Classicfm, Tallis, and Williams

www.classicfm.com/

That’s the website.

I found them via WMP9 radio tuner.

Last week I was just bored with my regular playlists and wanting some good classical radio. On my computer, of course. I had one nit picky item in choosing: I had to find it fairly fast, and it had to have a PLAY button in WMP9 interface, or I didn’t want to tune in. If it met those criteria, and it was a good station, then it’d be my regular.

I click, click, clicked and found nothing right off, all the stations I chose to look at you had to “go to website to play”. Why was I so picky? Just “another” utility window opened and blah, blah, didn’t want to install any extra player mode thingies like some of them want to and all that.

Keep it simple. My motto for that task.

I then found classicfm, as that it had a “play” button, clicked it and VOILA! It played and I love their web interface of info I can see what’s just played, or look at what’s in the schedule … and it’s a UK station, the commercials are fun, they are NOT American, but in a language I love to hear, I can understand English, the UK variety is nice. I’m in an England mode anyhow, I didn’t go looking for a London station though, just stumbled onto it. Well, we’ve been enjoying the different pieces played. The news is well done, a brief pause between stories and a change in tone for each story, THAT I don’t hear on American radio stations [everything blurred intogetherlikeabiggiantmass 😉 ]

So then yesterday, Sunday dinner, Frank had his computer in the dining room watching a baseball game right before, turning it off when we started to eat. So I then jumped up, running to the desktop computer to turn on classicfm, I’m trying to get into the habit of having good music playing for dinnertime.

It was playing, so I sat down. The song finished, and a new one began, we all paused — and my mind was racing with pictures of Master and Commander [the movie from 2003] and then the two eldest children said together, “Is that Master and Commander?”

So now I’m on rousing dig for info:

Thomas Tallis – 1567 Third Mode Melody
Vaughan Williams – 1910 Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

and myriads of rabbit trails …

16th century life
16th century images
16th century church music
16th century monarchs in England
16th century composers
16th century … sigh.

I do suppose I’ll create a post with all the links I have full of goodies about this. Just not yet. I’m not quite done.

Lastly then, the Vaughan Williams piece, it’s a beauty that I may have heard before Master and Commander, but I don’t have recall. I do have recall heavily with M&C though. It’s the piece playing when W. is lost at sea to save the ship and the ensuing emotional scenes of loss to the crew. Oh, it’s heart wrenching imagery to go with superbly wrought music. Lush is a word I heard the radio announcer utter afterwards, but that’s a shadowy description, to me.

I have recorder sheet music for[based on] the original Third Mode Melody … and various other items surrounding the Tallis creation, one of nine for a psalter … well, that’s not much info, but as much as I’ll post right now.

So all I wanted was a good classical music radio station to tune into on my computer … and have ended up in a rapid learning mode, as usual for me! 🙂