William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

Year: 1911; Genre: Pop In the year 1911, which is also today's song pick number, Irving Berlin published Alexander's Ragtime Band , a song that would not only become one of the more popular songs in American musical history, but also launched his career as one of the most popular songwriters of all time. The song's popularity was a surprise even to it's writer; from what I've read it would gain a resurgence every time an artist recorded it; overall it stayed in the charts for an amazing five decades. I remember a few years ago when I was doing some personal research on some of the older music I was surprised at how many immensely popular hit songs Irving Berlin wrote, most of which are still heard today; a century later. Hear an instrumental version of the song on YouTube. Countless versions of the song can be found here on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Queensrÿche - Della Brown My song pick two years ago today: Van Halen - Unchained ...

BB 52 ; Year: 1909-1910; Genre: Romantic Period/classical I have been meaning to add one of Béla Bartók's compositions to my blog for a long time now and have finally gotten around to it. This beautiful piece of music made its premier in 1910, which is also the number of today's pick. I absolutely love all of the layers and counter punctuation he uses throughout this entire piece; it's truly a work of art. Here is the first movement: Lento on YouTube. Here is the second movement: Poco a poco accelerando all'allegretto on YouTube. Here is the third movement: Allegro Vivace on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Victor Wooten - Us 2 My song pick two years ago today: The Sons of the Pioneers - Cool Water My song pick three years ago today: Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the Sky My song pick four years ago today: Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) - Here is the News My song pick five years ago today: Faith No More - From Out of Nowhere

1464 Maurice Ravel - M.19 - Pavane for a Dead Princess M.19, Years: 1899, 1910 Genre: Romantic Period, classical I still feel like picking another classical piece, so I guess I'll make at least one more classical pick in a row. To say this piece is beautiful and evoking is an understatement of great magnitude; this is a piece that you could easily get lost in. This one was originally composed in 1899 for the piano, but was re-composed and published again in 1910 for orchestral arrangement. Here is a recording of the orchestral version on YouTube. Here is the piece played on piano by Elena Kuschnerova on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Black Label Society - Stillborn My song pick two years ago today: Lynyrd Skynyrd - I Never Dreamed My song pick three years ago today: Duran Duran - New Moon On Monday +

1220 Mykola Leontovych - Shchedryk (The Carol of the Bells) With it being the week of Christmas and all, I figured I should pick a seasonal piece. In actuality The Carol of the Bells , which is considered a Christmas tune, was originally an ancient Ukrainian folk chant that was used to herald in the New Year; in the early 1900's Mykola Leontovych arranged Shchedryk around that chant as the song we know today. The title: Shchedryk supposedly means "Bountiful" in Ukrainian and is about a swallow flying into a family's house and singing a song of wealth to come with the Spring. Apparently the original chant was performed sometime around April; later the celebration was moved near the New Year and was used for The Feast of Epiphany. The song was later used with new lyrics penned by Peter Wilhousky as the piece: The Carol of the Bells . Hear Shchedryk conducted by Myron Maksymiw on YouTube. Watch the Claymation Christmas' Carol of the Bells on YouTube. T...

945 ( Igor Stravinsky - Rite of Spring - Sacrificial Dance ) For day two of my theme week of music contained on The Voyager Spacecraft's " The Sounds of Earth " Golden Record I decided on this rather raucous classical piece. I have almost chosen this one on quite a few occasions in the past, but never got around to it. This was written as a ballet with theme being centered around a supposed Pagan ritual where a young girl dances herself to death. It is one of the few classical pieces which caused a riot; it happend upon its premier in 1913 Paris. However some have argued that it was not the music which caused it and there were other factors at work. Most today would probably remember this piece from Disney's Fantasia; it was the fourth piece to be featured. Here is a recording of the Sacrificial Dance section on YouTube. Here is the piece from Disney's Fantasia: Part 1 , Part2 , and Part 3 . My song pick a year ago today: KISS - Detroit Rock City ...

905 ( Manuel de Falla - Danza Del Terror (Dance of Terror) ) I cannot count the amount of times I have heard this piece outside of the greater operatic piece " El Amor Brujo ." If you have seen old cartoons from the 1920s through the 1940s you probably have heard this song playing at some point. Anyway, this is an amazing piece of anxious music that has somewhat of a "diabolical" feel to it. Here is a recording on YouTube. Here is another recording with the " Danza ritual del fuego (Ritual Fire Dance) " section as well on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Dire Straits - Lady Writer My song pick two years ago today: Rammstein - Zerstören +