Welcome to Shift, where Tom Allen takes you on a daily musical journey from the stalwarts of Classical music to the cutting edge of Contemporary tunes. Join us here on CBC music for a round-up of the stories of the day, some videos of music (or maybe just videos interesting to music fans) and a place to speak your voice.
Tuesday October 23rd
The composer Luciano Berio married a great singer, and even wrote a piece just for her. He also took the time to write very specific lyrics about the nature of a good wife. His ideas, needless to say, are a bit dated. The four defining features of a good wife in the lyrics (loosely translated) are: 1) A good family 2) good manners 3) a good figure 4) a good dowry. Even after singing those lyrics, his wife stayed with him for years to come.
(our on-air broadcast featured this song being sung by Jean Stilwell, backed by the Canadian Chamber Ensemble)
We'll be playing a tarantella today. A tarantella is a dance. But not just any dance. Historically, it was the dance you did in order to heal some spider bites. Tarantulas, you see, could cause you to shake with their venom. The only solution is to dance. The dance is frenzied, in order to get out the venom appropriately. That dance came from the city of Taranto, in Italy. We're broadcasting out of Toronto today. But what would our dance look like? Arms simulating the flattening of concrete? Bumping into each other like we do while riding the TTC? We need more dance moves.
Imagine enough solar panels to power all of our needs. Where could we fit them all? On mall rooftops? Think lower. An American engineer is experimenting with roads that absorb energy from the sun. Apparently there are enough roadways in the 'States today to power the entire country by this method. Is it wishful thinking, or the future? The weird part is that all of the technology already exists today.
When someone says "Have a seat." What they're really saying "Let's shrink your brain." Just keep walking. That simple walking is what keeps your mind sharp.
You can contact us at SHIFT with your ideas, questions, or anything else by sending us a message on our Facebook page. Through email, you can reach show producers Alison Howard ( alison.howard@cbc.ca ) or Alex Redekop ( alex.redekop@cbc.ca ).