Bill articulates how music propels dramatic action and sustains poignant moments in performing arts. “Incidental music” may be a misnomer. It started with Greek dramas but, as Bill explains, music often plays a pivotal if not starring role. Example: in the opening scene of the play Moderen (The Mother) by Helge Rode, Nielsen’s two-minute “The Fog is Lifting” drives the tableau of a mother leaving her son. Works by Fauré, Mendelssohn, Debussy, and others are equally compelling.
Incidentally Speaking
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Playlist
Episode 1
Strauss, Richard: The Fencing Master fr. Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (excerpt)
CSO/Reiner
Symphonia Domestica / Suite From Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
RCA 68637
1:19
Mozart, Wolfgang: Thamos, König in Ägypten, K. 345 (excerpts)
Sinfonia Varsovia/Krivine
EMMANUEL KRIVINE W.A.MOZART OVERTURES
Denon 75372
16:55
Sibelius, Jean: Pelléas et Mélisande, Op. 46
Berlin Philharmonic/Karajan
Peer Gynt Suites 1 & 2 / Pelléas Et Mélisande
DG 410 026
31:24
Nielsen, Carl: “The Fog is Lifting”
James Galway, flute; Sioned Williams, harp
Symphony No 1 & No 4 “Inextinguishable”
RCA 21296
2:10
Episode 2
Fauré, Gabriel: Pelleás et Mélisande Suite
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Marriner
Pavane – Pelléas Et Mélisande – Masques Et Bergamasques Suite – Fantaisie
Argo 410552
16:57
Mendelssohn, Felix: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61: Overture & Incidental Music
BSO & Tanglewood Festival Chorus/Ozawa; Kathleen Battle, soprano; Frederica von Stade, mezzo soprano; Judi Dench, narrator
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
DG 439 897
11:52
Mendelssohn, Felix: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61: Overture & Incidental Music
BSO & Tanglewood Festival Chorus/Ozawa; Kathleen Battle, soprano; Frederica von Stade, mezzo soprano; Judi Dench, narrator
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
DG 439 897
21:03
Episode 3
Purcell, Henry: Music from The Gordian Knot Unty’d, Z. 597
La Stravaganza Köln
18th Century English Theatre Music
Denon 81757 9250 2
12:40
Sullivan, Arthur: Macbeth (excerpts)
Dublin RTE Concert Orchestra & Ireland National Chamber Choir/Penny
SULLIVAN, A.: Incidental Music – Macbeth / King Arthur / The Merry Wives
Marco Polo 8.223635
15:25
Elgar, Edvard: The Starlight Express, Op. 78 (excerpts)
LPO/Handley; Masterson, soprano; Hammon-Stroud, baritone
Elgar: The Starlight Express; Delius: Hassan
EMI 69891
23:10
Episode 4
Anonyme: Exploring Music
Hesperion XXI/Savall
Folias & Canarios
Naïve – ES 99
1:07
Beethoven, Ludwig von: Egmont Overture
Orchestra of St. Luke’s/Davies; Mechthild Gessendorf, soprano
Complete Incidental Music for Egmont & The Ruins of Athens
EMI 49927
7:29
Beethoven, Ludwig von: Overture & Incidental Music to Egmont
Orchestra of St. Luke’s/Davies; Mechthild Gessendorf, soprano
Complete Incidental Music for Egmont & The Ruins of Athens
EMI 49927
13:15
Debussy, Claude: Le martyre de Saint Sébastien (excerpts)
New York Phil. & Choral Arts Society of New York/Bernstein; Weaver, Montealegre, Addison, Babikian, Kleinman & Simon, soloists
Debussy: The Martyrdom Of Saint Sebastian / Leonard Bernstein /
New York Philharmonic (First Recording In English)
Sony 60596
26:01
Episode 5
Lully, Jean-Baptiste: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (excerpts)
Le Concert des Nations/Savall
Lully: L’Orchestre du Roi Soleil
Alia Vox 9807
0:46
De La Halle, Adam: Robin m’aime
Les Ménestriers Picards
Robin & Marion, Chantres De Picardie
Calliope 9512
1:48
Lully, Jean-Baptiste: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (excerpts)
Le Concert des Nations/Savall
Lully: L’Orchestre du Roi Soleil
Alia Vox 9807
8:14
Strauss, Richard: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Op. 60 (excerpts)
CSO/Reiner
Symphonia Domestica / Suite From Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
RCA 68637
0:23
Strauss, Richard: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Op. 60 (excerpts)
CSO/Reiner
Symphonia Domestica / Suite From Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
RCA 68637
20:35
Gianono, Joe: Small Craft Warnings
Gianono, Joe: Ethereal Trumpet fr. A Very Slippery Slope
Glenn Drewes, trumpet
Grieg, Edvard: Peer Gynt, Op. 23 (excerpts)
Oslo Philharmonic/Salonen; Hendricks, soprano
Peer Gynt Excerpts From The Incidental Music
CBS 44528
10:17
Grieg, Edvard: Peer Gynt, Op. 23 (excerpts) Barbara Hendricks
Oslo Philharmonic/Salonen; Hendricks, soprano
Peer Gynt Excerpts From The Incidental Music
CBS 44528
1:21
Grieg, Edvard: Peer Gynt, Op. 23 (excerpts)
Oslo Philharmonic/Salonen; Hendricks, soprano
Peer Gynt Excerpts From The Incidental Music
CBS 44528
0:48