[Dixielandjazz] Fwd: Kovacs - some OKOM some not

[John McClernan]

Begin forwarded message:

> Find out about Regional Music Service
> or Myrtle Beach Rentals at
> www.theroselles.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MaestroDJS at aol.com [mailto:MaestroDJS at aol.com]
> Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 10:17 AM
> To: undisclosed-recipients:
> Subject: Re: Name That Tune: Not Haydn
>
> Jon Kruger wrote. "I don’t know the composer but anything Ernie  
> Kovacs did was OK with me."
>
> Agreed.  Ernie Kovacs (1919-1962) was a pioneer in television  
> comedy and video effects.  Music was also a vital part of his  
> programs.  His main theme was an arrangement of "Rialto Ripples",  
> an early piano rag by George Gershwin.  "Die Morität von Mackie  
> Messer" (the original German version of "Mack the Knife" by Kurt  
> Weill) frequently underscored his mimed sketches and blackouts.   
> Kovacs also incorporated classical music into his shows, usually as  
> background for abstract visual images and surrealistic montages.  
> These included excerpts from "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks" by  
> Richard Strauss, "Concerto for Orchestra" by Béla Bartók,  
> "Firebird" by Igor Stravinsky and "The Love for Three Oranges" by  
> Serge Prokofiev.  Kovacs also presented an all-gorilla version of  
> Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" and a poker game set to Beethoven's Fifth  
> Symphony. One classical piece often associated with Kovacs is  
> Haydn's (actually Hofstetters's) "Serenade" from String Quartet,  
> Op. 3, No. 5 in his Dutch Masters cigar commercials.
>

>
> Kovacs' widow Edie Adams explained, "I made it my job to introduce  
> him to more adventurous music.  I liked really weird, dissonant  
> music, but couldn't get Ernie into any of the good, clever, 20th- 
> century stuff.  So, I started with Hungarian composers...like  
> Bartók did some marvelous things with folk tunes.  Being Hungarian,  
> Ernie recognized these from his childhood.  After that, he adored  
> any Hungarian composer.  It opened a door, and I created a monster."
>
> Here is a priceless example of Kovacs's over-the-top approach to  
> his programs, which were quite innovative for early television and  
> the then-new format of videotape.  As the wacky arrangement of  
> "Rialto Ripples" plays, the credits are interspersed with remarks  
> such as "Tristan und Isolde is okay, Bob, but I’m not giving up my  
> banjo lessons for anything."  The music for this program is  
> credited to "Ricky" Strauss, "Hank" Haydn, and "Bubbles" Bartók.
>
> Closing Credits to Ernie Kovacs show
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTgJTRoJj24
>
> Trivia: The American harpist and composer Robert Maxwell  
> (1921-    ) wrote songs such as "Ebb Tide" and "Shangri-La".  He  
> also appeared as harp soloist with several American orchestras,  
> under conductors such as Arturo Toscanini and Serge Koussevitzky.   
> Maxwell's song "Solfeggio" (the lyrics are the musical syllables  
> "do re mi" etc.) found such unexpected fame as the music for Ernie  
> Kovacs' derby-hatted apes that it became better known simply as  
> "The Song of the Nairobi Trio".
>
> Ernie Kovacs: The Nairobi Trio
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Uw03hS_EMY
>
> Dave