We got quite a few questions about music recently. One classical listener wrote to say “This morning, I heard a song played that I believe was titled “She Walks Through Beauty” and I’m trying to find it and the composer.” Host Linda Markus responded “Indeed it was "She Walks Through Beauty" from the Henry V suite by William Walton.” A listener to 91.3 asked “I heard this beautiful transitional music at 8:18ish am this morning during morning edition. Do you know which piece of music it was?” When we looked it up, we found that it was it was What Must Be Done by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Apparently, it’s from the soundtrack to the 2008 film “The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford.” A little surprising to those of us familiar with Nick Cave The Bad Seed’s music, but the soundtrack is beautiful.
Lest you think we get nothing but valentines, one listener called in to say “I think the selection of classical music is awful. It’s just not up to good standards of classical music. I’m listening right now to something that has no melody, no rhythm, nothing, and this is common.” We also have a listener who calls fairly regularly to beg us not to play any more piano pieces because she just doesn’t like them. For each of us, musical taste is a very personal thing, even within genres. What excites and intrigues one person will completely turn off someone else. Perhaps you’ve had the experience I’ve had where I excitedly play a piece of music for a friend, only to have them look at me quizzically and say “I don’t get it.” We are all music lovers here at WHQR, and while we do try to appeal to everyone, now and again we’re going to try to expose you to something new. We hope you don’t mind too much.
A listener wrote to ask “I just recently learned of the death of Joe Kessler, who was a dear friend many years ago. According to his obit in the Star News, Joe did a Saturday morning show, "The Cargo Joe Show," on WHQR. I was wondering if you have any recordings of that show. I'd love to hear one, if possible, to remind me of the man who started out as my boss when I was just out of college, and who quickly became a mentor to me as I was trying to figure out what I should do with the rest of my life. “George Scheibner fielded this one, responding “Joe’s “Cargo Joe Show” was a live-on-the-air affair. I don’t recall there being any recordings of him, unfortunately. Glad you remember him fondly.”
You may have noticed that WHQR often partners with other news organizations. Rachel Keith received this comment on an article she wrote for Port City Daily: “Your article Federal orders cause chaos and concern for refugee services in the Cape Fear region Is very insightful and gives a broad and detailed narrative of what is really going on at ground level and how heartbreaking this all is. Please keep up the good work, it is more important now than ever.”
On the topic of love, we love to get your questions, comments and criticisms. You can find us on Facebook, X, Instagram and Bluesky. You can email us at feedback@whqr.org. Thanks for your feedback, and we look forward to hearing from you.