Beyond the Bony Labyrinth

About Beyond the Bony Labyrinth

Lodewijk Muns, musicologist, composer and pianist, discusses topics such as music and memory, music and language, and the limits of music, with the piano at his fingertips. Beyond the Bony Labyrinth: because the sound that enters our ears only becomes music when we recognize it. Music appeals to our memory, emotions, imagination, and capacity for language. Philosophy: because it deals with the connections between music and other aspects of life, with clarification, and dispelling smoke screens. This is the English version of the Dutch podcast Voorbij de oren. Making this podcast takes some inspiration, a lot of enthusiastic labour, a lifetime of experience and a bit of money. If you’re interested, please consider making a donation. It will help to continue the podcast and means a great incentive for the author.

Publisher

Lodewijk Muns

Category

music

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Apr 2024

Latest episode

24 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

28 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Mar 2026

   28 Speech melodies and street cries (3)

   The cris de Paris according to Marcel Proust, Joseph Mainzer and Georges Kastner; folklore and music theory ca. 1900, and the peddlers’ cries of Amsterdam. To conclude, the call of the night watchman in London, Amsterdam, and Leipzig, with a forgotten night watchman’s call in Schumann's Symphony No. 1. 00:00 Intro 00:35 Marcel Proust (1923): Time lost 02:04 Plainchant and recitative 12:23 Nightwatchman’s calls 16:20 G.A. Heinze and Schumann’s Frühlingssinfonie (1841) Music excerpts: 07:26, 12:19 Jean Péheu, Les cris parisiens: scène d’imitations 191? https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k127305d 08:25 Claude Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande, Act 5 (Arkel). D. Ward, Covent Garden, P. Boulez. CBS (1970) 12:41 Orlando Gibbons, The Cries of London. Theatre of Voices, P. Hillier, Fretwork. Harmonia Mundi (2006) 13:36, 14:29 Richard Dering, The City Cries. Theatre of Voices, P. Hillier, Fretwork. Harmonia Mundi (2006) 15:37 Richard Wagner, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Act 2 sc. 5, R. Pape, Bayerisches Staatorchester, W. Sawallisch EMI 7390182 (1993) 16:25, 17:00, 21:58 Robert Schumann, Symfonie Nr. 1. The Hanover Band, R. Goodman. RCA 09026-61931-2 (1994) More on de street cries of Amsterdam in the Dutch version of this episode: https://lodewijkmuns.nl/podcast/spraakmelodieen-en-straatroepen-3/ References: see https://lodewijkmuns.nl/podcast/speech-melodies-and-street-cries-1/

2. 

   24 Mar 2026

   27 Speech melodies and street cries (2)

   Around the middle of the nineteenth century, the cris de Paris were still mainly regarded as annoying noise. Since then, however, a process was underway to regulate and reduce itinerant street trading. During this process, which takes place over several decades, the street cries are being listened to and described with increasing interest. According to Joseph Mainzer, the cries were an elementary form of folk music; Jean-Georges Kastner saw in them music in the process of coming into being. Kastner’s artistic ambition was to give musical form to ‘the voices of Paris’. Not his own composition, but Gustave Charpentier’s opera Louise can be seen as the realsation of that ambition. 00:00 Intro 00:53 City noise 02:46 Marginalisation and nostalgia 04:35 From annoyance to aesthetics 08:49 Mainzer (1841): street calls as music 12:09 Kastner (1857): Les voix de Paris 19:04 Offenbach (1858): Purchase your pleasure, ladies! 24:10 Charpentier (1900): Louise Music excerpts: 00:37, 04:26, 11:44 Jean Péheu, Les cris parisiens: scène d’imitations 191? https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k127305d 07:17 Duncan MacLeod, The Cries of Columbia Road 2017 15:03, 16:28 Jean-Georges Kastner, Les voix de Paris. Ensemble Clément Janequin, D. Visse. L’écrit du cri. Harmonia mundi 2009 18:36, 22:08 Jacques Offenbach, Mesdames de la Halle. M. Mesplé, J-Ph. Lafont a.o., Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Manuel Rosenthal. EMI 1983 23:54 Giacomo Puccini, La bohème. R.C.A. Victor Chorus, R.C.A. Victor Orchestra, Th. Beecham. EMI 1956 24:42, 27:36 Gustave Charpentier, Louise. I. Cotrubas, P. Domingo, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, New Philharmonia Orchestra, G. Prêtre. EMI 1976 References: see https://lodewijkmuns.nl/podcast/speech-melodies-and-street-cries-1/

3. 

   24 Mar 2026

   26 Speech melodies and street cries (1)

   In everything we say, there is the ‘tone’ in which we say it, or ‘speech melody’. In that speech melody lies a clear, but limited, analogy with music. When we make ourselves heard over a greater distance by calling out, our speech comes closer to singing. Calling or crying played an essential role in itinerant street trade. The peddlers’ calls were a characteristic element of the street soundscape of the major cities. We have remnants of this in the form of musical notation since the 19th century. Another source that goes back much further is the quotations of peddlers’ cries in composed music. Whether an authentic cry has been preserved in these compositions is always open to question. This first of three episodes explores the musicality of speech melody, the cries of street vendors as cultural heritage and musical material, motets of the 13th and 14th centuries, Janequin’s Cris de Paris (1530) and the Cries of London (1600 and 1974). 00:00 Intro 00:37 Speaking, calling, singing 02:18 Street cries 07:14 Musical quotations 09:03 Les cris de Paris 10:37 Fresh strawberries (ca. 1260-1350) 16:57 Clement Janequin (1528) 20:31 The cries of London (ca. 1610 en 1976) Music excerpts: 01:21 D. Auber, Les diamants de la couronne: Air et variations. Selma Kurz (1914) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RudRkvpqk 05:20 Anonymous, Won't you buy my sweet blooming lavender. Janet Penfold. Songs of the Travelling People. Saydisc 06:16, 08:43 Edward German, Who’ll buy my lavender. Grace Moore (1937) 12:06, 13:32 Anonymous, On parole/A Paris/Frèse nouvele (Montpellier-Codex, ca 1250). Clemencic Consort, R. Clemencic. Motetus. Stradivarius STR 33398 (1996) 15:16 Anonymous, Je commence/Et je feray/Soules viex (Ivrea Codex, ca. 1350). Les Musiciens De Saint-Julien. Je Voy Le Bon Tens Venir. Alpha 189 (2013) 18:50 Clément Janequin, Les cris de Paris. Ensemble Clément Janequin, D. Visse. L'écrit du cri. Harmonia mundi (2009) 21:23 Orlando Gibbons, The Cries of London. Theatre of Voices, P. Hillier, Fretwork. Harmonia Mundi (2006) 24:09 John Cobb, These are the Cries of London Town. Deller Consort, A. Deller (1956). Vanguard Classics (1994) 24:31, 26:07 Luciano Berio, The Cries of London. Swingle II (1976). Decca 425 620-2 (1990) References: see https://lodewijkmuns.nl/podcast/speech-melodies-and-street-cries-1/

Podcast Authority Score: 27 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

44

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

27

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