnittke: Two Small Pieces for Organ (1980)

Oleg Yanchenko - organ

8:15

Tracks 2-3

Melodiya, SUCD 10-00066

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

4. Steve Reich: The Desert Music (1983)

Text by William Carlos Williams (1954-62)

Steve Reich & Musicians, Michael Tilson Thomas - conductor, Chorus & Members of Brooklyn Philharmonic

Nonesuch, 7559-79101-2

48'

5. Karel Husa: Apotheosis of This Earth (1973)

Karel Husa - conductor, Louisville Orchestra, University of Louisville Concert Choir

First Edition Recordings, LCD005

27:24

Where to buy CDs featured on today's show:

Janáček - CD Universe

Schnittke - CD Baby mp3

Reich - CD Universe

Husa - CD Universe (different recording)

22 June 2011

More chant, less cant. This week I attempt, in my halting way, to demonstrate the development of Oriental Christian chant from the 13th to the 19th century. (It gets more complex.)

"The sounds in these chants are majestic and prolonged... They express the groaning of the repentant soul which sighs in the land of its expulsion for the blessed, longed-for land of eternal joy, of pure divine pleasure...."

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

1. Disc One: The Founders of Grottaferrata

Ioannas Arvanitis - cantor & director, Alexander Lingas - artistic director, Cappella Romana

Byzantium in Rome: Medieval Byzantine Chant from Grottaferrata

Cappella Romana, CR403-2CD

31'

(Greek hymns from 13th and 14th century manuscripts.)

2. "Liturgy of the Faithful" from The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom: Mediaeval Chant of the Russian Orthodox Church

Bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev) - celebrant, Choir of Danilov Monastery Moscow, Georgy Safonov - director

Christophorus, CHR 77287

42:27

(Chants from 16th century manuscripts.)

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

3. Matins of the Holy Easter

Archimandrite Matthew (Mormyl) - conductor, Choir of the Trinity-St. Sergius Laura & the Moscow Theological Academy

Melodiya: The Russian Label: Highlights

Melodiya, 74321 27247 2

27'

(19th century homophonic settings. Ring dem bells!)

4. Gregorian Chants, Eternal Chants

Benedictine Monks of the Abbey at Ganagobie

Milan, 73138 35653-2

61'

(A mixed bag. Purists beware! 18th and 20th century organ music interludes!)

Where to buy CDs featured on today's show:

Byzantium in Rome - CD Universe

Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom - CD Universe

Matins of Holy Easter - Amazon

Gregorian Chants, Eternal Chants - CD Universe mp3

15 June 2011

This week's episode intimates a similarity between Byzantine chant and the devotional ceremonies of the Sufi mystics.

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

1. Disc Two: The Feast of Pentecost (rec. 2006)

Ioannas Arvanitis - cantor & director, Alexander Lingas - artistic director, Cappella Romana

Byzantium in Rome: Medieval Byzantine Chant from Grottaferrata

Cappella Romana, CR403-2CD

51'

("The Abbey of Grottaferrata in the suburban hills of Rome has used the Byzantine Rite for over a millennium since its founding in 1004.... antedating the upheavals of the Fourth Crusade's sack of Constantinople in 1204." Sorry about that.)

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

2. Celebrations: Turkish Classical Music: Tribute to Yunus Emre

Nevzad Atliğ - conductor, National Choir of Turkish Classical Music

Auvidis, D 8303

66'

(Poet and mystic Yunus Emre lived from ca. 1240-1321. "His poems... mainly concern divine love as well as human destiny." This is the first CD I illegally copied onto my iBook back in '01.)

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

3. Ioannis Koukouzelis: Kratime (14th cent.)

Lycourgos Angelopoulos - director, Greek Byzantine Choir

Ioannis Koukouzelis: The Byzantine Maestro

Jade, 73138 35809-2

35:58

(Kratime are "free compositions set to diverse syllables that make no sense, such as Te-ri-rem and Ne-ne-na and others, in lieu of a text.... [T]he substitution of free syllables to a text produces a psalmody similar to the unending psalmody of the angels in Heaven (a psalmody without words). Moreover, according to symbolic theology, it is meant to signify the incomprehensibility of the godhead." The cardiovascular workout of these choristers is up there in the marathon range.)

4. Bestenigar Pesrev (rec. 1974)

6:36

5. Mevlevi Whirling Dance (rec. 1974)

10:03

Tracks 4-5

Mevlevi Dervishes

Ecstatic Dances of the Whirling & Howling Dervishes of Turkey & Syria

ARC Music, EUCD 1580
(Aldous Huxley reminds us about the effect of extreme cantillation on the amount of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream. He posits that the increased level of CO2 lowers the efficiency of what he calls the "cerebral reducing valve", opening the door to visionary experience.... Only he's WRONG. Tune in to get the lowdown on hyperventilation.)

Where to buy CDs featured on today's show:

Cappella Romana - CD Universe

Tribute to Yunus Emre - out of print

Ioannis Koukouzelis: The Byzantine Maestro - CD Universe

Ecstatic Dances of the Whirling & Howling Dervishes - CD Universe

08 June 2011

Did they laugh at you in Prague? Did they belittle you in Budapest? Did they ridicule you in Rome? Did your ideas go over the heads of the Academy in Aarhus?

Well, you're invited to discuss your theories on the air during the Komodo Dragon Show this Wednesday, June 8th, in celebration of UMFM Open House Week.

Listeners are invited to drop by the station on the 3rd floor of University Centre or to call the broadcast studio at 204-269-8636 between 8-11am Central Time on Wednesday, June 8th. Your input will preempt three hours of traditional Laplandish moss-gathering chants.

The only pre-requisite is to have something interesting to say. I am a fair man, but I am also the final, pitiless arbiter of what gets aired on my show. Here's the bed for my interview with you:

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

1A. Tradewind Islands

Dan Gibson's Solitudes Vol.10

Solitudes, CCDG 10

60'

Played simultaneously with:

1B. Thunderstorm in the Wilderness

Dan Gibson's Solitudes

Solitudes, CCDG013

51'

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

2A. Brian Eno: Music for Airports (1978)

Ambient 1

Virgin, EEGCD 17