The Armistice that ended major hostilities in World War I—then known as "The Great War"—took effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, with November 11 each year subsequently observed with memorials in many countries as Armistice Day. In 1954 the United States would broaden the holiday and change the name to Veterans Day, to honor veterans of all wars, not just World War I. This week on Sunday on Blue Lake, Foley Schuler will honor the holiday's origins in World War I, with special musical selections, including two different settings of the great poem of WWI, "In Flanders Fields," and music by two composers who lost their lives in WWI, including Butterworth (who died in the Battle of the Somme in 1916) and Spanish composer, Enrique Granados (who, along with his wife, perished earlier the same year when the passenger ferry on which they were traveling was torpedoed by a German U-Boat). We'll also hear music of Michael Daugherty inspired by one of Ernest Hemingway's greatest stories, "Big Two-Hearted River." which in turned was based on his own experience in WWI and examines the destructive qualities of war as well as the healing and regenerative powers of nature.
The final hour will be given over to two great 20th Century concertos, both of which were premiered on November 9 (in 1940 and 1901 respectively): Joaquin Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez and Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor.
You can hear Sunday on Blue Lake with Foley Schuler every Sunday from 9 until noon on Blue Lake Public Radio.
