Classically Cool

Classically Cool Promo

Thanks so much for all of your requests for Classically Cool, our three-day stand at holding off the excessive heat by playing your Cool requests—and some by our own hosts too!

Here’s how it all went down from July 25th through the 27th. We started with Wednesday’s host choices and turned to your requests Thursday and Friday.

WEDNESDAY: KBACH Host Choices!

7AM                Delius: Musical Sleighride

Janine Miller, who hosts weekday evenings, says…

I've lived in cold places before, including England, Chicago and the northeastern U.S., enough to know that I really don't like dealing with snow!  However, when we moved to Phoenix, sometimes the kids felt like they absolutely had to build a snowman.  So, we would frantically search for the winter clothes and hop in the car for the quick drive to Flagstaff.  After joining all of the other Phoenix families  on the side of the freeway who were building snowmen, we'd hop in the car, turn on the seat-warmers, and drive back home, grateful to leave all of that snow behind!

7:06                 Saint-Saens: Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals

Duart Martin, who hosts KBACH Sunday evenings and weekend overnights, says of her CC choice…
Rhythm and instrumentation make it sound like schools of fish swishing back and forth, with bubbles rising to the surface.

8AM                Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture

Linda Cassidy, your host for the KBACH Most Wanted Hour each weekday, says…
It just sounds like a cold, wet, rough ocean ride. I wouldn't want to be on one...but the musical soundtrack is very refreshing right now.

9AM                Smetana: The Moldau

Jon Town, KBACH’s Homeward Bound host weekday afternoons, says of his choice…
When it's blazing hot here and I play Smetana's 'The Moldau' it brings back memories of when I was working at a radio station in Dallas. The air staff, sales staff and whoever else could make it all had a party including lots of barbecue and inner tubes down a tree shaded creek. Great fun and a cool thoughts.

10AM              Cherubini: Eliza Ov.

Jon Town, who brings you the Homeward Bound Hour, says…
This one cools me off, at least in spirit. I just got a text with picture from two great friends who are in Switzerland for 5 weeks! The picture was from taken from their apartment balcony from the small town they are in, all green forest and the Alps. Classically Cool for sure.

 

10:08               Schumann: Fantasy Pieces: Whims

Brian Smith, KBACH’s Program Director who also hosts weekend afternoons, says…
It’s light and airy piano music that keeps me cool when it’s hot out there. And when musical humor is added, as with this piece… all the cooler!

11AM              Debussy: La Mer

Janine Miller, who hosts weekday evenings, says…
Maybe it's because I'm California girl, but I've always loved the ocean!  There's something that continues to draw me to it.  The waves are both exciting and calming at the same time, and the ocean itself is like another planet that we still know very little about!  My favorite vacations involve sailing on the ocean to new places on cruise ships.

NOON             Vivaldi: Four Seasons: Winter

Randy Kinkel, a voice you hear on weekends, including the Mozart Buffet, Sundays at Noon, quotes the composer’s own words for his Classically Cool choice…
"We feel the chill north winds course through the home despite the locked and bolted doors... this is winter, which none-the-less brings its own delights."  -- Vivaldi's sonnet for "winter"

1PM                 Liszt: Les jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este

Joe Goetz, KBACH’s overnight voice on weekdays, has this to say about his selection…
Because when it’s hot out and you need a quick dousing, it’s better to jump in the fresh fountains at the Este Villa than jump in the yucky, mucky canals of Venice.

1:11                 Chabrier: Scherzo Waltz

Sterling Beeaff, the KBACH voice who starts your weekdays and brings you Heart of the Arts interviews, says…

This is like a breath of fresh, cool air full of the kind of optimism that can be in short supply as summer goes too slowly along. No tumbleweeds or dust devils with this happy piece!

2PM                 Debussy: En bateau from Petite Suite

Duart Martin, who hosts Sunday evenings and weekend overnights on KBACH, says this of her cool choice…
Gentle rocking of a row-boat or sailboat gliding slowly along,  with a slight breeze picking up on the waves - nothing strenuous on a hot day

2:05                 Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Faerie

Linda Cassidy, your host for the Most Wanted Hour each weekday, says…
This puts me in a December state of mind which tricks me in to thinking I'm actually chilly. Delightful in July.

3PM                 Schubert: Trout Quintet

Randy Kinkel, a KBACH weekend host, including the Mozart Buffet at Noon on Sundays, says…
This
reminds me of sitting in the cool shade along a riverbank, fishing for that elusive trout that's hiding under a submerged log.

4PM                 Prokofiev: Piano Concerto #1

Sterling Beeaff, who starts your weekdays and brings you Heart of the Arts interviews, says this of his choice…
On those summer days when I look out the window and there's a light breeze it might cross my mind to venture out but after all these years living in the valley I know better and look for a piece of music instead  to keep me entertained and satisfied and, yes, cooler somehow! Prokofiev's first piano concerto is seriously "cool!"

5PM                 Roylance & Galvin: Grand Parade of Sail

Brian Smith, who hosts Saturday middays and Sunday afternoons, says,
I’d like to think I’d imagine billowing sails and strong cool sea winds even if hearing the work not knowing the title. Ah, but the work IS its title, composed for a grand regatta. It IS Classically Cool.

5:09                 Mozart: Sleighride

Randy Kinkel, a KBACH weekend host, including the Mozart Buffet at Noon on Sundays, says…
I have always associated this piece with the holiday season... it's a Sleigh ride!  In the Snow!

6PM                 Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue, 15:47

Linda Cassidy, your host for the Most Wanted Hour each weekday, says this of her choice…
Thanks to a successful ad campaign from years ago, this still reminds me of vacation which immediately brings to mind refreshingly cool thoughts; swimming, beverages with umbrellas, ocean breezes, etc. 


 

THURSDAY: Listener Choices!

7AM                         Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek - Donna Diana Overture 

Doug in Phoenix says,
When listening to [this piece], I see Sergeant Preston and Yukon King racing through the snow!

8AM                         Johann Sebastian Bach - Brandenburg Concerto #6   BWV 1051

Jon in Goodyear says,
[Bach’s] "command and control" of all his themes is just like a perfectly functioning air conditioner!

9AM                         Antonin Dvorak - Symphony #9 "From the New World" II Largo

Madeline in Chandler says,
Stay cool today and let the melodies take you to a peaceful place in your world.

10AM                     Ottorino Respighi - Pines of Rome 

Mary Ann in Scottsdale feels cooler imagining scenes from the Italian capitol.

11AM                      Gustav Holst - The Planets Venus, The Bringer of Peace

Larry in Tolleson says,
It is like a cool, gentle breeze on a void, empty plain. I love all of "The Planets," but this piece is beyond serene.

12PM                      Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending 

Nancy in Apache Junction just plain feels cooler when she hears this.

1PM                        Claude Debussy - Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Joseph in Phoenixsays,
Simply put: the “coolest” and most relaxing piece of music ever written.

2PM                         Maurice Ravel - Valses nobles et sentimentales

Dianne in Phoenix says,
Listening to this piece causes me to remember joyous days of my childhood, when I spent summer days on the banks of Oak Creek, wading in the cool water and picking wild blackberries to enjoy with home-made vanilla ice cream.

3PM                        Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov – Sadko: Song of India

Raquel in Avondale says,
I first heard The Song of India as a child in the Dorsey recording.  When I was in my teens, I discovered it again in its original form.  It always evokes a wide, sun spangled river over arched with branches that dapple the water with lazy shadows.

4PM                         Amilcare Ponchielli - La Gioconda Dance of the Hours 

Jeanne in Peoria says,
Why does this make the summer cooler? Well, the piece starts off with a very dainty dance bringing in the cool dawn hours, followed by a sedated and heart-felt slower portion, feeling the breezes of the night hours. As for the fast coda at the end... how can one not feel just a smidge cooler watching the hippos in Disney's Fantasia line dancing the can-can? :) Thank you to KBACH for making my summer cooler with fabulous classical music!  [And thank YOU, Jeanne!]

5PM                        Antonio Vivaldi - 4 Seasons Spring

Lori in Scottsdale says,
It's very soothing, as well as Summer, Fall, and Winter, but for some reason Spring really hits with "cool" notes.

6PM                        Ferde Grofe - Grand Canyon Suite / Thunderstorm 

Pat in El Paso, TX, says,
I like storms because they drop the temperature.

7PM                         Ola Gjeilo - Northern Lights

 Sandra in Scottsdale had no words for how beautiful this piece is and how cool it makes her.                           

8PM                        Frederic Chopin - Prelude Op 28/15 "Raindrop"

Sarah in Phoenix says,
This piece is refreshing because it reminds me of the wonderful Arizona monsoon season during the summertime and makes me wish for more rain!

9PM                        Sergei Prokofiev - Lieutenant Kije, Troika

Donald in Queen Creek   says,
Troika feels like cool, refreshing, wind-in-the-face sleigh ride.


FRIDAY: Listener Choices!

7AM                         Antonio Vivaldi - Guitar Concerto  II Largo

Walter in Phoenix says,
When I was a little boy, this piece made me cry when they played it on Sesame Street in the 1970's accompanied by a film showing a flower growing in a city. It seemed sad. After I grew up and fell in love, I was able to feel the romance and love in it. Now it's always cools me off if I'm bothered about something -- or if I've been out in the Valley heat and feel grumpy.  Also, my bride and I used it in our recent wedding!

8AM                         Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony #6, "Pastoral," I. Allegro

Bryan in Prescott didn’t say anything at all about this piece, and that’s just fine with us. Beethoven so beautifully sets a pastoral scene that one can’t help but be a part of it, and in the coolest way.

9AM                         Hector Berlioz - Damnation of Faust: Selections

Nancy in Phoenix says,
I heard an absolutely chilling piece from "Faust" about a week or two back. Could you ask the night shift vampires what they played for me? I sure felt like I woke up on the set of a Vincent Price movie!”
[Ha! J Yep, we were able to run it down for you, Nancy]

10AM                      George Frideric Handel - Water Music Suite #2 in D

Debby in Gilbert says,
Ah, water is cool and refreshing in the summer… whether you are drinking it or swimming in it.
[And, we’ll add, when you’re hanging along the shores of a mighty English river… as was the case for the people who heard Debby’s request played for the very first time.]

11AM                      Edvard Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite #1, In the Hall of the Mountain King

Sharon in Mesa says,
Picture snow covered mountains and ice draped fir.

NOON                      Johann Strauss II - Blue Danube Waltz

Bill in Mesa says,
Every time I hear this piece I can't help but think of a snowy Bavarian scene.

1PM                         Johann Sebastian Bach/Charles Gounod - Ave Maria 

Jacob in Paradise Valley says,
Just brings tears to my eyes.  [Indeed, tears of joy can have a cooling effect!]

2PM                         Peter Tchaikovsky - Symphony #1 "Winter Daydreams"  III

Chris from Carefree says,
This conjures up visions of a gentle winter…  pretty snowflakes rather than blasts from the steppes.

3PM                         Leroy Anderson - Sleigh Ride  

Allison from Chandler just let this one speak for itself! Yup, we feel cooler.                                 

4PM                         Leo Delibes – Lakme: Flower Duet 

Daryl from Phoenix had no words for this one, but gathering flowers by a river says it all. Quite cool!

5PM                         Frederic Chopin - Etude Op 25/11 "Winter Wind" in a Op 25/11

Mark in Maricopa says,
“Chilling” is always the word that comes to my mind when I hear this, after the intro part anyway. And toward the end, it sounds like an avalanche! I feel cooler just writing that!

6PM                         Alan Hovhaness - Symphony #2, "Mysterious Mountain"

Gail in Phoenix  chose this work as the one that cools her off when it’s so hot outside.

7PM                         Edvard Grieg - In Autumn

Rebecca in Mesa  says,
 It’s not just the title that has me looking ahead to the next season, but that helps.  It’s the way Grieg handles the woodwinds… so light and airy. Makes me feel cool. And such a happy finish!

8PM                         Johann Strauss II - Tales From the Vienna Woods

Norm in Peoria says,
I used to play a zither, an instrument featured in this piece, and I’ve always loved the introduction, even more than the waltz that follows it. The intro, zither and all, is a walk in the cool woods.

9PM                         Modest Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain  

Janet in Tempe says,
Nature and nighttime and scary stuff too! This piece has both kinds of chills.