Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Spring Orgy® Period 2018

It's Spring Orgy® Period on WHRB. https://www.whrb.org/archive/2018-spring-orgy-season

The station's website gives this explanation of Orgy Periods:

What is a WHRB Orgy®?

Legend has it that the WHRB Orgy® tradition began over sixty-five years ago, in the Spring of 1943. At that time, it is said that one Harvard student, then a staff member of WHRB, returned to the station after a particularly difficult exam and played all of Beethoven's nine symphonies consecutively to celebrate the end of a long, hard term of studying. The idea caught on, and soon the orgy concept was expanded to include live jazz, rock, hip-hop, blues, and even sports Orgies.
The Orgy® tradition lives on even today at WHRB. During the Reading and Exam Periods of Harvard College, WHRB presents marathon-style musical programs devoted to a single composer, performer, genre, or subject. The New York Times calls them 
“idealistic and interesting,” 
adding, 
“the WHRB Orgies represent a triumph of musical research, imagination, and passion.”

It is evolving slightly through the years. At one time, an orgy would go around the clock. The Bach Orgy® of a couple of decades took a couple of weeks, as I recall. More recently, they've gone to doing the classical orgies during daytime hours, and jazz and rock at night and morning, similar to the ordinary daytime routine. I note in the schedule at the above link, that now some classical orgies run in tandem, with Rossini and Bernstein sharing May 8, 9, and 10.

Apparently, the full Program Guide isn't available yet, but you can see the schedule through May 12 at the above link. Right now, the Warhorse Orgy is in progress (until 10:00 p.m.). In coming days, we'll get Grieg, Rossini, and Bernstein. Tomorrow and Thursday afternoons and evenings there's also an Overshadowed Orgy, which may well be about classical music or musicians.

It all makes for enjoyable and informative listening as they explore the output of a particular composer, performer, or category of music. Although the available listings only go through the 12th, the Spring Orgy Period® usually extends until Harvard's Commencement in late May, so stay tuned.

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