Seasonal Saturday’s Event Box: Musical Accompaniment

Spring into Art 2021

Listen to the playlist and check out the song notes below to learn how the selections fit the artworks featured in the box!

Or find the playlist on:

About the Playlist:

Each song was selected because it relates historically or tonally to the theme of the box or to the three artworks featured in the Paper Tour.

This playlist was curated by Augustine Esterhammer-Fic, a music lover, composer, and teacher. After graduating from Saint Mary’s University with a degree in Music Technology, he focuses on composing music that blends classical genres with contemporary songwriting.

Below Augustine explains why he chose each piece:

Augustine’s Playlist Notes:

1. Arabesque No. 1 (1891) by Claude Debussy

The ethereal quality of Debussy’s music, and his other French contemporaries, is considered so similar to the visual art that was being created in France that it’s often called French Impressionist music, mirroring the name of the oil painting genre. 

Much of the scales used are themselves inspired by the impressions Debussy gathered from other world traditions (Arabic, in this case), but the harmonies are rich and intangible -- similar to the developments in the painting world.

2. Le Violon Brisé (The Broken Violin) (1876) by René de Saint-Perst and Victor Herpin 

Stepping out of the classical tradition, we have a popular song from the time period. This one is a patriotic anthem, written to remember the conflict in which Germany had just annexed Alsace-Lorraine from France. It would have been familiar to both Sisley and Renoir.

3. The Favorite (1905)  --and-- 

4. Pleasant Moments (1909) by Scott Joplin 

In America, composer Scott Joplin was making a name for himself in a new form of music called “ragtime”. The younger generation loved it for its strong rhythm, which would go on to influence jazz, rock, and blues music, but here we have two of Joplin’s softer compositions to match the relaxed nature of Theodore Robinson’s depiction of a woman at leisure. 

5. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning (~1928) performed by Mike Munson (traditional song)  --and--

6. Shake ‘Em On Down (1937) performed by by Mike Munson (written by Bukka White) 

Almost the direct descendants of Joplin’s ragtime style, Winona singer-songwriter Mike Munson brings us two traditional blues standards. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning was first recorded by Blind Willie Johnson in 1928 and its writing probably predates that, while Shake ‘Em On Down is a song written by Delta Blues singer Bukka White, here given Mike Munson’s signature tone while still paying homage to the origins of his tradition. Both these and Munson’s original works can be found on his 2019 album Rose Hill, recorded at Blue Front Cafe, a blues landmark.

7. String Quartet In F Major, M.35 - 2. Assez vif. Très rythmé (1903) by Maurice Ravel

Returning to Impressionism, at the tail-end of the movement was Ravel. This famous work for string quartet gives an example of the “Impressionist” sound with a rhythmic drive similar to what was going on in America. The string quartet moves between flashes of different emotional colors, sometimes in broad melodic strokes, sometimes with pointillistic plucking, as in the second movement.  

8. Prélude de la Porte Héroïque du Ciel (1894) by Erik Satie

To close our playlist, Satie presents another example of the Impressionist movement. In this work, you can make out Satie’s sparse style and enigmatic emotion.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.