Surprise has been the heart of humor since Aristotle, and in music — as in Mel Brooks’s "Young Frankenstein" or Malcolm Arnold’s "A Grand, Grand Overture" — that surprise often comes through absurd, unexpected twists that make us laugh.
In this episode, Christy shares a clip from one of her favorite comic movies, Mel Brooks's "Young Frankenstein." In this scene, to prove that the monster can blend into high society, he gets dressed in a tuxedo with a top hat and a cane. Frankenstein dances on stage in a very fancy theater while singing "Puttin' on the Ritz."
In Classical music, sometimes the composer chooses to use absurd instruments. English composer Malcolm Arnold wrote a piece called "A Grand, Grand Overture," which uses a regular orchestra, an organ, three vacuum cleaners, a floor polisher and four rifles. At the climax of the piece the rifles, silence the vacuum cleaners one by one. Here's a clip from the beginning when the vacuum cleaners start up and the rifles try to eliminate them.
Music in this episode:
Irving Berlin: "Puttin' on the Ritz"
Malcolm Arnold: "A Grand, Grand Overture"
