Tallis = amazing

I just finished some programming at the radio station I volunteer for. No, not computer programming...music programming! I had fun trying to use their database of music (over 62,000 cds) to fill an afternoon time slot with music. It was fun, and I'm definitely going to have to familiarize myself with more classical pieces of music if I want to get better at this. Gee...that's just too bad. ;)

Anyway, at one point I was looking for a short piece from the modern music genre. So I decided to search for a piece that is pi minutes long...well, pi to two decimal places. When I did that, I found a solo piano piece called "The Pig Town Fling." And...it's composed by a guy named Ernst BACON! Highly amused, I popped in the cd and listened to the piece, and it was very cute and will make a great addition to the classical hour. :)

I was going to leave the radio station a little awhile ago, but I wanted to talk music while I was thinking about it. Oh, and I guess that I don't want to leave the station right this second because I'm waiting 'till the end of a beautiful Thomas Tallis piece (Spem in Alium - written for eight 5-part choirs!!).

So what do I usually do at this radio station? I write commentaries for the announcers. These commentaries are meant to introduce a piece of music or a composer. Here's an example of one that I wrote earlier this year. I love having a chance to actually like learning about history. :)

Tarantella for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano (by Camille Saint-Saens)

What can you do to ward off the ill effects of a tarantula’s bite? Well, many people in the Middle Ages believed that you could thwart the hallucinogenic effects of the spider’s poison by frantic dancing. This belief eventually formed the basis for the tarantella, a dance in which couples whirl and twirl and change directions as the music, typically in 6/8 time, becomes faster and faster. We’ll listen today to the Tarantella for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano by the famous French composer Camille Saint-Saens. As you listen, imagine an amused tarantula watching its victims from a distance.