The CEO of our not-for-profit hospital is retiring after 35 years – the last 10 of which he’s been the CEO. He is very well liked, even loved by many people here, and we’re expecting more than a thousand people to show up for a ceremony and reception to wish him well, give him gifts, etc.
I am tasked to find appropriate background music, specifically “light classical”. I know a lot about pop music from the 50s to the 80s, and my knowledge gets spread real thin after that.
So, some ideas? A PBS show the other day had me thinking perhaps Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Im not sure though, as there seem to be an operatic tone to it, with a good deal of dramatic rises and falls.
I’m thinking something more uniform, something more Philip Glass-like, but with a more traditional melody and instrumentation.
I dunno, it’s supposed to be background - just a pleasant mood setter, not anything to focus on or think about,
I’d like to have a couple of total hours if I can, but I can just recycle some shorter pieces if I need to.
Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusic (Serenade for Strings in G Major)
Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite
Dvorak and Tchaikovsky both wrote nice string serenades
Piano and strings can be background-y. How about Schubert’s Trout Quintet?
Or piano alone – like Chopin.
Piano and/or strings work can work well as background music because the range from soft to loud isn’t that wide, compared to orchestral pieces – those dramatic rises and falls you noted in Appalachian Spring. The same might be true of wind pieces, but I’m not so familiar with that body of work.
Claude Bolling is light and fun and incorporates classical themes. From the Wikipedia article about him:
"Bolling is also noted for a series of ‘crossover’ collaborations with classical musicians. His Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio with Jean-Pierre Rampal, a clever and charming mix of Baroque elegance with modern swing, has been a top seller for many years, and was followed up by other works in the same vein. "
Light background music? What kind of farewell is that? I say you go all out, 1812 overture with fireworks and a cannon. In your hospital.
Honestly, though, if you’re looking for classical background music, anything would do really. I don’t see people getting too picky if you just pick up some sort of compilation of classical works.
If he can take a joke, throw in the Hallelujah Chorus at a point just after you say something about him leaving.
Seriously though, I’d just get a CD of Mozart Divertimenti or Serenades. It’s pleasant, beautiful stuff, and there are no huge dynamic changes that would be problematic with some other classical stuff.
Can you engage him in some casual conversation to find out what his favourite composers are?
Mozart is usually well appreciated (I would recommend against the Requeim, though ;)), and makes for pleasant background. Most of his concertos and sonatas that I’m familiar with don’t have tremendous dynamic range in re: volume.
