Red Eye Radio

I posted a version of this thread about a year ago and am prompted to re-post it as the piece of music (below) just came over my Internet radio. The musicians are from Venezuela and part of their youth music system. "The System" isn't a monument to socialism or any "ism" and has been supported by every dictator that has ruled the country because in the end, it is just a good thing that has provided an amazing plus to the country.  It has put Venezuela in the forefront in something besides oil.

While flipping through the radio dial last night (the real one with transistors - I miss the ones with tubes)  I heard a pundit on something called "Red Eye Radio" talking about how the US was secretly gearing up for war with Iran and therefore, through alliances, to invade Venezuela as surely Chavez would retaliate against us bombing Iran by cutting of our oil trade and we would have to send in the troops to protect our oil supply.  Ultimately this became President Obama's fault for hurting the big oil companies and choking the American people with high gas prices....you can scream yada yada yada anytime you want.

The pundit was irrational and one of those semi-crazies knee deep in weirdness but after the past 12 years I'm not sure that there is anyone with any sense anywhere on the right wing radio media. But that is the point of allegro marcato.

Allegro means "brisk or lively (generally fast)".  It is a musical term and obviously has other meanings and contexts.  Marcato is to be "accented" or in a "marked style" - usually a driven rhythmic thing with notes or beats 'stressed'.  In our radio guys (Red Eye Radio) they just keep hammering - banging away - and the more they hammer the faster they go until their spew comes out in one huge sentence hardly pausing for breath - a wind up doll Rush Limbaugh of sorts.  Venezuela needs invading according to these pundits as there "isn't a good thing going on in the whole country and we can save them". Oh boy.

As to the music below and the picture above it comes from a Prokofiev Symphony (#5, 2nd movement)Allegro Marcato is the "tempo and style" marking for it.  Playing a difficult piece like this and making it "sound" like the composer intended and in his style (think of an impressionist doing a voice - and think about how it is as much the nuance and stresses that a performer puts into the voice that makes it come alive - well it is here) is something musicians learn over time.  Same instrument. Same notes on the page. But a different voice for nearly every composer. 

This is hard work and very interesting visually.  You don't have to hear it to understand it is "marcato".  The performance, by high school players, is amazing....and I stress that. It is a good thing going on down there.