April Fools Goes Classical
Peter Robinson ·
April 1, 2012 at 9:26pm
If, like me, you're stuck with deskwork today, you could do a lot worse while you're paying bills and answering emails than to set iTunes or RealPlayer to Classical KUSC, the classical radio station of the University of Southern California. (Yes, I disapprove of the USC football team, but I approve very heartily of the USC radio station.)
All afternoon--I'm writing this at just after noon Pacific time--KUSC is playing classical music for April Fools' Day--and a lot of the stuff is wildly hilarious.
Click here.
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Comments:
Aug '11
Re: April Fools Goes Classical
Thanks for the heads-up. I am stuck working today, and have been in a bit of a Classical mood lately. It was either going to be Beethoven or Vaughn-Williams.
Edited on April 1, 2012 at 9:45pmDec '10
Re: April Fools Goes Classical
Peter,
Classical KUSC is delicious.
Regards,
Jim
Mar '11
Re: April Fools Goes Classical
I was anticipating a concert of the works of P. D. Q. Bach on the occasion of his 270th birthday yesterday, but unfortunately, KUSC has failed to mark this historic milestone.
Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to fire up my copy of The Wurst of P.D.Q. Bach.
Mar '11
Re: April Fools Goes Classical
I tuned in and it started playing Carl Nielsen's Symphony #2 "The Four Temperaments", which, I have to admit, is quite humorous.
...sorry, couldn't resist that one.
Edited on April 1, 2012 at 10:42pmMar '11
Re: April Fools Goes Classical
Percival: I was anticipating a concert of the works of P. D. Q. Bach on the occasion of his 270th birthday yesterday, but unfortunately, KUSC has failed to mark this historic milestone.
Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to fire up my copy of The Wurst of P.D.Q. Bach. · 5 minutes ago
Ah yes. The Concerto for Horn and Hardart was always a favorite. I saw a Schickele performance at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) in 1968. The boy critic for the university paper savaged it. That was when I first started hating progressives. "Running nose, run running nose. . ."
Aug '11
Re: April Fools Goes Classical
Basil Fawlty
I saw a Schickele performance at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) in 1968. The boy critic for the university paper savaged it. That was when I first started hating progressives. "Running nose, run running nose. . ."
Ah yes! "Iphigenia in Brooklyn!" Brilliant stuff! As is the "1712 Overture," thanks to which I can no longer hum the 1812, without slipping into Pop Goes the Weasel.
Mar '11
Re: April Fools Goes Classical
Peter Schickele has long been my favorite musician to see play live. I'm a little bummed that he may have retired from touring.
Incidentally, if you can get your hands on any recordings of his radio program Schickele Mix, they are a blast.
Edited on April 1, 2012 at 11:34pmRe: April Fools Goes Classical
Schickele, I note with pride, has a long-standing Fargo connection. I interviewed him once, and noted that I'd seen the name "Peter Schickele" in the credits for a pageant held to commemorate one of Fargo's birthdays - was it him? It was. He references the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra in the play-by-play of Beethoven's Fifth (and if you're curious, the "New York Mills Philharmonic" is a reference to a small town to the east of Detroit Lakes, where everyone in Fargo goes on a sunny summer day.) There's a Hoople as well, but it's not the home of the University of Southern North Dakota.
The Schleptet may be the most brilliant piece of Baroque parody ever, and while that's not an overstuffed genre, you can't top it.
Mar '11
Re: April Fools Goes Classical
I realize this may be a well-plowed furrow out West, but I'm an East Coast guy. Is there really a radio station with the call letters KUSC?
Jan '11
Re: April Fools Goes Classical
Surely Mozart's Ein musikalischer Spass would be played no? Interesting composition teacher of Schickele - Sigvald Thompson. Very ND/Minnesotan name