The Pitch of the Pandemic
Songs that mark the tenor of our times
Like most crises, the 1918 flu pandemic shaped art, literature, and music — such as Essie Jenkins’ “1919 Influenza Blues.” COVID is already doing so as well. How have musicians framed the experience of epidemics in our current times and the past? This week, Leigh plays some of the tunes that mark the tenor of our times.
(Photos © FreeImages/0GuaRDiaN0 and ugaldew)
Because this was a music program, there is no recording. Talk shows resume next week!
- 2:06pm Isorhythmic Motets: O sancte Sebastiane – O martyr Sebastiane – O quam mira by Guillaume Dufay, Huelgas-Ensmeble, Paul Van Nevel on Dufay: O gemma lux (Harmonia Mundi)
- 2:10pm Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe, BWV 25: No. 1 by Johann Sebastian Bach, Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt on Bach, JS: Sacred Cantatas BWV Nos 22 – 25 (Warner Classics International)
- 2:17pm The 1919 Influenza Blues by Essie Jenkins on Blues with a Message (Arhoolie Records)
- 2:21pm Jesus Is Coming Soon by Blind Willie Johnson on Praise God I’m Satisfied (Yazoo)
- 2:27pm Dirty T.B. Blues by Victoria Spivey, Edgar Delange, Frank Loesser, The Man Overboard Quintet on Down in the Deep Deep Blue (Champs Hill Records)
- 2:38pm Living in Wartime by Michael Callen on Purple Heart (Significant Other)
- 2:42pm The Last Song by Elton John on The One (EMI)
- 2:48pm Livin’ Next to Leroy by Ashley McBryde on Girl Going Nowhere (Atlantic/Warner Music Nashville, Me Gusta Music)
- 2:52pm The Vampyre of Time and Memory – Live Acoustic by Queens of the Stone Age on …Like Cologne (Spotify Exclusive) (Matador)
- 2:57pm A Little Soon to Say – Radio Edit by Jackson Browne on A Little Soon to Say (Radio Edit) (Inside Recordings)
