Commonwealth Speakers:Music
Commonwealth Speaker Harrison Ridley amidst his enormous collection of jazz records.
The Musical Empire of Duke Ellington
Jazz scholar Harrison Ridley, Jr. takes an historical approach to Duke Ellington's music. Participants will listen to selected recordings and discuss Ellington's work as expressed through his big band arrangements, piano style and compositions. Ridley will explain how Ellington's remarkable achievements earned him his reputation as not just a great jazz musician, but also a great American composer. Requirements: Screen and overhead projector, CD and cassette players, TV/VCR, DVD player, display table, chalkboard. Microphone preferred.
Harrison Ridley, Jr., Lecturer, Temple University, WRTI Radio Host, "The Historical Approach to the Positive Music," Philadelphia
Evolution of the Blues
Dressed in African-style garb, Joe Becton sings and plays traditional instruments (guitar and harmonica) as he takes participants on a walk through American history and music from Frank Johnson to John Coltrane. He traces the styles of music developed by Africans in America and the collision of cultures that created the music we call gospel, jazz and blues. Requirements: Table and chair.
Joseph Becton, Interpreter and Musician, Philadelphia
Writing a Blues Song
Musician Bradley Litwin demonstrates and discusses the essential elements of composing the blues. Writing exercises will be done by participants to learn the basic structure of the blues, and when finished, Litwin will perform lyrical verses provided by the audience. Participants have the opportunity to explore the history of this American art form by trying it out themselves. Microphone preferred.
Bradley N. Litwin, Musician, Philadelphia
The Music of World War II
World War II generated a wealth of enduring popular music: separation songs, reunion songs, patriotic songs, and even comic songs. In a PowerPoint presentation that features music, rare photographs, and vintage sheet music, Phillip Atteberry discusses the musical themes and styles that both defined and reflected the era. Come listen to Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters, Kate Smith, and many others. Screen preferred.
Phillip Atteberry, Ph.D., Director of Humanities Division, University of Pittsburgh, Titusville
Musical Anecdotes
Charles Pettaway will perform well-known compositions, featuring work by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, Debussy, Mozart and Beethoven, and he will share the often-humorous stories behind the music. Participants may be amused to discover that Brahms notoriously fell asleep while Liszt played, or that Beethoven loved a "bread soup" made with ten raw eggs. Screen preferred.
Charles Pettaway, Concert Pianist and Associate Professor of Music, Lincoln University
Music of the African Diaspora: The Origins of American Popular Music and Jazz
Drawing upon his work with renowned ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, Victor Grauer will trace the history of modern popular music (country, soul, rock, rap, etc.) and jazz back through their roots in gospel and the blues, work and slave songs, and ultimately African tribal music. Video and audio recordings will help participants explore the connections between songs of today and their African origins. Requirements: TV and VCR, CD and cassette player. Microphone, chalkboard and chalk preferred.
Victor A. Grauer, Ph.D., Multimedia Artist, Musicologist and Composer, Pittsburgh
Music in 18th Century Pennsylvania
18th Century Pennsylvania was a haven for diverse religions, races and ethnic groups, and one of the results was an amazing variety of music. Lenape, Moravian, Ephrata Cloister, Mennonite, Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, popular balladic and black music all coexisted. Paul Larson will provide live and recorded examples of the music of this era, including Lenape singing and flute pieces, original Moravian manuscripts, and notated music from Ephrata and the Lutheran shapenote hymnals, giving participants the opportunity to explore Pennsylvania's unique musical history. Requirements: CD/cassette player, display table. Microphone preferred.
Paul Larson, D.M.A., Emeritus Professor of Music, Moravian College, Bethlehem
Bagpipes - An Historical Perspective
Bagpipes, like string instruments, come in a variety of forms. Musician and professor Paul Fehrenbach discusses the evolution of the bagpipes, and performs in full Scottish regalia on the Medieval bagpipes, smallpipes and the Irish Uilleann bagpipes. Audiences will hear the breadth of bagpipe music and gain insight into the history of the instrument. Requirements: Display table.
Paul G. Fehrenbach, Ph.D., Senior Instructor of Music and Integrated Arts, Pennsylvania State University, DuBois
The Music of Irving Berlin
Jerome Kern once said, "Irving Berlin has no place in American music - Irving Berlin is American music." With songs like "Easter Parade," "White Christmas," "God Bless America" and thousands of others, Berlin captured the shifting tones and sentiments of 20th Century America. In a PowerPoint presentation that features music, rare photographs and vintage sheet music, Phillip Atteberry discusses Berlin's career and his importance to American cultural history. Come listen to Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, Ethel Merman and many others on a musical journey through the 20th Century. Screen preferred.
Phillip Atteberry, Ph.D., Director of Humanities Division, University of Pittsburgh, Titusville
Ragtime Jazz and Stride Blues
Guitarist and vocalist Bradley Litwin explores and demonstrates the origins and historical context of popular blues and jazz of the 1920s and 1930s, emphasizing some of the seminal recording artists of the era: Robert Johnson, Blind Blake, Bessie Smith, Fats Waller, and Cab Calloway. Audience participation is encouraged through call-and-response, shouts, hand-clapping and general carrying on. Microphone preferred.
Bradley N. Litwin, Musician, Philadelphia
The Meteor: The Rise and Fall of Mario Lanza
Some critics consider Mario Lanza's life a journey of tragic dimensions that only Shakespeare could have created. Moylan Mills charts the rise and fall of the young man from South Philadelphia who vowed to become the greatest opera star who ever lived. Seduced into Hollywood, he became an international screen sensation in such films as The Great Caruso and That Midnight Kiss. Although he enjoyed fanatic fan adulation, Lanza burned out, and bitterly disappointed with the direction of his career, he died of a heart attack at the early age of thirty-eight. Video excerpts will accompany this discussion of the young tenor whom Arturo Toscanini called "the greatest voice of the century." Requirements: TV/VCR, and DVD player.
Moylan C. Mills, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Integrative Arts, Pennsylvania State University, Abington
A Slice of America's Classical Music: Three Vignettes
Charles Pettaway presents three distinct facets of American music as he discusses and plays piano compositions by Louis Moreau Gottschalk, George Gershwin and Samuel Barber. Gottschalk was the first internationally-known American pianist, whose music reflects the American South prior to the Civil War. Gershwin was fascinated with Tin Pan Alley - the popular music industry springing to life in early 20th Century New York City - and is best known for his Broadway musicals. Barber, a 20th Century native of West Chester, is probably best remembered for his well-loved composition Adagio for Strings, which provided the background for Platoon and other movies. Requirements: Piano and microphone.
Charles Pettaway, Concert Pianist and Associate Professor of Music, Lincoln University
Philly Jazz
The jazz culture of Philadelphia is often overlooked and neglected in music history. Through narratives from veteran jazz musicians and photographs from the collections of the African American Museum in Philadelphia and Temple University, Diane Turner will reveal Philadelphia's rich and rarely documented jazz history. Requirements: Screen, LCD projector, CD/cassette player.
Diane D. Turner, Ph.D., Independent Curator