How To Make Classical Music Fun

You can have fun with any musical genre you're familiar with -- even classical music. It's just a matter of knowing enough to spot the humorous possibilities inherent in the form (which are often different than those outsiders choose to spoof). Here's a good example.

Robert Conrad, president of WCLV, recently posted this story on a public radio listserv (and kindly granted me permission to quote from his email and share the tale with you).

Back in the middle 70s, Matthias Bamert and Kenneth Jean were on the conducting staff of the Cleveland Orchestra. They and yours truly produced a number of comedy bits for use on a Cleveland Orchestra fund raising recording and on "WCLV Saturday Night."

They included a spoof of a record company commercial called "Arnie Schoeberg's Second Viennese School Commercial." I have played in on the air a number of times over the years. Then last year someone sent it to Alex Ross, the music critic for the New Yorker. He put it up on his blog, and it made its way around the Internet. Some people even sent it to me, not realizing I was the voice.

Anyway, someone in Germany has gone to the trouble of making video of the bit, a pretty good one at that.

It's my 4:20 of anonymous YouTube fame.

Well, it's better than 4:33 of silence I think!

- Ralph

Day 66 of the WJMA Web Watch.