Heather’s been screening The Wizard of Oz on my car’s DVD
player as we run errands. I can’t watch it (it’s kind of important to keep your
eyes on the road while driving) but I’ve been LISTENING. I’m really enjoying
the incidental music. Schuman’s “The Happy Farmer” plays as Dorothy discovers
the Scarecrow. When the two of them arrive at the apple orchard, you hear “In
the Shade of the Old Apple Tree.” As Toto escapes the witch’s clutches (say
that ten times fast), Mendelssohn’s “Scherzo in E Minor” plays. (Scherzo means a
clever joke or trick.) While our heroes run from the castle guards, you hear a
bit of “Night on Bald Mountain,” possibly the scariest and most threatening
music Mussorgsky ever wrote. And when Dorothy is safely back in her own bed in
Kansas, there are strains of “Home Sweet Home.” If I were to teach music
appreciation again, I’d start with The Wizard of Oz.
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