Hear today's full episode by clicking "Listen" above or find "Intermezzo" from your favorite podcast app.
Welcome to Intermezzo from Interlochen Public Radio, where we take a few minutes to bounce some ideas around about classical music.
So far, we've shared our common love of music, food and people in our lives. Today's episode is about what we love to do.
Our beloved hobbies. Hobbies are want-to's, not have-to's. We love them because they let us be ourselves — loudly, or quietly.
Maybe you watched the Superbowl last Sunday — there are an average of 127.7 million people watching right along with you. Right now, the Winter Olympics are going on in Italy. Over 2 billion people watch those. Or maybe you play on a baseball team where 16 parents watch from the stands. We love how sports bring us together around a common goal.
Our hobbies can also help shape the things we have to do. When you have to write an essay or story for school, you might find yourself drawing from experiences and forming phrases similar to the style of the book you've just read.
The French composer Claude Debussy loved reading poetry and getting lost in impressionist paintings. His music was unique because he focused on the colors and textures of sound rather than traditional structure and harmony.
Here's one of his nocturnes, titled "Nuages," or "Clouds." He based this work on the paintings he studied and on French poet, Henri de Régnier’s "Ancient and romantic poems. " The music is so patient — like you're in the zone just watching clouds slowly travel and morph into different shapes.
Claude Debussy - "Nuages"
This week's Mystery Melody
It's time to test your ears. Each week we have a mystery melody that we have to figure out together. It relates to our topic. (We'll make the melody less mysterious each day.)
If you know the mystery melody, text your name and the title and we’ll give you a shout out on Friday. The number to text is (833) 490-4718.
