Artsedge: The Kitchen Sink

People write songs about a lot of things, mostly things that mean a lot to us. We write songs about desire, songs about loneliness, about heartbreak, love, and for some reason, we also write lots and lots of songs about cars.

Today if you want to talk about a tragedy, there are plenty of ways to do it. But in the past, one way people would pass along news was through songs.

Over the years, they’ve been some of the most popular songs in the country. They are TV Theme songs, something as old as TV.

The Baylor University’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project has a massive collection of phonograph records made by African Americans in the '40s, '50s and '60s. The curator, Dr. Robert Darden, found that on the flip side of many of these 45 RPM records, there are Civil Rights songs that no one has ever heard.

The lynching of black men in the American South was an all-too-familiar occurrence in the 1930s, even though it rarely made news. So when Billie Holiday had a hit record with the song Strange Fruit, it brought attention to this important issue in unusual ways.

On Sunday, April 9th, 1939, a huge, mixed race crowd gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to witness an extraordinary event. At a time when African-Americans were not allowed vote, go to school or use the same toilet as white people, black contralto Marian Anderson stood in front of 75,000 people and sang classical music – a sign of Civil Rights victories to come.

Students review all four of the musical extremes featured on this CD through John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever March.

Students learn that composers use musical dynamics or extremes in volume to create music. By listening to Gustav Mahler’s Symphonies No. 2 and No. 5, students also experience the role extreme dynamics plays in expressing big emotions and ideas.

Students will learn about the third extreme composers consider—size—referring to both an instrument’s size and that of an orchestra. Students will also be introduced to the four families or sections of an orchestra. Students focus on Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony.

Students are introduced to two pairs of musical extremes that a composer chooses from his toolbox to create music—tempo and pitch—through the music of Aram Khachaturian’s wild "Sabre Dance."

Students are introduced to the concept of musical extremes and opposites, and how a composer uses these special tools to make their music sound dramatic and powerful. Specifically, students will learn about tempo, pitch, size, and musical dynamics.

In this episode, narrator Susan Stamberg connects Jazz and Hip Hop through the lens of Blue Note Records.

In this episode, narrator Susan Stamberg talks about finding jazz in the oddest places.

This episode, narrated by Susan Stamberg, takes us from Big Band to the birth of Bebop and beyond.

The Navy was once the most integrated of the US military services. There was a time when African-Americans could serve in the Navy and nowhere else. But over time, when society changed, the Navy became the branch of service where racism and discrimination were most deeply engrained. Each time that the Navy moved to change its racial discrimination, it turned to musicians to be the pioneers. African-American musicians have stood by their fellow Sailors in the cause of freedom and liberty around the world. These Sailors not only served their country, but also fought for social justice. This podcast explores their story, a rich narrative of the spirit of our nation’s complex history.

Students are introduced to musical scoring for films—music specifically composed to assist storytelling, underscore emotions, and stir ideas. Students are introduced to composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold and his music for the movie The Sea Hawk.

Students learn composers often write music to inspire listeners to think or meditate. They are introduced to different types of listening through Jules Massenet’s Meditation for the opera Thaïs.

Students learn that composers sometimes use music to “paint” or depict the action, characters, and setting of a story by listening to Mikhail Glinka’s opera, Ruslan and Ludmila. Students also experience how the music inspires creativity when designing their settings and costumes.

Students learn about the history of the violin, its distinct role in the orchestra, and its ability to resemble human “singing.” Students will also be introduced to “pizzicato,” the quick, light rhythmic technique created by plucking the strings. Students listen to Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

Students learn about the composer’s selection of the right “voice” or instrumentation from the four sections of the orchestra: string, woodwind, brass, and percussion. Students are introduced to music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Leonard Bernstein.