In this week's Mailbox: Music videos filmed in Prague, music in Radio Prague's broadcasts. Listeners quoted: Evelyn Coviello, Maren Brown, Stephen Hrebenach, Chun-Quan Meng.
INXS, Never Tear Us Apart
Hello and welcome to Mailbox. A number of your e-mails in the past week concerned music so today’s edition will have a single theme.
Evelyn Coviello from New York State, a devout reader of Radio Prague, as she put it, sends a warm greeting to all at Radio Prague along with this comment:
INXS, Never Tear Us Apart
“I am writing a short response to last week’s [Letter from Prague] regarding music videos filmed in Prague. In retrospect the INXS video ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ ignited my desire to come and visit Prague. 15 years after the video’s release I finally had my chance. Upon my return home to NY I would watch that video over and over to reminisce of my holiday in Prague. You may consider it a ‘cheesy’ video, but for me that video captured the black and white essence of Prague 1988. This has prompted me to seek out other music videos and movies filmed in Prague.”
Maren Brown sent in this question regarding a July edition of the Arts by Jan Richter:
“I very much enjoy listening to your broadcast every day and had a question about a recent piece entitled: ‘Czech Catholic literature 1918-1945: from dreams of utopia to despair’. Can you tell me what music was used in the background? I really love the piano piece and would love to find a CD.”
Erik Satie
And Jan tells me it was a late 19th century piano piece entitled Gnossienne No.1 by the French composer Erik Satie.
Stephen Hrebenach, our regular listener from Ohio responds to the recent changes to Radio Prague’s sound design:
“I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other on the new jingle and music now being used on Radio Prague. They are different, but it will only take a little time to get used to that, much like when the web page design is changed. However, I was disappointed to hear that music would no longer be used to set the mood for some pieces. I always thought that added to the broadcasts it helped paint a mental picture.
Foto: Mateusz Stachowski / Stock.XCHNG
“I understand the issue with copyrights and podcasts, although I subscribe to other podcasts that broadcast small bits of music, seemingly without issue. I had come to believe that the copyright issue had to do with using an entire piece of music, not just a small excerpt. Perhaps I had gotten the wrong idea. Given the new expectations, I was pleasantly surprised to hear music interspersed in this week's Spotlight on the National Museum. I am hoping that you can continue to use music as a highlight in this manner. Also, I am hoping that you will still be able to use songs to continue the long-running series Sound Czech. I guess that will be answered by the weekend.”
Chun-Quan Meng writes from China:
Gipsy.cz
Glad to send you an email again in this week. I've just logged onto www.radio.cz and wanted to enjoy the latest edition of Music Express online, but my listening was interrupted several times... Luckilly, I read the script of the programme entitled ‘Gipsy.cz – A phenomenal mix of hip hop, rap, r’n’b and traditional gypsy music’. I'm interested very much in Gipsy.cz, who incorporates all kinds of traditional musical elements: violin, cymbalo.... Maybe it’s the creative aspect of mixing the traditional with the modern is also attractive to us Chinese music lovers. I wish Gipsy.cz would have a chance to tour China in the future. If possible, please convey my greetings and wishes to this band.”
Thank you very much for all your letters and reception reports and before I say good-bye, here is our quiz question for this month which, incidentally, also concerns music:
In September we are looking for the name of an opera singer who was born in 1807 in the east Bohemian town of Teplice nad Metují and died in 1886 in the German city of Dresden.
Please send us your answers by the end of September to [email protected] or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague. Mailbox will be back again next week. Until then, take care.
